Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

August 31, 2010

Will Shaq Move Be A Slam Dunk For Sudbury Businesses?

MetroWest may soon have a very big new resident.

Perennial NBA all-star and the newest member of the Boston Celtics, Shaquille O'Neal is reportedly interested in a Sudbury mansion.

The 7-foot, 325-pound future NBA Hall-of-Famer reportedly has his eyes set on a 10,000-square-foot, $3.2 million, six-bedroom, eight-bath, three-floor compound at 555 Concord Rd. in Sudbury.

And while Shaq may be a big name moving into the area, Laurie Cadigan, president of Barrett and Company Real Estate in Concord and president-elect of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said individual big-ticket real estate moves don't necessarily have a big impact on the local market.

"I would love to say that a celebrity moving to the area is a boost for the market, but really it's just one transaction," she said. "What it does confirm is that these are beautiful towns that have lovely quality of life and amenities."

Tough Market
Overall, the luxury real estate market has suffered during the past few years, Cadigan said.

While high-end real estate in Boston and on the Cape and the islands seems to be active, she said suburban real estate is still slow given that buyers and renters are more conservative now than they've ever been.

Media representatives from the Boston Celtics said they could not give any information about where O'Neal would be living.

State land records show that the house most recently sold in 2005 for $3.1 million to 555 Concord Road LLC.

While there has been no official documentation of O'Neal buying or renting the house recently, that hasn't stopped local media from reporting that the star is interested in it.

Stephen Grande III is a lawyer in Sudbury who represented Kenneth and Deborah Stevens, the listed owners of the property and managers of the 555 Concord Road LLC. Grande said he has not heard anything definitive about O'Neal moving into the home, but he said he would not necessarily be involved in the process even if O'Neal was renting the home.

Grande said his grandfather use to live in the home when it was much smaller in the 1940s and 50s. Since then it has been sold twice and adjacent lots of land to the home have been added to the property.

The property is now about 5.3 acres and is close to the Lincoln-Sudbury High School. It includes a pool and a par-three golf course, according to listings of the property online.

"It's an antique property, very beautiful," Grande said.

The home is also used to hosting basketball players.

Grande said former Celtics star Eddie House used to live in the property. House was traded away from the Boston Celtics last year.

"It'll certainly be fun to run into Shaq at the local grocery store," Grande said. "That is if he does his own shopping."

Judy Barclay, of Barclay & Sampson TEAM 21 in Wellesley, which is part of Century 21's Fine Homes and Estates division, is the listed agent for the property, but Barclay said she could not comment on O'Neal possibly moving to the area.

"If Mr. O'Neal wants his Boston fans to know where he will be living, he should really be the one making any sort of statements related to that," she said.

Sign up for Enews

WBJ Web Partners

0 Comments

Order a PDF