Client Success — Commercial Real Estate Case Studies
Our zero-compromise, consultative approach delivers results.
We help innovators find specialized real estate with the ideal space, infrastructure, terms and capabilities — and stay involved long after the transaction.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems
First commercial fusion power plant
Steele Group and Anchor Advisors supported the national site selection process to identify the home of CFS’s first commercial fusion power plant — evaluating land, energy access and long-term cost implications across multiple U.S. regions while navigating competing regulatory regimes, incentive programs and environmental variables. CFS selected a Virginia site that cleared both engineering and investment thresholds.
Textron
Classified production consolidation
A 700,000 SF legacy campus consolidated into a single 250,000 SF facility built for advanced manufacturing and new aerospace and government weapon systems programs — R&D electronic labs, munitions testing and storage, laser testing and development. Building multiple program areas inside classified environments meant integrating specialized soundproofing, secure communications, access controls and surveillance without compromising operational functionality. The result met the client’s program needs and improved manufacturing efficiency; 35 surplus acres were sold, with proceeds allocated back to the project.
Merlin
Headquarters and flight test — Hanscom Field, MA
Merlin, a developer of takeoff-to-touchdown flight autonomy, needed a permanent East Coast flight test center — roughly 95,000 SF of hangar, lab and office on an active airfield with direct runway access. Qualifying airside supply was effectively zero. Steele Group sourced the deal entirely off-market with Runway Realty Ventures: a historic Navy hangar, vacant for decades and never on the market, requiring Massport and Commonwealth coordination, historic review and local permitting in parallel with the lease. Steele Group represented Merlin through negotiation while running aeronautical-access approvals on the same clock.
Veeva Systems
New York relocation — PENN 2
Engaged four years ahead of lease expiration at 1375 Broadway, where Veeva had inherited 50,000 SF across four non-contiguous floors through an acquisition. Steele Group ran renewal against every alternative within reach of the existing building through a rapidly improving Manhattan market. After a two-plus year process, Veeva relocated its entire New York operation onto a single 62,000 SF floorplate on the 11th floor at PENN 2 — and, with Anchor Advisors, ran the interview and vetting process that selected the project management firm for the buildout.
Confidential Energy Company
Soon to be announced — Magnet manufacturing facility
The company needed its first magnet manufacturing facility delivered without spending equity reserved for R&D and growth. Conventional developers would finance core and shell only — roughly $80M of a $150M project — leaving a significant funding gap. Steele Group sourced a qualified sponsor prepared to capitalize the full project and led predevelopment, underwriting, negotiation, land transfer and closing. The fully capitalized build-to-suit is now under active development.
Reframe Systems
Robotics microfactory — Billerica, MA
Reframe Systems builds homes in robotics-enabled microfactories rather than on site, so its first full-scale plant had to run as a production line, not a warehouse. Steele Group secured 115,000 SF in Billerica carrying the power, clear heights and rail access the line required, an oil/water separator, and five acres of industrial outdoor storage for staging and finished modules. Reframe had the building operational in under 70 days from receiving the keys. At capacity it can produce up to 500 multifamily units or 250 single-family homes a year.
Genezen
Cell & gene therapy CDMO — Lexington, MA
Genezen is a technical and quality-focused CDMO advancing gene and cell therapies through viral vector services and manufacturing solutions. Its 103,000 SF Lexington facility is an FDA-approved, mission-critical asset supporting the development and manufacture of some of the world’s most important drugs — which made expanding in place, rather than moving, the only real option. Steele Group led the engagement end to end: evaluating the expansion, negotiating the extension, converting space to fit the program, and securing a significant concession package to fund the growth.
General Biological
Pilot manufacturing — Waltham, MA
Following a Series A, General Biological needed a pilot manufacturing site ready for immediate occupancy — a program that sits between full BSL-2 lab, chemistry lab and R&D lab, where most available space is built to BSL-2 and priced accordingly. Steele Group leveraged lab market vacancy to negotiate an aggressive concession package, letting the company take a footprint sized for growth without paying for the entire envelope on day one.
Confidential Battery Company
Three-facility portfolio review
The company had just completed a large battery cell testing plant in Massachusetts — two large dry rooms at -40°C and -15°C, ISO 7/8 compatible environments, H rooms — when the battery market came to a halt. Steele Group reviewed the in-place infrastructure across three Massachusetts facilities and, through market intelligence, identified a DoW-related contract with matching humidity requirements. An early lease termination with a local defense contractor followed, along with a multi-million dollar equipment purchase.
LinkSquares
Advised on five office moves across seven years, aligning each strategy with headcount, revenue and funding cycles — culminating in a 125,000 SF lease across four floors with a major free-rent package, floor-by-floor takedown and building signage following a $100M Series C.
"As we've grown — and occupied five different offices — their team has guided us every step of the way, from balancing space with budgets to executing seamlessly across our entire life cycle."
Strand Therapeutics
At the forefront of mRNA therapeutics. Following a $97M Series A, Strand needed expansion across discovery, process development and in vivo functions in a competitive lab market — solved with a seven-year, 64,000 RSF consolidation across two floors at 20 Overland Street.
"When it comes to multi-million dollar real estate decisions, the complicated and competitive process necessitates true partnership. Steele Group has brought knowledge, trust and stalwart execution to the table for our company on a multitude of occasions."
Seurat Technologies
We built a campus at three adjacent buildings that all had unique existing infrastructure — a 30,000 SF manufacturing facility, a 16,000 SF pilot print depot and a 25,000 SF headquarters — supporting the goal of reimagining metal additive.
"By locating our print depot, R&D center and office headquarters within walking distance, we now work as a unified organization. Steele Group understands that Seurat's mission is more than the next unicorn — it's an opportunity to positively impact our planet."
RightHand Robotics
Post a $66M Series C, RightHand needed hard-to-find flex/industrial space near engineering talent while controlling cost. We surfaced off-market options from the urban core to Route 128 and delivered a 46,000 SF Charlestown facility — 30% below market — in two months.
"They came back to us with options that weren't even on the market — giving us more choices than we feel we would have had with any other provider, and helping keep our teams happy with the move."