Developers and MassDOT consider Columbus Center revival

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) confirmed last Monday that at least two major developers are preliminarily interested in reviving Columbus Center (above), a 10-acre air rights project that would have been constructed above the Massachusetts Turnpike linking Downtown Boston and the South End, The Boston Globe reports. Columbus Center was abandoned last decade due to the economic downturn and neighborhood opposition. The original Columbus Center plan called for a series of buildings, including a 35-story tower, to be constructed above and adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike from Arlington to Clarendon Streets. Project costs were pegged at $800 million.

Trinity Financial confirmed it is considering Columbus Center and has hired development consultant Randi Lathrop to gauge neighborhood reaction to a potential development. “We don’t have anything specific in mind,” says Trinity Financial Managing Director Kenan Bigby, “it’s just conversations at this point.” MassDOT, who controls the Columbus Center air rights parcels, has not yet decided whether to revive Columbus Center.