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Image courtesy of Core Investments
Core Investments is proposing a 2.5 million-square-foot commercial development in South Boston, beginning with a two-building lab conversion and a 15-story tower containing 670,000 square feet of office and lab space.
The Boston-based developer has begun a $75 million conversion of two industrial buildings totaling 140,000 square feet at 2 and 4 Alger St. into lab-ready space, and already received letters of intent from prospective tenants, said John Cissel, president of development for Core Investments.
“The marketplace today is saying we need space immediately. There is such pent-up demand right now,” Cissel said.
Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the space, which could be ready for occupancy by the end of the year.
In addition to the Alger Street conversions, Core Investments is preparing to submit a master-planned development for the rest of the 9.1-acre site on the western side of Dorchester Avenue. Core Investments is targeting a late 2022 groundbreaking for the first of four new buildings, the 670,000-square-foot office-lab tower at 505 Dorchester Ave. on the southeast corner of the site.
Amazon had sought to lease a portion of the site for a last-mile distribution center, but withdrew the proposal in November after Boston Planning and Development Agency officials said it conflicted with the vision for the industrial neighborhood’s transformation as its Plan: Dot Ave. study. Core Investments withdrew the Amazon proposal at a November zoning board of appeals meeting.
The master-planned development would include 1.1 acres of open space and resiliency strategies, developers said Monday in filing a letter of intent with the BPDA.
The Plan: Dot Ave. study estimates that the 144-acre area between the MBTA’s Broadway and Andrew stations could support 16 million square feet of new development. Cissel said the project will seek to create a tech and life science hub tapping into connections not only to Cambridge’s Kendall Square, but the growing life science presence in the Seaport District and A Street corridor.
