Natick Mall Nieman Marcus Bought, Lab Space Possible: Report

NATICK, MA — To see the future of the Natick Mall, you may only have to look down Route 9 a little ways.

The Nieman Marcus space at the mall has been acquired by a company that handled the turnaround of the former Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill, the Boston Globe reported this week. The firm NM Redevelopment Co. closed on the purchase of the 310 Speen. St. Nieman Marcus building and parking garage — which is separate from the larger Natick Mall — on Monday for $12.6 million, according to the Middlesex County Registry of Deeds.

NM Redevelopment is a subsidiary of Bulfinch, the Boston development firm behind many office and residential projects across greater Boston — including the Life Time Center, the new name of a collection of health and wellness businesses operating in the former Atrium Mall.

Shortly after Nieman Marcus announced the closure, commercial real estate broker Garry Holmes of Wayland-based R.W. Holmes Realty speculated the Natick Mall could be a prime candidate for a conversion from retail to biotech and life sciences office space — and Holmes cited the Life Time Center conversion as an example of such a successful project.

In the midst of a bankruptcy reorganization, Nieman Marcus announced in August 2020 it would close the Natick store. The news came shortly after Lord & Taylor announced it would close its Natick Mall location. However, the Nieman Marcus has reamained open — and will likely stay open until September, according to the Globe.

Bulfinch did not specify what it plans to do with the Natick space, telling the Globe that any new project will "meet current market demands."