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Image courtesy of city of Medford
Eight developers have responded to the city of Medford’s offering of air rights at the MBTA’s Wellington station for mixed-use projects including multifamily housing, office space and hotels.
The city received responses from Able Co., Greystar Real Estate Partners, HYM Investment Group, New England Development, Preotle Lane and Assoc., Quaker Lane Capital, RISE Together and The Davis Cos.
“I think this proves that Wellington Station has the potential to be a destination for residents and visitors to live, work, and enjoy, instead of being used solely as a giant parking lot for buses and trains,” Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said in a statement.
In September, the city issued a request for information for the 28-acre riverfront site which includes surface parking, a train storage yard and maintenance facility. It sought proposals that include a “significant housing, commercial or mixed-use” component.
Several of the developers have existing holdings in the Orange Line north corridor.
The Davis Cos. is updating the nearby One Cabot office building with lab-ready spec space, while Preotle Lane and Assoc. developed the mixed-use River’s Edge complex just across Revere Beach Parkway.
RISE Together received approval this summer for a life science tower at 4054 Mystic Valley Parkway, while Quaker Lane Capital plans an office-research tower in Malden Center.
After a review of the responses, the city will issue a request for proposals with more detailed information.
Medford recently released a draft comprehensive plan prepared by Cambridge-based consultants Agency Landscape + Planning which could result in rezoning portions of the city for the first time since the mid-1960s.
The Wellington Circle area has been identified as an area suitable for higher-density development and job creation.
The MBTA has asked the city, which owns the air rights at the station property, to reserve space for a 2-story, 200-space electric bus storage and maintenance facility.
The new facility would require 600,000 to 700,000 square feet, according to an Oct. 21 letter from MBTA Business Modernization Program Director Scott Hamwey to the city of Medford obtained by Banker & Tradesman under a public records request.
In an announcement, the mayor’s office said the city will seek to partner with the MBTA to comply with its requirements for the site’s future.
