Lightbridge HQ Signs 45,000-SF Tenant

BURLINGTON, MA-Darkness will apparently not be descending on Lightbridge Inc.’s headquarters at 30 Corporate Dr. thanks to a last-minute sublease for more than 45,000 sf to a Bedford-based company, By Appointment Only. The firm is expected to be in the class A space by May. The pact follows Lightbridge’s announcement a month ago that the telecommunications company is relocating west to Marlborough.

While declining to discuss specifics, broker Matt Daniels of Meredith & Grew acknowledges that BAO has committed to take all of Lightbridge’s remaining quarters at 30 Corporate Dr. Daniels is acting on behalf of BAO. Lightbridge is being represented by James Elcock, also of Meredith & Grew, who assisted his client in cementing a 12,000-sf lease at 293 Boston Post Rd. in Marlborough.

The moving parts, according to Elcock, reflect changes in the telecommunications sector and Lightbridge’s desire to reduce its unused real estate. A key was the disposition in February of the firm’s Telecom Decisioning Services business to Vesta Corp. TDS, which sold for $2.5 million, operated out of the Burlington facility.

“They were looking to get out from that overcapacity of space,” says Elcock of his client, with the savings able to be used for other capital needs. Lightbridge had its best years at the turn of the decade when the state’s telecom industry was blazing, but the recession that hit after 9/11 and industry consolidation caused struggles for the technology heavy Route 128 market. Chock full of such operations, Burlington was among the hardest hit when the crunch came, so much so that several properties there are still seeing a transition of tenancy.

Despite the lingering troubles among some players, BAO has enjoyed a period of sustained growth, says Daniels, requiring the company to seek a new home from its current location at 100 Crosby Dr. in Bedford. The company helps businesses access potential clients through a variety of programs and services. A call to BAO executive Michael Farrell to discuss his firm’s plans for 30 Corporate Dr. was not returned.

While office rents have yet to recover to levels seen in the boom times, Daniels says he is encouraged by the level of activity north of Boston in recent months, with several firms out looking for additional space. “The Route 3 corridor is really hot,” says Daniels, whose firm has identified more than one million sf of leasing velocity during the past 12 months in that strip between Lowell and Burlington.