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MassDevelopment In The News
Bristol-Myers Completes Purchase at Devens
February 23, 2007: Harvard Hillside, by Nathan Lamb
DEVENS - Bristol-Myers Squibb has officially purchased 89 acres on the former military base at a cost of $3,652,500, said MassDevelopment Chief of Staff Meg Delorier.
The transaction was completed on February 16.
The property is slated to become a $660 million manufacturing campus that will create 350 jobs by 2009.
Having beaten out an international field of suitors for the project, Delorier termed it a major coup for Massachusetts and Devens. MassDevelopment is looking forward to the next stage of the relationship, she said.
"Now that we've finalized this important transaction, we look forward to continuing to work with Bristol-Myers Squibb as construction commences," she said. "Our Devens team has extensive experience assisting clients to bring their projects to fruition, and we will certainly employ our expertise as needed with Bristol-Myers Squibb."
The development will come in phases. The first 397,140 square feet was approved by the Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) in October.
The majority of that figure is for a production facility, warehouse, utility building, and administrative structure and lab, said DEC Director Peter Lowitt. The entire campus will be over 750,000 square feet when complete, he said.
Permitting for the facility took 49 days. Lowitt credited that quick turnaround to several factors including unified permitting at Devens under the commission, which has 75 days to rule on applications.
He also listed standing environmental approvals for the enterprise zone from the state as a means to bypass another potentially lengthy hurtle. A full-time commission staff and the extensive use of consultants also contributed to the quick process, he said.
A similar project elsewhere would take months, if not years, to permit, said Lowitt.
"It's one of the reasons the DEC is here, to fast-track large-scale, complicated projects and attract these types of facilities to the commonwealth," he said.
Asked why permitting came before the sale, Delorier said it's not uncommon for closings to hinge on permitting approval for large, complicated projects.
According to a release from the company, the Devens facility is to increase production for commercially-available biological compounds such as Orencia, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Production at the facility is expected to commence in 2010 following a review by the federal Food and Drug Administration, states the release.
Bristol-Myers Squibb announced it was coming to Devens last June after a lengthy review of an international field of locations.
© Copyright 2007 Harvard Hillside.
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