Devens

A local caterer has bought the former Hodges Theater in Devens and the three acres on which it's situated, according to MassDevelopment, which sold the property for $120,000.

National auto parts retailer O'Reilly Auto Parts will be bringing at least 300 employees over the next few years to a recently purchased distribution facility in Devens.

Leave it to Devens to become the destination of the much-anticipated film studios that economic development leaders had hoped would come when Massachusetts implemented tax credits designed to lure the film industry. Developers floated plans for other locations, perhaps most notably a $500-million filming facility proposed for Plymouth, known as Plymouth Rock Studios. Unable to come up with the financial backing to move ahead with construction, that plan failed, while others never got off the ground.

Jones Lang LaSalle said it has helped secure leases for 235,000 square feet of space in the Devens Industrial Park over the past month.

Massachusetts has come to be known as the Hollywood of the East, but it's been lacking one crucial element: a professional film studio where crews can shoot indoor scenes with all the necessary equipment on hand. That changed this fall when New England Studios finally launched in Devens. A project six years in the making, New England Studios may be the key to acheiving what Massachusetts economic development leaders hoped for when they designed film tax credits to lure the industry here: a new destination for the film industry.

American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC), a Devens-based wind and power grid company, announced it has increased its borrowing capacity through an amendment to its existing loan and a stock sales agreement.

Lexington-based Evergreen Village Collaborative has been selected by MassDevelopment to build 120 housing units in the Grant Road neighborhood of Devens, the state agency announced.

Devens-based wind and power grid company AMSC reduced its loss in its most recent financial quarter, but said governmental instability in Asia could prevent the company from reaching its full-year revenue target.

Nypro has agreed to lease more than 205,000 feet of space in Devens at the former Evergreen Solar plant, according to real estate companies involved in the deal.

Four Central Massachusetts firms have been named winners of economic impact awards, given annually by MassEcon, a nonprofit that helps promote business growth in the commonwealth.