Freudenheim Partners proudly announces the successful facilitation of a groundbreaking land lease agreement covering 16 acres in Holyoke, MA. Sublime Systems, developers of a fossil-fuel-free, scalable, drop-in replacement for conventional cement in concrete, has finalized an agreement for 16 acres in Holyoke’s Flats neighborhood on Water Street. The site, formerly occupied by paper mills, now harnesses Holyoke’s robust hydroelectric resources—a crucial component for Sublime’s fully electrified cement manufacturing process.
Anticipating the commissioning of its Holyoke facility as early as 2026, Sublime plans to produce tens of thousands of tons per year of its low-carbon Sublime Cement™ at this site. The production will adhere to a “true zero” approach, eliminating the use of fossil fuels or decomposing limestone, the primary emissions sources in traditional highpolluting cement manufacturing. This strategic expansion allows Sublime to expand its customer base and fully retire its scale-up risk before constructing a one-million-ton-per-year-capacity plant, equivalent in size to traditional cement manufacturing plants.
Anthony Biette and Leigh Freudenheim represented Sublime Systems in facilitating this transaction.
Sublime’s innovative mission marks a significant milestone for the city of Holyoke and Massachusetts as it establishes its inaugural location,” stated Anthony Biette, Executive Vice President at Freudenheim Partners. “From the outset, our collaboration with state and city administration was paramount to ensuring that substantial economic opportunities emanate from its commercial expansion in the city. Given Holyoke’s industrial legacy, it’s an ideal opportunity to become a beacon for clean tech and the manufacturing of the future.”
“We are thrilled to have worked closely with Freudenheim Partners to secure this pivotal site,” remarked Sublime Systems CEO and Co-Founder LeahEllis.” Their expertise and dedication have been instrumental in laying the foundation for our first commercial scale-up in Holyoke, where we are excited to bring new clean manufacturing jobs as we scale production of our low-carbon cement.”
About Sublime Systems:
Sublime Systems is on a mission to have a swift, massive, and enduring impact on global CO2 emissions by decarbonizing cement. Unlike net-zero solutions that rely on carbon capture or credits, Sublime’s fully electrified, “true-zero” approach avoids the industry’s legacy fossil-fueled kilns and limestone feedstock. Sublime’s electrochemical process instead extracts reactive calcium and silicates from an abundance of raw materials at ambient temperature, to make ASTM C1157-compliant Sublime Cement™, a drop-in replacement for ordinary portland cement in concrete. Sublime was founded at MIT by Dr. Leah Ellis and Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang, both respected experts in materials science, electrochemical systems, and sustainability research. The company has raised more than $140M from leading climate tech investors, strategic investor Siam Cement Group, and cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, IEDO, and OCED award programs. It currently operates a Somerville, MAbased pilot plant with a >250 TPY production capacity and is developing its 30,000 TPY first commercial facility to open in Holyoke, MA as early as 2026. Learn more at sublime-systems.com.
About Freudenheim Partners:
A commercial real estate brokerage firm founded on the principle that strong relationships are built by consistently delivering the best results for our clients. FP brings creativity, thoughtful insight and superior execution to the forefront of each and every leasing and investment sales interaction.
For more information about Freudenheim Partners, please visit https://www.fpcre.com.
