"There was a mutual sigh of relief on the part of our Board and Master Developer partner, in light of the Navy's recent suggestion that it might consider selling the property at auction if development plans stagnated," says John W. Rogers, chairman of the board of the Corporation.

Rogers tells GlobeSt.com that when the corporation signed the Memorandum of Agreement with the Navy, it was still unclear whether the base would be transferred for no cost. "We didn't think we would hear so soon," he says and adds that the Navy will only approve no-cost transfers if it feels that the local development authority is moving fast enough. "Last year [the Navy] felt we weren't moving fast enough and threatened to put the base up for auction."

But Rogers points out that as part of the no-cost transfer, the corporation has to meet all of the MOA requirements. "There is a list of milestones," says Rogers. "It's an intense schedule but we get the land for free if we meet those milestones, which I think we will."

Among the milestones are the public benefits conveyance, various deeds and an environmental baseline study out of which the cost of the cleanup of the property will be determined.

If all goes according to plan, the first 557 acres in the base's northwest quadrant will come under the corporation's control April 15. Another 20 acres will be transferred on August 15 and the remaining acreage will be transferred at the end of December. Rogers points out that the 988 acres is the economic development portion of the base. Another 397 acres will be used for public benefits conveyance and will be set aside for parks and recreation. "The money we make from the economic development portion will help pay for the parklands," says Rogers. Another 56 acres will be used for federal purposes.

The development of the former station, one of the largest parcels of land in the Greater Boston area with development potential, is estimated to cost nearly $1 billion and will be done in stages over a 10-year period. The plan involves 700 units of senior housing, 3.5 million sf of office and retail space, recreation facilities, hotels, a conference center and an 18-hole golf course. It is expected to bring thousands of construction and full time jobs to the base. The first stage of the development phase includes construction of up to 300,000 sf of office space and up to 300 units of senior housing on the base's northwest quadrant.

Last October, Irvine, CA-based Lennar Partners, a unit of Lennar Property Corporation, was appointed master developer of the redevelopment project.