As Boston Mayor Martin Walsh looks to expand employment opportunities and to better define land uses throughout the city, there is a unique opportunity to complement activities in the Innovation District with those in the Boston Marine Industrial Park. Established in 1977 by the Economic Development and Industrial Corp. (EDIC)/Boston Redevelopment Authority, the 191-acre Marine Industrial Park has provided relatively inexpensive land for maritime industrial and light manufacturing uses. As EDIC’s early promotional materials “Business and Industrial Growth News” explained, ”Boston’s booming economy has led to a shortage of spaces for all uses – housing, office, retail, and industrial – and many manufacturers are being squeezed out. Others are facing shorter leases and higher rents.”
Real estate speculation is worsening the situation: property owners can often get five times as much rent per square foot from an office operation than from a manufacturing company. That’s why they can buy up manufacturing space and hold it empty for as long as ten years.
Similar sentiments about the need for maritime industrial lands were voiced by the city’s HarborPark Advisory Committee when its chair, Lorraine Downey, wrote: “Our work compels us to recommend that public agencies controlling limited waterfront industrial parcels must dedicate these limited sites for water dependent industries. Industries such as fishing, shipping, water transportation and related services can only exist on waterfront land. These industries represent long-standing jobs for Boston residents. The opportunity presented by the reuse of publicly held waterfront land must be seized for the preservation of our maritime industries.”
Boston’s Innovation District, initially conceived for startup businesses, is now one of the most attractive areas for established commercial users. This has created significant pressure for non-water-dependent uses to relocate to the adjacent Marine Industrial Park. Over the next year, we urge city attention to the following:
Keep The Fort Point/Boston ‘Innovation District’
The Innovation District was launched in 2010 when MassChallenge, supporter of more than 100 startup companies annually, moved into free office space donated by The Fallon Co.
When its lease expires in July, MassChallenge will move out of the epicenter of the Innovation District and into the Marine Industrial Park. Meanwhile, some of Boston’s most prestigious law firms, financial institutions and accounting companies are moving to the Innovation District later this year and in 2015. The concept of an Innovation District where startup businesses are fostered and can exchange ideas and collaborate is a good one, and every effort should be made to keep Fort Point’s Innovation District from turning into merely an extension of the downtown Financial District.
Support Marine Industrial Uses
While less visible to the general public, maritime industrial uses and jobs continue to grow in Greater Boston. In the Marine Industrial Park, Massport is promoting even greater usage of its Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, currently used by more than 300,000 cruise passengers annually. Construction of a new 500,000-square-foot maritime industrial warehouse at Massport Marine Terminal will add more maritime industrial jobs to the Marine Industrial Park.
Fore River Shipyard in Quincy has successfully attracted new water-dependent users, including the New England Aquarium’s Animal Rehabilitation Center; Bluefin Robotics, which manufactures unmanned submarines; and Cashman Dredging, which recently fabricated a dredging barge for projects in Maine and Connecticut. In order to be able to construct a new line of yachts, Boston BoatWorks will soon move from the East Boston Shipyard to a larger facility in Charlestown, where it will be adding 40 new jobs to its existing 50 jobs.
In the past six months, two requests for revisions to the Marine Industrial Park Master Plan have been filed for non-water dependent uses, with little analysis of the impacts to existing and planned water-dependent uses. This comes even as roadways and existing facilities are often overtaxed and at capacity. Priority must continue to be given for water-dependent and maritime industrial uses within the Marine Industrial Park, with closer coordination between Massport and City agencies to ensure the survival of maritime industrial and related jobs.
Improve Transportation Network to And Within The Marine Industrial Park
City and state agencies are funding a $1 million South Boston Transportation Study that will identify ways to relieve congestion in the area. As part of the planning process, city officials should encourage a closer look and recommendations for ways to prioritize the needs of water-dependent users, from trucks carrying maritime industrial cargo to the needs of cruise passengers, within the Marine Industrial Park.
By being consistent to the mission of each area, South Boston’s Innovation District and the Boston Marine Industrial Park can reinforce and significantly expand diverse employment opportunities for Boston residents.
Vivien Li is president of The Boston Harbor Association, www.tbha.org. Email: vli@tbha.org
