YOU, Inc. buys $1.7M office in Southbridge Innovation Center

Photo | Courtesy of Franklin Realty Advisors YOU, Inc. purchased a three-story building at 5 Optical Dr. in Southbridge.

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By Katherine Hamilton

A 16,473-square-foot building within the 150-acre Southbridge Innovation Center has been sold for $1.7 million to the nonprofit YOU, Inc., an affiliate of the Seven Hills Foundation & Affiliates, according to a Wednesday press release from seller Franklin Realty Advisors.

The building was sold by an affiliate of Franklin Realty Advisors LLC, a Wellesley-based firm headed by Chip Norton. Norton owns the majority of the 14-building business park in Southbridge, which he has redeveloped out of the former American Optical Co. manufacturing plant.

The most recent sale in the park to YOU, Inc. was located at 5 Optical Dr., a three-story office building. The City of Worcester’s Office of Workforce Development currently leases one of the floors in the building.

The buyer, YOU, Inc., is a Worcester-based behavioral health and education agency affiliated with Seven Hills Foundation, which is also headquartered in Worcester. Neither agency could be reached for comment on Thursday.

The sale was brokered by Worcester-based Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates, Inc., who represented both the buyer and seller.

This marks Franklin Realty’s second sale within Southbridge Innovation Center in the last six months. The firm sold a cogeneration power plant in December for $5.5 million.