Image courtesy of Gensler
A Boston developer is seeking an anchor tenant to break ground on Malden Center’s first new office building in decades.
Quaker Lane Capital gained final approval last week for the 9-story, 188,000-square-foot office and R&D building at 11 Dartmouth St. The city council vote came after Quaker Lane and partner Turnbridge Equities reduced the proposed height by two stories and increased parking to 145 spaces.
Some residents and city councilors objected to the original proposed height of the structure, which would replace a parking lot and a 3-story office building.
“It was important to engage the community from day one, and the feedback we got was that the project as we envisioned was probably too big to be for the city council to approve. Going from 11 to 9 stories can be a significant change from a financial perspective, so it was a big concession on our part,” said Carlos Febres-Mazzei, founder and managing principal at Quaker Lane Capital.
The planning board also had unanimously opposed the $90 million project.
But Malden Mayor Gary Christenson urged councilors to vote in favor, citing the developers’ concessions and the potential to create a class A office cluster in the downtown.
“Bringing jobs for our residents is paramount, but this will also result in the substantial repositioning of Malden Center as a home for office tenants that will further diversify and strengthen our commercial base,” Christenson wrote in a letter to councilors.
Quaker Lane bought the property in January 2020 and began permitting for the revised plans in December.
Subject to securing an anchor tenant, the building could be available for tenants as soon as late 2023, Fabres-Mazzei said.
The project provides another option near the MBTA’s Orange Line for office and life science tenants. Another Boston developer, Berkeley Investments, has converted a former bank check processing center at 200 Exchange St. into 300,000 square feet of office space.
Quaker Lane recently completed a historic renovation of its second property in Malden, 21 Pleasant St., where it’s offering 12,000 square feet of office space which is being marketed by brokerage Newmark. A leasing agent for 11 Dartmouth St. has not yet been selected.
