Image courtesy of CBT Architects
BioMed Realty has released its development plans for a long-vacant parcel in one of the nation’s most sought-after commercial real estate markets.
At a community meeting tonight, the life science specialist is unveiling the proposed 550,000-square-foot project for 585 Third St., including office-lab space and a 300-seat theater.
Designs by Boston-based CBT Architects call for a 30,000-square-foot arts and cultural center and a 10,000-square-foot ground-floor public gathering spot that BioMed says will become “Cambridge’s living room.”
A glass facade is intended to convey the arts center’s openness to the community, in contrast to the tightly-controlled access at many of the neighborhood’s commercial buildings.
“The proposal has been built on a foundation of arts, culture and public space, and have this be an indoor extension of the public realm,” Salvatore Zinno, BioMed’s vice president of development, said in an interview this week.
BioMed won the bidding war for the 0.8-acre site in August 2018, paying $50.5 million even though the amount of density that will be permitted by Cambridge officials has yet to be determined. But demand for life science space remains strong, and Kendall Square lab rents continue to set new records. One tenant recently renewed a lease for $136 per square foot on a triple-net basis, according to a Colliers International market report.
The property is zoned for performing arts use and only 85,000 square feet of development, so BioMed is submitting a rezoning petition to the Cambridge City Council, a process the company expects could take a year to complete. It’s targeting an early 2022 groundbreaking and late 2024 completion.
The site was previously owned by the Constellation Charitable Foundation, which planned to build a five-hall performing arts center before placing the property on the market in 2018.
The site includes a 14,000-square-foot parcel owned by Eversource that is used as a natural gas transfer station. BioMed has an option to acquire that parcel and is in advanced discussions about acquiring an alternative site for the gas facility, Zinno said.
Cambridge’s arts community continues to face displacement pressures from rising rents and redevelopment of properties for higher-rent uses.
During community outreach meetings, residents and local artists cited a need for rehearsal and performance space, visual art exhibit areas and free indoor gathering spaces in Kendall Square, Zinno said. Operating principles for the cultural center have yet to be determined, but BioMed has been in discussions with schools and nonprofits on potential models.
