Real Estate

by Rick Winterson For the past few years, a project entitled “Dorchester Bay City” (DBC) has been in the works – from initial exploratory discussions to the formation of development/construction organizations, and recently followed by the first property usage plans and proposed building designs.  Briefly, the DBC development agent is Accordia Partners, LLC; the DBC area is just over 35 acres.  Initial proposals (all of them still under review) amount to more than six million square feet and the total DBC project cost will be several billion dollars, particularly if much of the space is devoted to life sciences – a very fast-growing (but costly) Boston industry. Make no mistake, DBC is a massive project entirely located within the district we call “Columbia Point”.  The [...]

by Rick Winterson  Tuesday evening at 6 p.m., a ZOOM meeting began, which concerned the major project at 776 Summer Street.  This ZOOM meeting explained the first onsite step, called “Deconstruction,” in developing the property where the Edison Power Plant now sits – at the 776 Summer Street address, from the Dedicated Freight Corridor near the Reserved Channel, and extending around the corner of East First Street.  The developer of this property is Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP), who acquired the property five years ago. The property to be developed was once called the Edison Power Plant, or just “the Edison”.  L Street Station was another name it had.  South Boston Online will refer to it as HRP’s development or as “776 Summer Street”, the address [...]

by Rick Winterson     No one has to be told that South Boston is an unusual place.  It was annexed to the City of Boston 215 years ago in 1804, and certain areas in Southie still retains their original names, evoking a “once-upon-a-time” connection with Dorchester.  These names include Washington Village, whose brother neighborhood was Adams Village near Quincy, and of course, Dorchester Heights, the site that anchored the first Evacuation Day on March 17, 1776. After 215 years, South Boston’s historic beginnings, middles, and current-day endings have seen enormous, earthquake-like developments, accompanied by equally enormous, earthquake-like arguments between its residents and its developers.  Zoning and its controlling regulations were supposed to provide the answers (or were they?). At approximately 40,000 residents, South Boston [...]

Another keystone, landmark event occurred in South Boston.  Call this event what you will, the Amazon Corporation and WS Development broke ground that day, for a new office complex in the center of South Boston’s booming Seaport District.  The nameplate address of the new complex is 111 Harbor Way, and it is located near the northeasterly corner of Boston Wharf Road and Congress Street.  The project is an important piece of construction for WS Development and their Seaport buildout, which is the largest real estate project in Boston’s history.  The Amazon Project is planned for completion in 2021.  Many elected and appointed officials from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and City of Boston were on hand.  Even though the weather on Tuesday exhibited its well-known Boston [...]

The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) Board of Directors approved a residential development project in South Boston near Broadway Station.   The 21-35 West Second Street will construct a new six-story building with 55 residential rental units, approximately 2,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and two on-site parking spaces for car share services. Seven of the residential units will be income-restricted. The project is located in proximity to the Broadway MBTA Station, which provides residents with access to the 9, 11, and 47 bus routes as well as the Red Line. Residents of the building will be ineligible for Resident Permit Parking.  The project will include 1,600 square feet of additional outdoor seating, public space, street lighting, and associated streetscape improvements, and will add [...]