Lee Partners of New England

Two commercial office properties sold for $12,250,000 as part of an approved 292 unit mixed use redevelopment. Bruce Lee of Lee Partners of New England represented the seller.

[View this Case Study as a pdf here]

Sale Price: $12,500,000

Assignment: Seller representation

Land Area: 2.96 acres

Approved Program: 292 residential units

Commercial and Parking: 28,501 sf ground floor retail & 450 space parking garage

Site Plan Approval: March 12, 2025

The commercial office properties at Four Militia Drive and Five
Militia Drive in Lexington, Massachusetts have been purchased
by W Lexington Land LLC and E P Lexington Land LLC. The total
sale price for the two properties was $12,250,000. Sellers in the
transaction included Matthew Curtis and John Gates for 4 Militia
LLC and 5 Militia LLC. Bruce Lee, Managing Partner of Lee
Partners of New England, represented the seller. Construction is
expected to commence before the end of 2026.

The sale followed a change in local zoning. The Massachusetts
MBTA Communities Act, adopted in January 2021 as Section 3A
of Chapter 40A, requires approximately 177 transit served
municipalities to zone at least one district permitting multifamily
housing as of right. Lexington was among the first communities
in the Commonwealth to comply, adopting twelve overlay
districts covering 227 acres at its April 2023 Town Meeting, well
beyond the state minimum.

Development interest followed quickly. Approximately 1,097
housing units were proposed under the new zoning over the
next two years. At a special Town Meeting in March 2025,
Lexington voted 164 to 9 to remove eight of the districts and
reduce the overlay to roughly 90 acres. Projects that had already
received approval were permitted to proceed.

The Lexington Planning Board approved the site plan for 3, 4 and
5 Militia Drive on March 12, 2025. The approval was unanimous
and was not appealed. The project combines three previously
separate parcels into a single redevelopment site with two
connected buildings of five and six stories, 292 apartments
including 44 inclusionary units, 28,501 square feet of ground
floor commercial space and a 450 space parking garage. The
adjoining property at 3 Militia Drive was sold separately,
completing the assemblage.

[View further details in this Case Study here]

Stephen Troiano, CPA, P.C. is relocating their offices to 21 Worthen Road, Lexington,
MA from 5 Militia Drive, Lexington.

Bruce Lee, Managing Partner for Lee Partners of New England, represented Stephen
Troiano, CPA; and Stephen Cook with Jones Lange LaSalle (JLL) represented the
landlord, Lealand LLC; throughout the lease negotiation process.

Angela Casazza, MHA, COE – Executive Director with Lexington Eye Associates –
coordinated efforts between all parties to allow for a smooth HQ office relocation to 21
Worthen Road, Lexington, MA. – the current executive offices location for Lexington Eye
Associates.

Assisting Hands Home Care has recently relocated from 5 Militia Drive, Lexington, MA
to 450 Bedford Street, Lexington, MA, approximately 2.5 miles away.

Assisting Hands provides professional in-home services in Lexington and the
surrounding communities North and West of Boston. Assisting Hands has pioneered the “Thriving At Home” approach to caregiving. Thriving At Home is designed to offer clients the very finest personalized non-medical home care, enabling people to live safely and comfortably in their own homes.

Managing Partner Bruce Lee with Lee Partners of New England represented Assisting
Hands; and Doug Goldwait represented the Landlord Carruth Capital throughout the
lease negotiations.

Dave Tasto, CDP – President/Owner of Assisting Hands was impressed with the quality
of the space available at 450 Bedford Street – to include built-out and move-in office
space – along with installed furniture in excellent condition – and the ability to commit to
a long-term new headquarters location, while continuing to have a Lexington, MA
presence.

The property located at 1844 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA has been sold to a
new owner. The new owner is Dr. Sathish Palayam, a prominent and nationally known
local dentist with a thriving and expanding local and regional dental practice. Dental
offices are located in New Bedford and Lexington, Massachusetts.

The property had been owned by long-time residents of Lexington, the Douglass family.
The property is located on the MBTA transit line in downtown Lexington, and adjacent to
the Cary Library with only a short walk to the Lexington Battle Green. Commercial
services, retail amenities, and ample parking is close by.

The property seller was Jay Johnson and Susan Douglass Johnson – ably assisted by
Peter Miranda III, Esq. with Fleming & Miranda, of Reading, MA.

Representing both the seller and buyer was Bruce Lee, Managing Partner with Lee
Partners of New England.

The in-office closing photo includes left to right; Buyer Attorney Pamala J. Brown Esq;
and buyer Sathish Palayam and Sam Srikanth.

Communities United has new space:

Working closely with Executive Director Mary Mastroelli and Accounting Manager John
Soehle, Bruce Lee of Lee partners identified and negotiated a long-term lease for
Communities United at 500 West Cummings Park, Woburn, MA. – for a new senior staff
headquarters location. Communities United mission is to “provide high quality
education and family services to a diverse population of children ages 4 months to 5
years”. Area serviced includes many close-in suburban Boston communities. The new
location provides senior staff offices and larger in-house conference room support.

Livius Prep:

Lee Partners worked along with Stacy McConnell, Operations and Administration Manager with Livius Prep, to lease a new office location for Livius at 5 Militia Drive, Lexington, MA. Livius Prep provides education services to include student test preparation; comprehensive tutorial services; and college counseling. Livius Prep has been providing 40 years of academic excellence and student services to the Lexington
community.

Comforting Care:

Lee Partners assisted Manager Grace Mutooni in the leasing of a new Lexington office
location at 5 Militia Drive. Comforting Care’s mission is to “provide our clients with
caregivers who are genuinely comforting; compassionate; and caring “all the time!”

The 3-5 Militia Drive new multi-family and commercial property proposed development
was approved by the town of Lexington on March 12, 2025, and the approval was not appealed. You can read more about this exciting project at the Town of Lexington’s Planning Office website.

This action allowed the redevelopment of 3, 4, and 5 Militia Drive to
move forward. Shortly afterwards of receiving town approvals – SGL Development
closed on the purchase of 3 Militia Drive (photo below) from the Grace Chapel of Lexington – adding a key component to the 3-5 Militia Drive redevelopment.

This new development is to consist of 4.5 acres; 292 apartments on six (6) floors; including 29,000 sq ft of new commercial space on the first floor. This approval was allowed under the recent state MBTA zoning change which the town of Lexington has embraced. It will provide the town with much needed rental housing, and it will also include 15% of the apartments as affordable units. The new commercial space will enliven the local neighborhood and provide additional new commercial space for small businesses in the area.

Included in the photo below, left to right, are Kurt Dresser and Mark MacDonald with Grace Chapel; Matthew Curtis, Adam Seigel and Stas Maltsev with SGL Development; and Bruce Lee with Lee Partners of New England – commercial broker for the property sale.

Lee Partners of New England recently completed a brokerage services assignment for
IDEX America, Inc, that required 10 months of concentrated efforts resulting in a
successful disposition of excess office and lab space that was required due to the IDEX
America’s overseas relocation of R&D responsibilities.

The assignment required extensive marketing of the excess space – to include
electronic posting of availability, direct mailings, local in-person canvassing, prospect
property tours, and extensive negotiations with several prospective new sub-tenants for
the available space.

Bruce Lee, Managing Partner for Lee Partners of New England offered that this
marketing effort was “well supported by the local IDEX America management team led
by CFO John Kurtzweil.” John offered “Bruce – we could not have done this without
your support.”

Joshua Ulinger, Asset Manager, for the Landlord Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation
provided timely coordination efforts of behalf of the Landlord.

Adaptive Fitness & Movement, an all-inclusive fitness facility has leased 2,500 sq ft of
retail space at 425 Great Road, Action. Bruce Lee, Managing Partner of Lee Partners
of New England represented the property owner 425LLC for the Lease.

Lucille Lee, owner of Adaptive Fitness Movement LL, represented, coordinated, and managed much of the improvements required to meet their specific needs. Adaptive Fitness has expanded from their existing facility in Boxborough, MA. The lease space was formerly occupied by Color Works who expanded and relocated to alternative near-by retail space.

425 Great Road, Acton, MA is a first-class neighborhood retail strip center consisting of
18,000 sq ft of retail space that is now fully occupied. The center has excellent
exposure to Great Road and ample well-positioned front-of-store parking and exterior
signage for all tenants. Great Road is a thriving and active multi-family and commercial
real estate market area that is attracting new and expanding retail tenants.

For additional information Bruce Lee can be reached at 781.290.8101

The property located at 1 Railroad Avenue consisted of a level land lot inclusive of
some wetlands that was being used as a school bus parking lot for many years.

Bruce Lee with Lee Partners of New England agreed with the owner Larson Properties to
exclusively represent the seller for the sale of the property. Negotiations over many
months with multiple interested parties resulted in Landmark Boston signing a Purchase
and Sale Agreement with Larson Properties.

The proposed redevelopment of the property then proceeded for over a year to include town of Bedford re-development engineering and site plan approvals from the Conservation Commission, Planning Board, Department of Public Works, Fire Department, and the town Select Board. The final approved plan included 18 new multifamily residential units with some affordable units, and approximately 3,000 sq ft. of retail space.

The buyers Matt Dillon and Lizzie Dillon with Landmark Boston and the sellers Ken
Larson and Caroline Larson with Larson Properties, all being residents of Bedford,
eagerly look forward to commencement of the near-by new construction. All parties
were very appreciative of the services provided by Lee Partners – to include the timely
communication of approval progress and milestones throughout the sale process.
New construction for this approved project is projected to commence during the
Summer – Fall of 2024.