NORTH ANDOVER, MA –VMD Companies, Inc. has broken ground at 2 Monarch Dr. in Littleton, MA, on a 98,150-square-foot warehouse designed for and to be occupied by PODS, the North American moving and storage company based in Clearwater, FL., as a corporate distribution center for the Northeast.
The state-of-the-industry building is on a 20-acre site near the interchange of I-495 and Massachusetts Route 2. The land was purchased and permitted by VMD Companies, which specializes in developing industrial properties and is constructing the 32-foot-clear Class A build-to-suit for PODS.
“This acquisition and development of 2 Monarch Dr. fits well within our thematic investment strategy of deploying capital into modern high-bay industrial assets in supply constrained markets with long-term capital growth potential,” said Phil Down, Chief Executive Officer of VMD Companies.
“We are looking forward to delivering a first-class, amenity-rich property to PODS to expand their industry leading self-storage services to clients within the Northeast,” he said.
The total cost of the project is $23 million.
Down and James L. Vitas II spearheaded the acquisition and capital raise for 2 Monarch Dr. Vitas is Founder and Executive Chairman of VMD Companies, now in its 19th year.
Construction is being done by the design-build firm Dacon Corp. of Natick, MA, and completion will be in the fourth quarter of 2023. The property was brokered by Rob Byrne, Paul Leone and Pete Whoriskey of Cushman and Wakefield’s Boston office, along with Alex Beacham of Cushman and Wakefield from Tampa Bay, FL.
In addition to 2 Monarch Dr., VMD Companies has been actively acquiring and repositioning existing industrial assets as part of its acquisitions program and is currently permitting and developing an additional two million square feet of modern high bay industrial throughout the Commonwealth.
VMD Companies announced this month that it has purchased and is developing The Campus at Innovation Way in Fall River, a state-of-art logistics, advanced manufacturing and R&D center designed and constructed to be home to multiple companies seeking modern high-bay space.
That property is fully permitted, with construction soon to begin on the first building on the 900,000-square-foot Class A industrial property. VMD Companies is in advanced discussions with several companies and end users for the four buildings.
In 2017, VMD Companies purchased and redeveloped the former Necco confectionary building in Revere in a joint venture, later leasing it to Amazon and selling the 50-acre property to Clarion Partners, LLC of New York for $355 million.
