Via BPDA Press Release

Live: $8.5 million in linkage for affordable housing
Work: Approximately 938 construction jobs, approximately 2,360 permanent jobs, 10 percent subsidized retail available tohttps://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/776-summer-street-phase-1 M/WBE businesses, $1.5 million in linkage for job training, four annual internships, annual job fair
Connect: 5.7 acres in open space, Edison Turbine Hall preserved and used as civic space, new raised cycle track
Sustain: 90 percent reduction in natural gas in new buildings, new seawall and elevated site, meets Coastal Flood Resiliency Overlay design standards

Located between the marine industrial and residential areas of South Boston, this project is the first of the Master Plan for Planned Development Area No. 128, which was originally approved in January of 2021. The project will build a new transit-oriented, mixed-use development, including the rehabilitation of the Edison Turbine Halls and the construction of two new buildings, each of which is expected to include office, research and development, and retail uses. This project is consistent with the Master Plan and the community’s goal to honor the industrial history of this site by preserving and adaptively reusing the early 20th-century Turbine Halls. Civic and retail spaces inside the Turbine Halls, and within the fully pedestrianized Turbine Alley, will activate the historic buildings and provide much-needed community gathering space. 

Not only will this development create hundreds of jobs in life sciences and construction, the project has also committed to on-site assistance, job fairs, and informational presentations to community groups to assist South Boston residents in learning about work opportunities created by this project, including for future phases. These opportunities include construction employment, permanent employment, small business contracting, and retail leasing. The project will also give first preference to South Boston small businesses and other City-or State-certified disadvantaged small businesses to lease up to 10 percent of the retail space on site. In addition, this project will also fund a $1 million scholarship endowment to provide annual scholarships to South Boston high school and college students.

This project will also significantly improve the public realm and create a vibrant pedestrian environment by expanding the public street network, biking infrastructure, and improving sidewalks to increase connectivity. Phase One will also deliver 65 percent of the public open space included in the Master Plan. In support of making this a transit oriented development, bike parking will also be included on site, as well as three Bluebike stations, and an improved bus stop at Summer and East First Streets with a new bus shelter. The project will also contribute $188,893 to the Boston Transportation Department in support of the City’s bikeshare program. In addition, the project will also contribute $10,080,000 over several years to the MBTA to improve the reliability, safety and convenience of transit services serving the project area.