Are you aware of all of the options there are in Leominster to lease office space?
I'd like to provide you a breakdown of the different options there are in Leominster for leasing office space. You may want to consider a downtown property, a property with good highway access, or maybe you want to be close to the hospital because you're a doctor.
In this first of a four-part series, I'll focus on the downtown area and all that it has to offer. I have separated the downtown into two sub-markets. The first being Main St and the surrounding commercial properties heading up Merriam Ave towards from the Post Office to the court house and extending South from about the Post Office down Main St to the BankNorth building and the second being the Woodblock building and 14 Manning Ave.
Main St/Courthouse area to BankNorth building
- Relatively low rents typically between $10-$12/SF Gross
- Older buildings, most without elevators so upper story offices are not ADA compliant
- parking can be found in the municipal lot behind the post office, in the garage next to the police station, or on street in a metered space. There are limited off street spaces available in a couple of privately owned lots
- Current mix of downtown businesses include several attorneys, staffing agencies, bank branches, and a few food and drinking establishments
- Biggest benefit of being downtown: Short Walk to all necessary services such as post office, drug store (new Walgreen's coming to town), coffee shop, etc...
- Biggest Drawback: Not easily accessible for clients especially for businesses in the middle of Main St on a second or third floor, and highway access is better elsewhere in town.
In general, the Main St office market is a love it or leave it type of location. If you're down there you love it and if you aren't you never want to be down there. Attorneys love the downtown because of the proximity to the courthouse. Staffing agencies, as I recently learned when I was out with a staffing agency looking for office space, love to be on Main St because there is basically a stream of job seekers that start at one end of downtown and walk to the other end hitting all of the staffing companies looking for work. Their clientele generally take the bus so the downtown is a convenient location for the temporary staffing industry.
You find very few medical professionals in the heart of downtown since the majority of the leasable space is in buildings without elevators so there is a problem with ADA compliance.
The outskirts of the downtown market offer older triple deckers that have been nicely converted into office buildings catering to small businesses looking for an inexpensive, small private office. You'll find real estate companies, massage therapists, attorneys, and several other local professionals within these buildings.
If you're looking for a place to grab a sandwich at lunch or a drink after work, you can walk to any one of several downtown eateries and drinking establishments such as La Tazza or Roma Bakery.
14 Manning Ave & Woodblock Building
- Higher than average rents in the $18/SF range but quality of space is reflected in price
- Class A space, fully ADA compliant, many modern amenities
- Plenty of off-street parking in two adjacent municipal lots as well as privately owned off-street lots
- On-Site professional management and maintenance services
- The #1 reason to locate to the Woodblock or Manning Ave locations: Owner's commitment to excellence apparent throughout both properties -worth every dollar...
- The biggest drawback to leasing here: Owner has a relocation provision in all leases which can be inconvenient if you are having to move every few years even if he is paying for the move.
The Manning Ave and Woodblock buildings are two of the five Class-A office buildings in Leominster. The tenant mix in these properties include attorneys, mortgage companies, engineering firms, real estate companies, and several other professional businesses. Being owned and professionally managed by a local investor, the properties are maintained and kept up to the highest standards so if you are looking for that executive feel in a downtown property, these buildings offer you both. The best reason to locate to the Woodblock Building, in my opinion, is the well known watering hole on the first floor, The Monument Grill. (They serve some exeptional food as well...)
If the downtown is where you want to be, there are several options to consider. Should you need further information on any particular property downtown or should you require any additional information, as I always say, please contact a qualified real estate professional. The leasing market in Leominster is very competitive and virtually every property you might consider has professional representation on their side so why shouldn't you???
The second part of this series will focus on the Erdman Way office park located just off Route 12 at the Route 2, Exit 31B interchange. This area offers a different set of benefits and drawbacks and caters to a lot of different types of businesses.
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