Patrick designates growth initiative in Burlington

The administration of Governor Deval L. Patrick said it has designated the Middlesex Turnpike Corridor in Burlington as a Growth District Initiative in which development can be fast-tracked.

The governor's office said in a media advisory yesterday: "The initiative offers a focused approach to work with each community ensuring that all required permits are secured, site preparation is completed, infrastructure improvements are identified, and marketing resources are made available. Each of the 16 districts being announced during this initial round will be put on a fast track for groundbreaking."

The Middlesex Turnpike Corridor growth district is made up of an area that when fully developed, will include 2.8 million square feet of office space, 600,000 square feet of retail, and space for 300 units of housing, the governor's office said.

Nordblom Co., a real estate company with offices in Burlington, Boston, and Brookline, said it has plans to redevelop much of that area, which is the former Sun Microsystems campus. Nordblom is rebranding the Sun campus as Network Drive at Northwest Park.

Nordblom said it recently signed a lease with Exa Corp. for 66,000 square feet of office space at the site. (The image at left was provided by Nordblom.)

On its website, Exa describes itself as a company that develops, markets, and supports simulation software for the fluids engineering marketplace.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)