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Tuesday, 7 October 2008  8:56 PM EST 

  

 
Click here to see MBTA properties that are currently out for bid

Completed Projects

The properties listed below are Transit Oriented Development or other projects that TRA has already completed. For information on development opportunities and properties that are currently out for bid, and to sign up for the MBTA Bid List, see the Sales & Leases page.

 

Ashmont Station, Boston

Arborpoint at Woodland Station, Newton

Avenir (Parcel 1A), North Station, Boston

Wonderland Station TOD, Revere

 

 

 

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Ashmont Station

This parcel originally consisted of 30,000 square feet of land and was an underutilized employee parking lot located at the aging Ashmont Station which provides a bus terminus and Red Line rapid transit stop. Upon completion of station design including bus and auto circulation around the station, it was determined that an additional 17,000 square feet of land could be made available and enhance the development potential of the project.

The MBTA had plans to modernize the station and realign the bus turnaround. In working with the community it determined that a TOD project at the station would meet community goals and generate important non-fare revenues that could help offset the capital costs of the improvements.

An RFP was drafted, and the public bid process resulted in the designation of an 85 year lease transaction with Trinity Financial . There is tremendous community support for this TOD project which includes 74 units of affordable housing with first floor retail and parking. The MBTA collected $1.425 Million as the single up-front lease payment for the development rights.

The transaction closed in April of 2006 and construction was completed in March 2008.  The residential units are 75% occupied and the retail component will be 75% occupied by Fall 2008.



 

 

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Arborpoint at Woodland Station

Arborpoint at Woodland Station is a “friendly 40b” (Massachusetts high density/affordable/mixed housing project) Transit-Oriented Development incorporating 180 rental apartment units with 25% affordable units and a structured parking garage. Prepayment of the $4,300,000 Ground Lease Payments allowed for the construction of a 548 unit parking garage, new entrance road, and redesigned handicapped accessible station platform, expanding the overall parking by 100 spaces. The MBTA parking garage and housing development are completed.  The housing project is 95% leased.

Arborpoint serves as one of the more successful TOD projects in the state. New facilities for the MBTA have been developed while providing for housing located at the Transit location.

Significant savings have been achieved by contracting the work through the private construction firm. The overall project came in about 5% over budget. This is remarkable due to significant increased construction costs during the project. The project operating agreement calls for sharing the costs of maintenance of the entry road and the landscaping, reducing the long-term maintenance obligations of the MBTA at this location. The MBTA can recapture some of its financial contributions through increased parking fees generated by the garage.


 

 

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Avenir (Parcel 1A), Boston

After a long term community process involving the Downtown North Association and the Bulfinch Triangle Development Advisory Committee, the MBTA offered to lease a 1.18 acre parcel over the Green and Orange Lines’ North Station stops across Causeway St. from the TD Banknorth Garden.

Based on a public bid, the MBTA concluded a 99 year air rights year lease with Trinity Financial and Archstone-Smith. The agreement will result in the replacement of a dilapidated one-story office building by a mixed-use rental project consisting of approximately 241 rental apartment units, almost 30,000 square feet of street-level retail space, and 116 structured parking spaces.

The local community strongly supports this project. Construction has begun.


 

 

 

 

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Wonderland Station, Revere

MBTA's Wonderland Station parking lot, commonly referred to as "Parcel H", is the last station stop on the MBTA's Rapid Transit Blue Line. The parcel consists of approximately 2.61 acres of land and supports approximately 287 parking spaces for MBTA commuters.



Parcel H is part of a larger redevelopment offering issued by the City of Revere for three publicly owned parcels of land. Parcel H is the centerpiece of the development site upon which the development offering contemplates the construction of a hotel, public plaza and office complex.

The Massachusetts Legislature enacted Chapter 877 of the Acts of 1977 designed to assist the City of Revere with its development goals at Revere Beach. The legislation provided for the MBTA to convey the air rights over Parcel H to the City for development purposes. However, air rights alone were not feasible for development, so the MBTA and the City entered into an agreement to allow for both the air and surface rights in Parcel H to be conveyed to the City for development purposes. This agreement was conditioned on replacing the 287 commuter parking spaces on Parcel H within close proximity of the Station.

The challenge to solving the replacement parking issue was met through the development of a parking feasibility study. The study determined that a 1500 car parking garage could be constructed on the opposite side of the station from the development parcel on other MBTA owned land. The study also determined that additional parking yet to be displaced by development of other non-MBTA owned surface parking lots could be accommodated in addition to the parking displaced by development of Parcel H.

The designated developer continues to advance an approximately $450 million dollar mixed use TOD development on the total Wonderland acreage, consisting of approximately 1.3 million s.f. of development and featuring 450,000 square feet of hotel and office complex development. This TOD project will transform an underutilized area into a vibrant, self sustaining and economically beneficial development for the City.

 

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