BOSTON— JLL Capital Markets has arranged $62.5 million in financing for a 23.4-acre advanced manufacturing campus at 44 Middlesex Turnpike in Bedford, Massachusetts, underscoring growing demand for specialized industrial space in the Greater Boston region.
The financing was secured on behalf of a partnership between Wheelock Street Capital and Camber Development through Blue Light Capital. The campus includes a newly completed, 148,458-square-foot Class A advanced manufacturing facility as well as an adjacent 12.3-acre, pad-ready development site entitled for an additional 147,000 square feet.
Once the second phase is completed, the property is expected to total approximately 295,000 square feet of advanced manufacturing space.
The first building was completed at the end of 2024 and is currently 32% leased to Fourth Power, an energy sustainability and grid resilience company commercializing long-duration thermal energy storage technology spun out of MIT. The company is backed by Munich Re Ventures, DCVC and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Designed for Advanced Manufacturing
The Bedford campus was purpose-built to meet the specialized requirements of today’s advanced manufacturing companies. The facility features 36- to 40-foot clear heights in high-bay areas, 8,600 amps of power per building, flexible mezzanine space with 20-foot clear heights, 40-foot-by-40-foot column spacing and six loading docks per building.
A reinforced roof structure is designed to accommodate rooftop mechanical systems, allowing tenants greater flexibility for specialized buildouts while minimizing loss factors. These specifications distinguish the property from older converted flex-industrial buildings that have traditionally served advanced manufacturing users.
The property also offers significant future expansion potential through its adjacent development site, which is already entitled for an additional 147,000 square feet.
Bedford Emerges as Advanced Manufacturing Hub
Located along Middlesex Turnpike, the campus provides direct access to Route 3 and is approximately five minutes from Interstate 95 and 20 minutes from downtown Boston. The location offers access to engineering and research talent in Boston’s suburbs while also connecting to the manufacturing workforce across the North Market and southern New Hampshire.
According to JLL, approximately 500,000 people live within a 30-minute drive of the property, while more than 2.1 million people are within a 60-minute commute.
Bedford and surrounding communities have increasingly emerged as a major Greater Boston hub for advanced manufacturing, supported by transportation connectivity and a growing supply of high-powered industrial buildings. The area is also home to an expanding concentration of advanced manufacturing, life sciences and technology companies.
The property’s location provides proximity to research institutions including MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, which conducts advanced technology research for national security applications, and MIT Bates Laboratory, associated with MIT’s Laboratory for Nuclear Science.
Growing Demand for Advanced Manufacturing Space
The financing comes as demand for advanced manufacturing facilities continues to grow across Greater Boston. JLL said increased venture capital investment over the past year has helped drive demand from companies working in physical artificial intelligence and robotics, aerospace and defense, energy storage and climate technology, semiconductor development, 3D printing, medical devices and biomanufacturing.
Massachusetts has ranked second nationally in advanced manufacturing investment since 2020 and first on a per-capita basis, according to JLL.
“The joint venture between Wheelock Street Capital and Camber Development created a differentiated product that addresses the growing demand from companies in robotics, energy storage, semiconductor and climate technology sectors,” said Brett Paulsrud, senior managing director at JLL. “The property’s location in Bedford provides optimal access to both the engineering talent concentrated in the Boston suburbs and the manufacturing workforce throughout the North Market.”
The JLL Capital Markets team involved in the transaction was led by Senior Managing Directors Brett Paulsrud and Steve Klein, Director Ryan Parker, Vice President Hugh Doherty and Analyst Libby Horton.
The transaction highlights the increasing importance of purpose-built industrial facilities as Greater Boston’s technology and manufacturing ecosystem expands beyond traditional laboratory and office environments.
