Local investors Ian S. Gillespie and Denison M. Hall faced national competition in their bid to purchase 55 Fairbanks Blvd. in Marlborough (shown here in an aerial photograph).

When it sold 55 Fairbanks Blvd. in Marlborough last month for $27.5 million, Lucent Technologies provided all the ingredients for a functioning office park save one: occupants.

The dearth of life forms was evident in a recent visit to the 106-acre park, with new owners Ian S. Gillespie and Denison M. Hall trodding past empty cubicles, a darkened auditorium and one computer lab being used to store artwork. A Lucent offshoot occupies a fraction of the 500,000-square-foot park, but most of the three buildings remain vacant, including one section where the build-out was stopped in its tracks.

Despite the sound of silence along the tour, Gillespie and Hall could hardly contain their excitement of having won the year-long competition, and doing so for the bargain-basement price of $55 per square foot, roughly a third of replacement cost for such a property. That number does not even account for another 500,000 square feet of approved space that can be added to the complex, noted Gillespie, who called that aspect of the deal “a cherry on top of the cake.”

“Denny and I understand that in two to three years, that land is going to be very valuable,” he said.

With office vacancies climbing to levels not seen since the recession of the early 1990s, many considered the expansion space worthless, while the continued softness along Interstate 495 kept investors from chasing the Lucent deal as aggressively as Gillespie and Hall. But the two longtime partners insist such pessimism is unfounded, maintaining that the region’s woes will be short-lived.

“You can look at this [purchase] as a bet on technology recovering,” said Hall. “We think it will, and we think this is a market that has those components important to technology [companies].”

Benefiting from its long-term grounding in the computer industry, Hall said Marlborough has the educated labor force high-tech employers are clamoring for, one that has also drawn the attention of financial services players such as Fidelity Investments. That provides a dual-economic setup that bodes well for the area once the economy rebounds, Hall said.

As for 55 Fairbanks Blvd. itself, Hall and Gillespie said they feel confident of luring tenants for both the short and long term, with a good supply of “plug and play” space available that could accommodate a user practically overnight. State-of-the-art mechanical and computer systems are ready to ramp up, as is a full-service cafeteria that can cater to a multitenanted facility. There is also plentiful parking and even a bike path that wends its way along the park.

“This is the kind of asset we really think we can do something with,” said Hall. After looking at hundreds of possibilities in the past few years, Hall said 55 Fairbanks Blvd. was one of only a few that met their criteria of buying below replacement cost, a factor which will allow the ownership to be more aggressive in rental rates and also invest the capital necessary to further upgrade the site. Along with restoration of neglected landscaping, for example, they are preparing to construct a new entrance that will improve access to such nearby highways as Interstates 290 and 495, and the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Although some observers have questioned the timing of the 55 Fairbanks Blvd. acquisition, others note that Gillespie and Hall have a proven track record in restoring problem assets, most notably 300 Baker Ave. in Concord. In 1996, the pair purchased the 400,000-square-foot facility for $6.2 million and sold it three years later for $47 million after an extensive renovation.

“The concepts are very much the same,” Gillespie said. “Work with a lot of equity, give yourself plenty of time and try to do it right.” The Concord approach was somewhat different, he said, given that 300 Baker Ave. was an older facility that was purchased for a low price and upgraded extensively, whereas 55 Fairbanks Blvd. is in considerably better shape. In the end, however, Gillespie said both deals are not only risk adverse, the investment cost will be about the same. And hopefully the returns as well.

‘The Right Expectations’

Interestingly, Gillespie said the Baker Ave. deal may have played a role in winning the Marlborough bid, given that Lucent occupied 180,000 square feet of the Concord building when he and Hall acquired that property. The Lucent official in charge of that lease later played a leading role in the company’s real estate disposition strategy, and Gillespie said he believes the earlier working relationship bolstered Lucent’s faith that the “two guys from Concord with a truck” could pull off the acquisition. Although Boston has a slew of investors who might have been able to chase the deal, Gillespie said most of the competition was from national players.

“We just grabbed on and didn’t let go,” he said of winning the deal. “We just kept putting our face in front of them, and at the end of the day, we settled on a price and we didn’t retrade.”

Financing was a critical component, with the asset in need of patient capital that will allow the large property to ride out the current market until the flood of sublease space now available subsides. Gillespie and Hall found their money in a well-heeled opportunity fund, which they declined to identify. Sources maintain it is Greenfield Partners of Connecticut.

“We’ve got the right capital with the right expectations,” Hall said. “They are perfectly content to own this for seven to 10 years if they have to.”

Even with that long-term attitude behind them, Hall and Gillespie said they are wasting no time trying to find tenants to occupy the property. The built-out space will be marketed soon, with the owners attempting to finalize an agreement with an exclusive listing agent. The pair praised Cushman & Wakefield for negotiating the sale of 55 Fairbanks Blvd., citing broker Kevin J. Hanna in particular for his assistance.

Gillespie said market conditions are slower than he might have hoped as the third quarter takes shape, anticipating that “we would have seen more signs of crocuses coming up by now.”

“That said, we’re very comfortable about where we are,” he said. “We’re excited about the future.”