BRA Looks to Advance Winthrop Square Garage Project

BRA director of real estate Edward O’Donnell

BOSTON—The Boston Redevelopment Authority has issued a Request for Proposals for the long-delayed Winthrop Square Garage site with the goal of securing a permit for the major mixed-use project by year’s-end. The BRA released the 53-page RFP on Wednesday and has set a deadline of noon on April 21 ^st to receive responses. BRA director of real estate Edward O’Donnell tells Globest.com that the authority hopes to select a developer for the project sometime in June. He adds that the BRA has a goal of issuing a permit for the project he describes as “one of the most exciting opportunities in recent memory” by the end of this year. The project will be subject to a full Article 80 review by the BRA. The BRA is looking to either sell the property outright to a winning developer or engage in a long-term ground lease. Eight development firms responded to a Request for Information issued by the BRA on the Winthrop Square Garage project issued in February 2015. The development firms that answered the RFI were: Trans National Properties, LLC , Lend Lease Development Inc. & Hudson Group , the Fallon Co. , Millennium Partners , Accordia Partners, LLC , Trinity Acquisitions LLC , Lincoln Property Co.  and the HYM Investment Group, LLC . Proposed reuses of the property included in the eight responses ranged from strictly office and residential uses to mixed-use proposals involving combinations of residential, hotel and office uses. Based on the responses from the RFI, the project could involve between 800,000 to 1 million square feet of new construction. O’Donnell says that the Federal Aviation Administration has a height restriction of 725 feet on the property. “Several of the responses showed great care and thought to how best to activate the property at ground level and how best to incorporate these improvements into the public realm. A number of the proposals also considered how the redevelopment of the Property might generate a revenue stream sufficient to pay for an ambitious public benefits program,” the BRA states in the RFP. O’Donnell terms the RFP “a more deeper dive” than the RFI issued last year. “We are asking more of the developers so that we can make a better informed decision on behalf of the city,” he says. O’Donnell says that one of the reasons for the issuance of the RFP was to ensure an open and transparent process on the future development of the site. The nearly 48,000-square-foot site that formerly served as a four-story parking garage, is located at 115 Winthrop Square and is bordered by 75-101 Federal St. to the north, 100 Summer St. to the south, Devonshire Street to the west and Federal Street to the east. The Boston City Council declared the property surplus in June 2015 and transferred the management and control of the property to the Public Facilities Commission . In January of this year the BRA requested the PFC to transfer the property to the authority. According to the RFP, if the transfer does take place, net proceeds from a future sale would go to the city.