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Image courtesy of Parcel 25 Zero Greenway LLC
A partnership between two Black-owned development companies got the nod from Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials to pursue an affordable housing and life science project on a Big Dig remnant parcel at the edge of Chinatown.
Peebles Corp. and Genesis Cos. last April submitted a proposal for 309,000 square feet of life science space and 218 housing units on MassDOT parcel 25, located on Kneeland Street next to the southbound portal of the O’Neill Tunnel. The team was among six development teams that sought MassDOT’s designation for the site.
The 20-story building would include eight floors of lab space and 12 floors of residential units. The team offered an up-front payment of $61.5 million and additional annual payments of $1 million, increasing by 2.5 percent annually during the 99-year lease, MassDOT announced.
The partnership – known as Parcel 25 Zero Greenway LLC – proposes a 298-foot-tall building totaling 585,000 square feet, with 40 percent of the housing units income-restricted. The project also includes 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 120 parking spaces.
The choice, approved by the MassDOT board of directors Wednesday, was recommended by an internal MassDOT that interviewed bidders last year and ranked them in December 2021.
MassDOT said its proposal meets its goals a minority ownership and participation in all stages.
“This urban infill development will have a significant and positive impact on this area of the city near South Station, adding much needed affordable housing, local retail opportunities, space for research and development and activating a piece of land which has been long dormant,” MassDOT Undersecretary Scott Bosworth said in a statement.
Six development team teams submitted proposals in April 2021 for the site, after MassDOT announced it would seek a substantial affordable housing component and minority participation in all phases of design, ownership and construction.
Founded in 2004 by Harvard Business School graduate Karim Hudson, Genesis Cos. specializes in mixed-income and mixed-use projects in New York and New Jersey.
Peebles Corp. is no stranger to potential development opportunities on MassDOT properties. In 2014, MassDOT picked Peebles to develop its air rights parcel 13 above the MBTA’s Hynes station in Back Bay. In 2020, Peebles notified the Boston Planning & Development Agency that it intends to propose a 432,000-square-foot hotel and condo project along with upgrades to the station headhouses. It has not yet filed a project notification form containing the detailed plans and setting off the review process.
