Franklin Street mill complex sells for $2.4M
Photo/Grant Welker
A mill complex where Labex of MA and David Clark Co., among others, are based has sold for $2.4 million. Another sale is said to be in the works.
Four buildings at 300,000-square-foot Franklin Street mill complex in Worcester have changed hands after a court action that began in November.
Land records show the building was sold for more than $2.4 million on April 1 to an entity registered to Ed Russo, owner of steel caging company for biotech companies Labex of MA, but Russo told WBJ the property will eventually be sold to David Clark Co., a headset communications systems maker for the aviation industry that's based on the site.
Russo is also the owner of Canal District restaurant Lock 50.
A representative of David Clark Co. did not immediately return a request for comment. No land transaction with David Clark Co. has been recorded.
The previous owner of the building was 346 Franklin Street LLC, an entity registered to a man named Solomon Hirsch.
According to court documents, the property was auctioned off in October to Natick-based entity Biophilic Inc. for roughly $2.4 million. The purchase agreement specifically mentioned the lease with Labex and the company’s right of first refusal.
Russo said his business leases 100,000 square feet of space in the building, so he exercised his right of first refusal to protect his business from displacement.
Labex's legal move effectively terminated Biophilic’s purchase, leading Biophilic to sue in November. The court dismissed Biophilic’s case in February, calling the lawsuit “frivolous because it is devoid of factual support and of any arguable basis in law.”
Dana Thorpe, owner of Biophilic, said when reached by phone that he wanted to keep all existing tenants and was planning to renovate the mill, which he called “dilapidated.”
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