Massachusetts Port Authority Board Chooses Developer for Property in South Boston
BGI and highly diverse team will develop the parcel and incorporate public realm
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) Board of Directors voted today to allow the Authority to enter into a development agreement and ground lease with Boston Global Investors (BGI) and their team for the A-2 parcel in South Boston.
The project details include:
- Parcel size: 1.1 acres (approx. 50,000 sq ft)
- 600,000 sq ft total development
- Incorporates Triangle Parcel as part of Public Realm (0.5 acres, approx. 21,000 sq ft)
- Estimated construction start: Late 2020
- Estimated completion: Late 2022
One of Massport’s goals for the project was to continue the diversity and inclusion criteria that began with the Summer Street hotel project in 2017. The criteria makes diversity and inclusion an equally weighted criteria alongside financing, design and overall team makeup. The BGI proposal included more than 25 percent minority-owned and women-owned businesses throughout their plans, from equity investment to architecture and construction.
Alongside BGI, the equity investment team includes Don Cogsville, of the Cogsville Group, Gosder Cherilus of Eagle Development Partners as well as Edge Technologies, based in Amsterdam, and Normandy Real Estate Partners. Athena Global Advisors will lead the public realm programming and placemaking, with Kelly King of The Cogsville Group. General Contracting is a joint venture between Suffolk Construction and General Air. Architecture is a joint venture between Sasaki and Elevecture.
“When we put out the Summer Street project RFP we wanted to create more opportunities for local diverse firms to get in the game,” said Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn. “With this project we wanted to build upon that and ask developers to not only have a diverse and talented team, but to also incorporate public realm. The BGI – Cogsville – Eagle team put together a great proposal with local and national diverse partners. This further demonstrates that Boston is open for business.”
This project marks yet another major investment in South Boston’s Waterfront District. A key part that made the Request For Proposals (RFP) for this project unique, and a first for Massport, was a request for developers to create a public realm element. The 1.1-acre parcel owned by Massport is situated along Congress Street and across from Massport’s South Boston Waterfront Transportation Center on the elevated World Trade Center Avenue. The goal was to connect the building with the surrounding community in a creative way that benefits South Boston residents, workers and visitors.
For public realm, the BGI proposal will utilize the “Triangle parcel” located between the parcel and 399 Congress St. Their public realm concept includes:
- 100,000 sq ft of public space, with 60,000 sq ft indoors for year-round use;
- $25.9 M investment in on-site Public Realm infrastructure and programming;
- Flexible indoor and outdoor spaces for events, festivals, and community programs;
- Arts and culture space, with a focus on youth organizations;
- Innovation and co-working space.
John Hynes, leading the BGI team, is known for the recent joint development of Seaport Square, a vibrant 23 acres in the heart of the Seaport District. BGI successfully developed a downtown office building in a joint venture with minority partners (Columbia Plaza Associates) at One Lincoln Street, known as State Street Financial Center – the only one that has been done in Boston and the minority partners shared in the project’s success.