An early illustration of developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes' planned 1 million-square-foot development in Cambridge's Alewife Quad. Image courtesy of Sasaki

Boston-based Cabot, Cabot and Forbes is weighing its options for a large development parcel in Cambridge’s Alewife Quad neighborhood following the city council’s rejection of a zoning amendment this week.

Only one councilor, E. Denise Simmons, supported the developer’s zoning overlay proposal, which would have increased commercial building heights from 55 to 85 feet and granted additional floor area ratio in exchange for construction of a pedestrian and bike bridge spanning the MBTA tracks to Cambridgepark Drive.

CC&F CEO Jay Doherty said the firm is in talks to lease space to life science companies both for new development and existing industrial buildings on the parcels, which span 16 acres.

“Life sciences has overwhelmed the market and supply has not kept up with demand, so that offers an interesting opportunity,” Doherty said in an email.

CC&F had sought the additional building heights as part of a 1 million-square-foot development, including three office-lab and three multitfamily buildings. As a tradeoff for additional density and adding housing as a permitted use, it proposed a 750-foot bridge to make the neighborhood more accessible to pedestrians and commuters who use the MBTA’s Alewife station.

The rezoning would have increased the developer’s returns by $32.5 million, according to a financial analysis provided to the city by Karl Seidman Consulting Services and Karp Strategies.

At a hearing Monday, councilors lamented the city’s failure to approach infrastructure upgrades on a neighborhood-wide basis.

“The city should be doing comprehensive rezoning and using public funds for public benefits, not having to be doing all of these one-offs with developers all the time where we’re in a game of chicken,” Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler said, according to a report in the Cambridge Day.