Dorchester Bay City
Update
10/16/17
16 development teams respond to UMass Boston RFI for Columbia Point waterfront site
Seeking to transform the 20-acre former Bayside Expo Center site, located on the Columbia Point waterfront in Dorchester, into a “modern-day Harvard Square” through a public-private partnership, UMass Boston has received 16 responses to its’ Request For Information (RFI) from prospective developers. The RFI’s response deadline was October 6th, 2017.
Notable RFI respondents include a partnership of Corcoran Jennison and the Boston Teacher's Union; Corcoran Jennison owns both a five-story office building and DoubleTree hotel located adjacent to the Bayside Expo Center site, and the Boston Teacher's Union's headquarters are located on an adjacent 2.7-acre plot. Other notable respondents include Beacon Capital Partners, who recently acquired a nearby 13.6-acre parcel at 2 Morrissey Boulevard on which stands a 357,462-square-foot office building occupied by Santander Bank, and Capstone Development Partners, who responded in partnership with stalwart Fenway developer Samuels & Associates and is currently working with UMass Boston to build its’ first ever on-campus dormitory. Additional respondents include Accordia Partners, American Campus Communities, Bracken Development, a partnership of Hunt Development Group, LLC and Drew Company Inc., The HYM Investment Group, Lendlease, Lincoln Property Company, Lupoli Companies, a partnership of Rhino Capital and Ad Meliora, Skanska, University Student Living and Waterstone Properties Group. Respondents’ individual concepts for the 20-acre site have not yet been revealed.
“The number of developers who chose to participate in the RFI for the Bayside property affirms that there is strong interest from the real estate community in the site,” said UMass President Marty Meehan in a prepared statement. “That is good news, because as fiduciaries the university and UMBA have a responsibility to maximize the revenue potential of any development for the purpose of addressing significant capital needs on the UMass Boston campus.” With the RFI process complete, a Request for Proposals (RFP) will now be issued for the 20-acre site.
