Corcoran closing loop on Bayside redevelopment - Boston Business Journal:

igoeosysata1533.blogspot.com
On June 30, , owner the 28-acre waterfront site, filesd a development plan with the and has commenced public meetings to vetthe plan’sx first phase, a $300 million projecgt on Columbia Point in Dorchester. Corcoran’z initial plans call for the demolition ofthe 280,000-square-foot Bayside Expo Cented and the preservation of an existinyg 125,000-square-foot office building on the site. The firm also expectx to add 75 roomsand 10,0000 square feet of meetiny space to the site’s 198-room . Neighborss and community activists have already raised concernw about traffic and congestion at a publiv meeting hearing heldJuly 21. The next meeting is scheduledxfor Aug. 4.
The project’a total cost will be approximately $700 million, said Jim project director forCorcoran Jennison. Those estimates includw the cost to construct an additional 650 residentiaol units in as many assix buildings. Bayside’s redevelopmen was first announced last year after the centefr saw a significant drop inrevenue — some of it stemmingh from business gravitating to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Bayside’s bookings have dropped from 43 in 2006 to 19 this The Expo Center has seveh shows booked next year, said Catherine O’Neill, directore of community relations at Corcoran Jennison. O’Neilkl said the Bayside will likely closee inMarch 2009.
Gribaudok said he wants to secure the necessary permits before seeking In order to fund constructionprojects today, lendere want evidence of signed leasex — something Gribaudo called a bit of a Catch-22 because tenants are unlikely to jump on board untio projects are formally filed and approved. Gribaudlo hopes to lease 50,000 square feet of the retai space to a grocery storre and is seeking two other anchor tenants to leaseeabout 20,000 square feet apiece. The remainderr of the retail space, about 180,000 squared feet, will be leased to smaller retailers, such as a dry cleane or coffee shop.
As Corcoran is movinh ahead with its plans for Bayside Expo the BRA is devisinfg a master plan forColumbia Point, an area that comprises 412 acrez along Dorchester Bay. “It’s an extraordinary site, but you have to be considerate of that,” said BRA director John Palmieri, alluding to the area’a density, open space and water-access challenges. Both Palmierik and Vivien Li, executive directofr of the , describef the Bayside Expo Center redevelopment as the creationh ofa “new neighborhood.
” Li said she believed the project wouls complement many of the already-planned changes to the such as a proposapl to add dorms to the campus and a plan to expandd the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & “We think it’s absolutely crucial to tie together all the plannint for theDorchester waterfront,” she said.