In our edition 621 of April 22, 2018, we reported about IndusPAD, a high quality “A” class manufacturing facility of 596,181 square feet located in Lawrence and Methuen in MA.
This was originally built in 1996 by Malden Mills, a world leader in synthetic fabrics. Later on, it was owned by Polartec and in December of 2015, the company announced it would close manufacturing operations in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and move its production to the Hudson, New Hampshire and Tennessee plants.
When the lights went out, the machines stopped and the last worker closed the door behind him, the building became a white elephant for the cities of Lawrence and Methuen. Many of us who passed by daily asked ourselves, what will become of it. Since the building had been built for a factory, we thought it could only be used to make something, but what?
While these thoughts occupied our minds, we had no idea that on the west coast of the country, in California and specifically in the City of San Francisco, “someone” was interested in acquiring the building. That “someone” was Jitender Makkar, a businessman with 15 years of experience in real estate.
Makkar began his professional career in Building Construction and Architectural Design in 1996 in New Delhi, India. It also expanded into textiles, trenchless cable technologies and infrastructure development.
Through training and education, Mr. Makkar is an urbanist with a Master’s Degree in Housing and Urban Planning from the Architectural Association, London, United Kingdom.
In 2000, when the opportunity presented itself, he moved to California. He became a major force in the development of land in the Bay Area and a pioneer in the complex world of zoning subdivisions and approvals in the most difficult community in America. During those years, he expanded to become a real estate investor and land developer.
“We have to wonder what’s on the mind of someone who buys a building like this,” said Joseph Bevilacqua.
Mr. Makkar has now partnered with Mark Friery to grow further and expand his horizons thanks to this vision for IndusPAD creating opportunities for the new companies of tomorrow using this platform.
“Young entrepreneurs can’t open a business in Boston,” said State Representative Linda Dean Campbell. “We are giving lots of money to community colleges to train for future careers but then, they need a place to start.”
With a ribbon cutting ceremony held Friday, June 29th at IndusPAD, the association with CI Works was announced. Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce was the key in joining Mr. Makkar and CI Works, represented by its CFO, Mark Friery.
CI Woks focuses on relocating commercial properties and plans to fill 100,000 square feet at IndusPAD with more than 60 small companies that have run out of space at their plant in Amesbury.
“The jobs we’ll create here will have an effect on the next generation,” said Jittender Makkar.
