Sandpiper and Dowling & O’Neil Insurance Agencies Merge

HYANNIS, MA - Sandpiper Insurance Agency merged with Dowling & O’Neil Insurance Agency in early November 2008.

Sandpiper Insurance has been operating on Cape Cod since 1991. Following the merger, the firm relocated from 12 Enterprise Road in Hyannis to Dowling & O’Neil’s nearby office located at 973 Iyannough Road. Key Sandpiper employees will now work under the Dowling & O’Neil banner.

“It’s the perfect complement of staff and expertise,” said Rob Miller, Principal of Dowling & O’Neil Insurance. “With the additional staff, we now have 22 customer service representatives dedicated to providing quality service.”

“The merger will benefit our customers,” said Christian Barber, Sandpiper Insurance. “The combined buying power from insurance carriers means more options and competitive pricing for consumers,” he added.

Dowling & O’Neil Insurance Agency has been serving clients in the Cape Cod, South Coast and South Shore regions since 1841. They represent more than twenty insurance carriers and offer personal and commercial insurance.

New Hands at the Wheel for Former Ford Dealership

FALMOUTH, MA - Nearly one year to the day after it closed for business, the former Lighthouse Ford property at 343 Dillingham Road in Falmouth changed hands. According to a deed filed on November 11, 2008 the sale price was $1,150,000. or approximately $114/SF of gross building area. The buyer was listed as 1 Lewiston Street LLC, 278 Scranton Avenue, Falmouth, MA. The main business located at this address is Falmouth Marine. Ford Motor Company was represented by CB Richard Ellis. The asking price was in the range of $1.6 Million.

Lighthouse Ford closed in November 2007 as part of a dealership consolidation program spearheaded by the Big Three automobile manufacturer. The dealership was operated as Falmouth Ford for many decades up until 2004 when it became Lighthouse Ford. The property conveyed to Lighthouse Ford Inc. in July 2004 for $1.5 Million.

The special purpose property consists of the 10,080 square foot automotive building on a level 1.73 acre site. The structure was erected in 1967 and was extensively remodeled about the time it became Lighthouse Ford.

Ford dealerships continue to be operating in Hyannis and Chatham as well as in Wareham and Plymouth.

The widely reported troubles in the automotive sector have resulted in the closing of many dealerships in the past year. Quite coincidentially is the recent closing of a Long Island, NY dealership similarly named Lighthouse Ford which also opened its doors in 2004. A message on the NY dealership’s website sums up the situation this way, “Unfortunately as a result of the ever changing market and the stark economic reality facing this country Lighthouse Ford has decided to close its doors on October 31st 2008.”

Marine Lumber of Nantucket, MA Acquired by Investment Firm

Boston, MA – Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation a national real estate investment, development and management firm headquartered in Boston, MA, announced the acquisition of the Marine Lumber Company in Nantucket, MA. The acquisition was made on behalf of Intercontinental’s U.S. Real Estate Investment Fund, LLC.

Marine Lumber, established in 1944 as a lumberyard, is a building materials supplier and retailer while also offering a host of additional products including appliances, bed and bath supplies, home decorating supplies, flowers and plants, furniture, and clothing. The company also operates two Massachusetts hardware stores located in Sandwich and South Yarmouth, and a warehouse in Hyannis, MA to service the operation. In addition to the operations of Marine Lumber, Intercontinental also acquired twenty-two residential properties and all of the underlying real estate which includes approximately 4 acres on the Nantucket Harbor waterfront.

Peter Palandjian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Intercontinental stated, “The acquisition of Marine Lumber provides us with the opportunity to acquire a mature, market leading building materials and retail center in one of the premier destinations on the east coast. The underlying real estate included in the acquisition is protected by highest-barrier zoning rendering it irreplaceable. Marine Lumber boasts an exceptional management team with vast experience and a deep devotion to the company.  We are thrilled to join their team.”

Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation is an SEC registered investment adviser and real estate operating company with expertise in real estate investment, development, construction management, and asset management. The company has developed, managed and owned over $4 billion in real property assets across all property types including commercial, mixed use, hotel, recreational and residential projects.  Presently, Intercontinental owns and manages a portfolio in excess of $2.2 billion for its clients and is actively seeking opportunities to invest in core, core plus as well as value oriented development projects.

Cape Cod Cooperative Bank Signs Tenant at New Building

HYANNIS, MA - Infor Global Solutions has leased 9,500 square feet of space at the recently completed Cape Cod Cooperative Bank Operations Center in Hyannis.

Infor Global Solutions, formerly Infinium Software, is a technology company with world headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia. The firm is the third largest provider of business software in the world with approximately $2.2 billion in revenue, more than 70,000 customers globally and 9,000 employees. With direct offices in 125 countries, Infor provides and supports enterprise solution software to businesses ranging from aerospace to shipbuilding with 3,500 product specialists in 35 countries.

Cape Cod Cooperative Bank’s Operations Center is located in Independence Park and has 2,500 square feet of leasable space remaining available.

Cape Cod Cooperative Bank is an independent, mutual community bank with over $586 million in assets. Established in 1921, the Hyannis based bank has branches in Yarmouth Port, East Dennis and West Barnstable, as well as Sandwich, Hyannis and East Harwich.

Teledyne Acquires Falmouth Tech Park Manufacturer

East Falmouth MA - In early July 2008, Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY) through its subsidiary, Teledyne Instruments, Inc., completed the acquisition of the assets of Webb Research Corp.

Webb Research, located in E. Falmouth, Mass., is the world’s leading manufacturer of autonomous underwater gliding vehicles, as well as autonomous profiling drifters and floats. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Webb Research adds autonomous underwater vehicle systems to Teledyne Marine’s portfolio of marine electronic subsystems, including acoustic modems, acoustic and inertial navigation systems, acoustic Doppler current profilers and subsea electrical and optical interconnect solutions. Webb Research’s gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that use changes in buoyancy in conjunction with wings and tail steering to convert vertical motion to horizontal, and thereby propel the system on a programmed route with very low power consumption. Applications of gliders range from oceanographic research programs to military persistent surveillance systems and mobile nodes for subsea communication networks.

In fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 Webb Research had sales of $12.2 million. After the closing, the acquired business will operate under the name Teledyne Webb Research.

Teledyne Technologies is a Thousand Oaks, California based provider of sophisticated electronic subsystems, instrumentation and communication products, engineered systems, aerospace engines, and energy and power generation systems. Teledyne Technologies’ operations are primarily located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Cape Cod Manufacturer Acquired in $80 Million Deal

Pocasset, MA - Hydroid, Inc. a manufacturer of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), announced today the company’s acquisition by Kongsberg Maritime. The sale was announced in December 2007 pending U.S. Government approvals.

Kongsberg Gruppen is headquartered in Kongsberg, Norway and is a technology group with over 4,400 employees in 25 countries. The company has two divisions, Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, and Kongsberg Maritime of which Hydroid will join. Kongsberg Gruppen reported revenues of approximately $1.6 billion in 2007 and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and traded under the ticker
KOG.

“The acquisition of Hydroid is within Kongsberg Maritime strategy to expand in the rapidly growing market for AUV-based operations through a broader portfolio of products, wider presence in the market and focused R&D efforts,” stated Rolf Arne Klepaker, Kongsberg Maritime Subsea Executive Vice President.

Hydroid was established in 2001 to manufacture, support and further develop the REMUS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology, originally developed, and licensed from, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Located in Pocasset, Massachusetts, Hydroid offers a range of REMUS vehicles, including systems rated for 6,000 meter operations, and has delivered over 150 systems in the past seven years.

All the HUGIN vehicles and the REMUS vehicles can be customized for many applications which include: hydrographic surveys, mine counter measure operations, harbor security operations, environmental monitoring, debris field mapping, marine geological survey, inspection of underwater engineering structures and pipelines, search and salvage operations, fishery operations, and scientific sampling and
mapping.

In a separate press release issued by Axia Advisors, the Burlington MA based firm announced its advisory role in connection with the $80 million sale to Kongsberg Maritime. 

Chris von Alt, President and CEO of Hydroid, LLC, stated, “As a Kongsberg company, Hydroid will continue to improve the products and services we offer, so they will be of greater value to our customers. This strategic fit is very important to our shareholders, and we are grateful to Axia Advisors for their contributions to this remarkably successful outcome.”

Warehouse/Distribution Property Changes Hands

The Mill Stores warehouse and distribution facility located at 128 Breed’s Hill Road, Hyannis, MA recently changed hands. According to public records, the 27,000SF structure on 4.13 acres conveyed in early July 2008 for $3.7 million to RAM Construction LLC of Bedford, MA. The buyer was reported to be a F.W. Webb Co., a plumbing supply company with locations throughout New England.

The property located in Independence Park, between the Cape Cod Potato Chips plant and Breed’s Hill Condominium, is one of a few high bay and sprinklered facilities of this size on Cape Cod. The property also offers several truck height docks and a large truck parking area.

Those of us who have been here long enough to remember will recall this structure was originally built in 1989 by The Myers Furniture Co. for use as their warehouse and distribution facility.

Cape Cod Bank Branches Included in Sale-Leaseback Deal

In May 2008, Rockland Trust completed a $33.0 million sale-leaseback transaction with American Realty Capital Trust, Inc. a Jenkintown, PA based REIT.

According to a SEC filing completed by the REIT in the same month, the real estate only transaction included a portfolio of 18 commercial bank branches, branch bank/offices and operation centers located throughout Southeastern MA and Cape Cod. Together the properties comprise 121,000 square feet of Gross Building Area (GBA). The sale price equated to about $272 per square foot of GBA, including associated transaction fees and closing costs.

Rockland Trust will be the sole tenant at each property and the total annual base rent for all 18 properties is just over $2.3 million. The terms for each lease are fully net and the base terms range from 10-15 years, not including four concurrent renewal options. The average base rent for all 18 locations is $19.05 per square foot as set forth in the SEC filing.

According to the Form 8-K filing the six Cape Cod branches located in Centerville, Chatham, Hyannis, Orleans, South Yarmouth and West Dennis, total almost 27,000 square feet of GBA and conveyed for $9.121 million. The collective sale prices for the six Cape Cod properties accounted for about 28% of the total acquisition price and equated to $338 per square foot of GBA. The average base rent per square foot for the Cape Cod locations was also higher than the portfolio average based on the transaction information reported to the SEC.

Rockland Trust acquired the Cape Cod properties in 2000 following the divesture of Fleet branches after its merger with BankBoston. The most recent real estate only transaction did not include all Rockland Trust properties located in Southeastern MA and Cape Cod.

The number of sale-leaseback real estate transactions involving national and regional banking entities has increased in recent years. In mid 2006, American Financial Realty Trust acquired a portfolio of 236 Citizens Bank and Charter One properties in a $317 million sale-leaseback deal. The 2006 transaction also included selected branch locations on Cape Cod. As investors such as REITS continue to be attracted to quality net leased opportunities and more banks seek to tap the equity in these prime assets, sale-leaseback transactions are likey to continue in the banking sector.  

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: INDB) the holding company for Rockland Trust Company, provides commercial banking, retail banking, and investment management services in Massachusetts. Rockland Trust has a network of 61 retail branches, ten commercial lending centers, five mortgage banking centers and four Investment Management Group offices all located in Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod. The growing community bank founded in 1907 and headquartered in Rockland, MA has $3.3 billion in assets. 

In March 2008, Independent Bank Corp. acquired Slade’s Ferry Bancorp, parent of Slades Bank. The transaction added nine new Southcoast MA branches to the Rockland Trust franchise.

With Spring in the Air, Cape Cod Businesses Change Hands

Along with rich greens and bright colors, springtime on Cape Cod and the Islands also brings a change in ownership for many businesses. Here’s a sampling of the types of busineses under new ownership between January and mid May 2008:

• Established Food Market - Upper Cape
• Waterfront Restaurant - Upper Cape
• Five Small Motels - (3) Upper Cape & (2) Mid Cape
• Upscale Inn - Nantucket
• Country Store - Mid Cape
• Ethnic Restaurant - Mid Cape
• Small Guesthouse - Outer Cape
• Three Upscale Inns - Outer Cape
• Gas Station - Mid Cape
• Two Convenience Stores - Upper Cape & Lower Cape
• Pet Kennel - Lower Cape
• Marina - Mid Cape
• Sign Shop - Upper Cape
• Upscale Cafe - Upper Cape
• Breakfast & Lunch Eatery - (2) Mid Cape
• Bakery - Mid Cape

 Stay tuned…I am aware of more transactions in the works!

Upper Cape Cod Mixed-Use Center Acquired

A two story retail and office property located in Sagamore, MA was sold in March 2008 for $1.8 million. Both sides of the deal were successfully handled by Ben Edgar, principal broker and owner of Sea Watch Realty. 

The two story property on two acres comprises approximately 28,000SF of building area is one of several former Towne Paint commercial properties sold on Cape Cod by Sandler Realty Trust between 2006 and 2008.