TAUNTON – While a tenant is not yet known, construction has begun on a new facility at Myles Standish Industrial Park. The 180,000 square foot manufacturing facility, being built to lease at 55 Dever Drive, sits inside the new business park where the former Dever State School once stood.
Boston-based real estate investment firm Rhino Capital Advisors, LLC owns the 11-plus acres encompassing the facility, and said they are looking for a tenant to lease the space now, before completion.
Tyler Murphy, head of construction and development for Rhino Capital Advisors, said “building on spec,” before having a tenant lined up, is a common practice in today’s real estate industry.
Murphy said they hope to attract a business that is referred to as “tough tech,” which could include higher-end manufacturing, research and development, and companies associated with life sciences.
Design features
The design of the facility makes it ideal for manufacturing. Plans include five loading docks, a 32-foot clearing height in the facility, and up to 8,000-amp power capacity.
“Power is the most important thing for a manufacturer,” said Murphy.
The location in the Myles Standish Industrial Park is absolutely a feature for attracting new manufacturers, he said, adding the diversity of businesses and scale of the park “creates a place where other tenants want to be, and where you continue to have an educated, diverse workforce in the surrounding area to supply labor to them.”
The facility is however following a “flexible nature,” meaning a loose design where there’s room for changes mid-construction if a tenant-to-be has specific features or modifications they want included.
It is anticipated the facility will support hundreds of new jobs when a tenant is found.
Construction of the manufacturing facility is expected to be completed by spring/early summer 2025. The contractor for the project is J. Calnan & Associates.
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History of the property
The former Dever State School was founded in 1952, previously called the Myles Standish School for the Mentally Retarded. In 1959 its name was changed to the Paul A. Dever State School in honor of the former Massachusetts Governor who was in office from 1949–1953. It remained an institution for special needs individuals until its closing in 2002.
Redevelopment
In 2011, the state dubbing it surplus land and sold the Dever State School property, totaling 220 acres, for $1 to a partnership between Taunton Development Corporation and Mass Development Corporation (TDC/MDC) to redevelop the land and expand the Myles Standish Industrial Park.
Kelsey Schiller, director of communications for Mass Development, said that from 2012-2020, the TDC/MDC partnership for these 220 acres, "completed MEPA permitting and traffic mitigation, demolished and remediated more than one million square feet of vacant buildings, tunnels, and water towers, and constructed new roads and utilities."
Some of the companies that were on parcels once connected to the Dever School site include a Sullivan Tire warehouse and call center, Maxon Precision Motor, and Martignetti Companies.
Acting Mass Development President and CEO Dan O'Connell said in a press release the last 12 years of transforming the former Dever State School site has resulted in $158 million in private investment and 1,400 new jobs.
Rhino Capital properties in Myles
TDC/MDC sold the remaining two undeveloped lots on the former Dever site, totaling 21 acres, to Rhino Capital Advisors, LLC in 2022.
Rhino Capital also has a separate 10-acre parcel adjacent to this land that will also be converted into a manufacturing facility in the future, but a date and schedule has yet to be determined.
Rhino Capital previously built a 100,000 square foot facility in 2019 at 130 Dever Dr., which housed industrial company NN Inc. before it consolidated operations and left Taunton in 2022. The site is now occupied by Environmental Systems, Inc.
City support
Said Taunton Mayor Shaunna O'Connell in a press release from Mass Development: “This state-of-the-art development will not only enhance our city's industrial landscape but also create hundreds of job opportunities for our residents. Our collaboration with MassDevelopment has been instrumental in making this vision a reality, showcasing the strength of our public-private partnerships and our commitment to fostering economic growth in Taunton."
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