At least eight developers have submitted proposals to redevelop the federal Volpe National Transportation Systems Center parcel in the heart of Cambridge’s Kendall Square.
The federal government is preparing to sell the 14-acre research facility and Cambridge officials are reviewing new zoning designed to encourage a large-scale mixed-use development.
The General Services Administration declined to release the list of companies that submitted proposals in time for Tuesday’s deadline, citing the “competitive nature” of the transaction. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that eight developers confirmed their interest: Lend-Lease; Skanska USA; a partnership between BioMed Realty and Longfellow Real Estate Partners; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Boston-based HYM Investments; Toronto-based Oxford Properties; Related Beal of Boston; and Peebles Corp., which was selected last year to develop the Massachusetts Department of Transportation-owned parcel 13 on Boylston Street into a $330-million mixed-use complex.
Cambridge city councilors are expected to vote this fall on rezoning of the site, a U-shaped parcel located between Broadway and Potter Street, to accommodate a major mixed-use development. The proposed zoning would increase total development on the site from 2.1 million to 2.9 million square feet and increase maximum building heights to 350 feet, with one building up to 500 feet. It calls for 1,000 housing units and would require developers to pay $20 million to support affordable housing and $16 million for open space, transit and workforce readiness.
The East Cambridge lab market has Greater Boston’s highest commercial rents at $85 per square foot at the end of the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s MarketBeat report. As Kendall Square continues to expand as a global life science employment center, vacancies have fallen into the low single digits and triggered interest in finding additional development parcels.
Boston Properties and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority are seeking to rezone several parcels north of Broadway for 600,000 square feet of commercial space and 400,000 square feet of residential buildings.
And MIT has filed its final plans to demolish five buildings south of Main Street and build three new commercial buildings totaling 940,000 square feet for commercial office and lab tenants.
