Image courtesy of CUBE 3

A 312-unit apartment complex is under construction in a Lexington office park where town officials have sought to reinvigorate development activity including multifamily housing.

BXP is partnering with Northwestern Mutual on the 17 Hartwell Ave. development, which replaces a small office-lab building.

BXP sold the property to a joint venture for $21.8 million on June 30 and contributed $5.6 million toward the development, the office REIT announced this week. BXP will manage the development, and will have a 20 percent ownership interest in the property.

The $98.7 million construction loan has a 6.75 percent interest rate and matures in July 2030. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-2027.

The project was approved in part of Lexington’s MBTA Communities district, which received strong interest from developers after town meeting approved a plan exceeding the state’s minimum requirements for rezoning areas near transit stops for multifamily housing.

Lexington’s town meeting voted in March to cut the MBTA Communities district in half, after developers proposed more than 1,000 units in 10 projects.

The Hartwell Avenue area has been a focus of local officials’ attempts to reinvigorate suburban office parks with additional uses ranging from housing to life science buildings.

The BXP apartment complex replaces a parking lot and office-lab building on the 5.25-acre site with a 5-story apartment complex and parking garage and a small retail building.