Six Vie For Boston Development Site

When it comes to the city’s development community, Parcel F is getting a Grade A response. Located in the heart of the Hub’s burgeoning Seaport District, the 1.5-acre site is seen as one of the most desirable commercial real estate opportunities available. That notion was underscored this week when six companies filed applications to be designated developer of the property, which is owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority.

“We’re very excited,” says J. Brad Griffith, whose Leggat McCall Properties is proposing a 19-story office building. “That’s where the city is going to grow in the future, and we would love to be a part of it.”

LMP would team with Fremont Capital Corp., a major shareholder in the Boston-based development and management company. Designed by Elkus/Manfredi Architects, the 470,000-sf building would include a four-level underground garage for 350 vehicles, and features a design that Griffith says will play off the area’s industrial heritage.

Reflecting Massport’s RFP, most of the proposals are similar in size and usage. Other suitors include Beacon Capital Partners, the New Boston Fund, Trammell Crow and Toronto-based Manulife Financial. The latter may occupy the building as well. Beacon and New Boston declined to discuss their plans and Trammell Crow and Manulife officials were unavailable for comment.

The final bidder is quite familiar with Parcel F, given that the Chiofaro Co. had been selected to develop the property until its plan unraveled earlier this year. Chiofaro had landed State Street Global Advisors to take all 470,000 sf, but the financial-services firm balked during the final stages of negotiations, ostensibly due to fears that a new public transitway would not be finished by the time the building opens.

Despite that failure, Chiofaro principal Ted Oatis says his firm is still bullish on the project. “We love the site,” he says. The company’s familiarity with the property should give it a leg up, Oatis says, adding that the firm has a letter of intent with Scudder Kemper Investments to take 300,000 sf.

Griffith says he doesn’t believe Chiofaro has an edge because of its earlier work or the prospective tenant. Generating interest from companies will not be difficult, Griffith says, adding that he is not concerned about any transit issues. Although the area’s new Silver Line would not be completed until a year after the building’s anticipated summer 2001 opening, Griffith says that, “once its done, the transportation is going to be terrific,” especially because the transitway will stop right in front.

Massport plans to select a developer by September 22nd.