2 firms pursue Devens plant; Investors eye Evergreen site.

• Position: BUSINESS

Byline: Priyanka Dayal

DEVENS - Two real estate investment firms are looking to buy Evergreen Solar's vacant manufacturing plant and lease it to new tenants.

Evergreen Solar, formerly based in Marlboro, shuttered the Devens plant last year and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection seven months later. The bankruptcy case is pending.

Calare Properties of Hudson and Hackman Capital of Los Angeles are working to buy Evergreen's empty building, according to Peter C. Lowitt, director of the Devens Enterprise Commission, the permitting authority for Devens.

"The Calare group is working with the bankruptcy court to secure the property," he said. "We're hoping it will be imminent, but we don't really know."

The group reportedly is negotiating with potential tenants for the space. A Calare executive did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

Calare and Hackman jointly manage several industrial properties in Central Massachusetts, including in Devens, Clinton, Gardner and Westminster.

New tenants at Evergreen's factory would bring jobs to Devens, after Evergreen's decision to close the site resulted in about 800 layoffs. The move came after Evergreen said it was facing intense competition from China.

The company continued to operate a facility in Hubei Province, China. Its website now lists Hubei as its only location. Evergreen specializes in silicon wafers, a component of...