Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 3, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 13 Real Estate Largest property sales in Central Mass, 2025 Name Address Property Type Sale Price Buyer(s) Seller(s) Alta on the Row 22 Mount Carmel Way, Worcester Multi-family $157,000,000 Eaton Vance Real Estate Wood Partners | PGIM, Inc. Investment Group Royal Crest Marlboro* 19 Royal Crest Dr., Marlborough Multi-family $141,000,000 Harbor Group International | Apartment Investment and CBRE Investment Management Management Co. 145 Front at City Square 145 Front St., Worcester Multi-family $122,200,000 Jones Street Veris Residential, Inc. Uxbridge Distribution Center 40 Lackey Dam Road, Douglas Industrial $120,000,000 Rockpoint Crow Holdings | Scannell @ 40 LDR Properties The 266 Framingham 266 Waverly St., Framingham Multi-family $112,000,000 Nuveen Mill Creek Residential Halstead Franklin 50 Woodview Way, Franklin Multi-family $101,000,436 The DSF Group Bluerock Real Estate, LLC Plumley Village 1-20 Laurel St., Worcester Multi-family $100,000,000 Jonathan Rose Companies | The Community Builders, Inc. Schochet Cos. Live-Work Apts: Parc 346 Turnpike Road, Westborough Multi-family $96,175,000 Apollo Management Westborough Holdings, L.P. Cottonwood Residential Commonwealth Fusion Systems 117 Hospital Road, Devens Industrial $74,000,000 Pivotal Manufacturing King Street Properties | Partners | Declaration Partners The Baupost Group, LLC Wexford Village Apartment 29 Duncannon Ave, Worcester Multi-family $60,879,200 Harbor Group International | Apartment Investment and Homes* CBRE Investment Management Management Co. * These transaction were part of a larger four-property portfolio sale. Source: CoStar 0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 0 2% 4% 6% 8% Average market rent Vacancy rate % $2,009 3.1% 3.9% 5.8% 4.5% $1,900 $1,962 $1,821 2022 2023 2024 2025 Greater Worcester multi-family rent Rent growth has slowed slightly as multi-family vacancy has crept upward, but the Greater Worcester's rent growth rate of 2.38% in the third quarter of 2025 is still above the national average of 0.7%. Demand for housing outpacing supply and new construction in Central Massa- chusetts has been bad news for renters and good news for investors looking to capitalize on the situation. "With limited new supply in the sur- rounding areas of each property, we will be well-positioned to leverage our local market knowledge to maintain stable occupancy levels," Yisroel Berg, chief investment officer of multifamily at HGI, said in a Sep. 11 press release, aer his firm purchased the Royal Crest Apart- ments in Marlborough and the Wexford Village Apartment Homes in Worcester for a combined $201.8 million. is nine-figure transaction was hard- ly an outliner, as large, stable properties in the region have been sought aer by large investment firms. Largely driven by these transaction types, the 12-month transaction volume for the multi-family Worcester metropolitan market sits at $590 million, more than double the 10- year average of $214 million, according to CoStar. ese sales fall into two buckets, Glickman said. While he wasn't personally involved in the deal, he views the $157-million sale of Worcester's 370-unit Alta on the Row as an example of one large firm, in this case Georgia-based Wood Partners, using its capital to build and stabilize a high-quality, valuable property, making it a prime target for institutional money sitting on the sidelines. e property was sold to an affiliate of Morgan Stanley. "ey built Alta, they stabilized it, and they probably created a significant amount of value over and above what their cost was," Glickman said. "ose properties become very attractive to institutional investors because they have very specific investment criteria. ey have to be high-quality properties that are stabilized. ey're willing to accept low returns, because they're getting high-quality property with a good, stabi- lized income stream." Sales of large, older properties like Plumley Village, 430-unit affordable housing community in Worcester, as well as the Royal Crest Apartments and Wexford Village sales, can represent a chance to upgrade aging sites in a region where housing is in short supply, Glick- man said. "For existing properties that have been around historically, a lot of times we're seeing that the rents being achieved in those buildings are under- valued or undermarket," Glickman said. "Sometimes you see investors come in and say 'ese rents are 20% or so below market, so we'll buy this.' Over time, they'll do some renovations to the properties and increase rents." Limited construction of new housing Even with headwinds, some Worces- ter-based multi-family projects are still moving forward. A project led by Texas-based Trammell Crow Residential to build a 220-unit complex on Oriol Drive is expected to be completed in January, while Watertown-based SMC Management is making progress on two projects off Madison Street, which will add a combined 287 units to the city. Right next to one of SMC's parcels adjacent to the Polar Park baseball stadi- um is District 120, an 83-unit affordable housing building. It joined e Cove, a nearby 173-unit luxury apartment building also opened in 2024, as resi- dential projects which managed to fight construction and financing headwinds when it opened last year. District 120 was led by Ando- ver-based Tremont Development Part- ners, a company led by President Rich Mazzocchi. About 750 people applied to live at District 120, he said at the build- ing's ribbon cutting in 2024. "If that doesn't demonstrate demand and the critical need for affordable hous- ing, I don't know what does," Mazzocchi said of the number of applicants. For single-family homes, Central Massachusetts has seen an increase in available inventory in 2025, rising from Continued on next page Notes: All figures are for the third quarter of their respective years. The Worcester metropolitan area includes all of Worcester County and Windham County, Connecticut. Source: CoStar

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