D Street Development Selected to Develop D & E St. Parcels Adjacent to Convention Center

D Street Development LLC, which includes Ionic Development, one of Boston's only woman-led development companies, Tavares Brewington, founder of Street2Ivy, a non-profit focused on advancing opportunity for people of color, Tommy-Maddox-Upshaw a former Boston union laborer from Mattapan, turned Hollywood film executive, former State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, Principal of LDF Holdings LLC, Cronin Development and a group of additional community partners, today announced it has been named designee for the development of the D and E Street parcels immediately adjacent to the Boston Convention and Exposition Center in the Seaport Neighborhood of South Boston. 

Representatives of D Street Development will be at the November 16th board meeting hosted by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which is managing the bidding process and controls the land. 

The proposal, which is led by a group that reflects the changing diversity of Boston, is focusing on community enhancements, business diversity and climate resiliency. It includes a space and partnership with an HBCU Pensole Lewis School of Business (Dr. D'Wayne Edwards is a prominent Black designer in the sneaker industry), a much needed grocery store, subsidized childcare to allow parents/guardians an opportunity to access jobs and workforce programming, an art gallery for local artists in particular artists of color to display and sell their work, a market hall to allow for businesses owned by woman and people of color to sell their products, and a movie studio that will bring hundreds of high paying jobs that supports the Commonwealth's fast growing film industry.  Additionally, it features an arboretum that addresses the area's status as a "heat island" by creating open accessible green space for communities to gather, while also being a mitigation for possible flooding. About 50% of this development is dedicated to green open space.

"We are thrilled to have been named designee for this incredibly important project," said D Street spokesperson, Tavares Brewington. "We bid this project twice, illustrating our commitment to a fair and equitable process aimed at developing an important part of the neighborhood, while also creating a bridge across multiple communities. The vision we have for the space addresses the needs of stakeholders in the local community, communities of color, labor and government," said Brewington " It is illustrative of how far the city and Commonwealth has advanced. We are tremendously excited for the next steps in the process and to deliver for the people of Boston and our state," continued Brewington.

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