Brookline-based Kaplan Construction has finished work on the Bornstein and Pearl Food Production Small Business Center, a redevelopment project in Boston’s Dorchester Quincy St. corridor.
The project, which was led by Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp. (DBEDC), converted the vacant former Pearl Meats manufacturing facility and adjacent land into a 36,000 square-foot, multi-tenant, light industrial business center with a focus on small-scale food production.
Kaplan’s renovations to the existing single-story masonry building included a new roof and entrance, structural repairs, extensive site work, the addition of a parking lot and new utilities. Communal kitchen equipment was rehabilitated or installed, and all of the spaces offer heating, ventilation, easy-to-clean surfaces, floor drains, grease traps and shared loading docks.
Project financing includes a mix of debt, new market tax credit equity and grant funding. A $14 million project funded through various federal, state, city, private lending and foundation grant sources, the Pearl project is a recipient of $500,000 in CHOICE Neighborhoods Initiative funds for critical community improvements in the Quincy Corridor. Funders include: Boston Community Capital, Local Initiatives Support Corp./PNC Bank and The Boston Foundation, among many others.
The anchor tenant, DBEDC’s partner in the project and on-site property manager, is CropCircle Kitchen Inc. It will run a multi-functional commercial kitchen aiming to foster the growth of local food businesses, create employment opportunities for residents and facilitate improved access to healthy food in the neighborhood.
The CCK Pearl shared kitchen will offer kitchen rental space and business training to food businesses in an early stage phase of growth. Its commissary kitchen will serve the various food preparation needs of food trucks, restaurants and institutions. Food storage rental space is available to tenants of the CCK-run kitchens and to established food businesses renting their own kitchen space.
