Roxbury lot a hot property for local development teams

Yawu Miller

After more than a decade of false starts and failed development plans, one of Roxbury’s largest vacant parcels of land appears primed for development. Three development teams are vying for the right to build on Parcel 3, a seven-acre site at the corner of Tremont and Whittier streets in Lower Roxbury. Located across from the Boston Police Headquarters, most of the parcel has been vacant since the city’s Urban Renewal demolished the homes and factories on the site in the 1960s.

With its proximity to major traffic arteries and public transit stations, the parcel presents a prime development opportunity. “This parcel could have a significant impact on Roxbury because of its size,” said City Councilor Chuck Turner. “It’s a gateway to the community. It’s an opportunity to meet the housing and job needs that the community has.”

The request for proposals drafted by the BRA called for a mix of office space, retail, light industrial, research, cultural and community uses. Each proposal presents a different mix of the proposed uses.

First out of the box was the National Center for Afro American Artists’ Ruggles Place plan, which Museum Director Edmund Barry Gaither has circulated in recent years. The NCAAA has teamed up with developer Thomas Welch to form Elma Lewis Partners, LLC. The team’s project would include a million square feet of office and retail space, a hotel, 300 units of affordable and market-rate housing and a 3,000-square foot jazz café.

While 80 percent of the space would be used for commercial and residential spaces, Gaither plans to use the revenue generated by the development for the construction and operation to re-open an Elma Lewis Performing Arts school and build performing arts and museum gallery space.

The proposal also calls for 1,000 parking spaces.

In a move that may provoke controversy, the Madison Park Community Development Corporation and Trinity Financial teamed up to propose a 1,200-student Northeastern University dormitory, four commercial buildings, 111 units of market-rate and affordable housing and a youth center. The financing for this development would be driven by the Northeastern units, which the university would lease from Madison Park providing a $20 million subsidy, according to CDC executive director Jeanne Pinado.

The development would also provide 60,000 square feet of space for the Whittier Street Health Center, which is currently leasing 30,000 square feet in Northeastern’s Renaissance Plaza.

The Madison Park/Trinity project, which includes 435 parking spaces, has already drawn fire from elected officials representing the area, who met with Northeastern officials recently to ask that they not build the dormitory in Roxbury.

The Heritage Common development, a proposal presented by Taylor Smith Properties and Weston Associates, calls for 100,000 square feet of office space, 140 housing units, a hotel and a major retailer. This plan calls for 620 parking spaces.

At the request of the Roxbury Masterplan Oversight Committee, the BRA has agreed to lease the land to the designated developer, rather than sell it. “The oversight committee has taken the position that a percentage of the lease funds need to come back to the community so funds can be used for community needs,” Turner noted.

The BRA is expected to select a developer by the end of the year.