"We do have a lot going on," TRA executive director Lorna Moritztells GlobeSt.com in acknowledging the firm's breadth. During thefirst 11 years since the MBTA agreed to outsource its real estateoperations, TRA has produced more than $175 million in grossnon-fare revenues and tripled the agency's recurring lease income,she says, plus has provided the financial wherewithal to modernizethe MBTA's operations and enhance ridership. There is anotherelement of green, as TRA's assistance has fostered the advent ofso-called smart growth, also referred to as transit-orienteddevelopment. It is a concept Moritz says the TRA was "working oneven before they called it transit-oriented development," and nowthe firm is entertaining a wave of proposals embracing theidea.

TOD projects on the MBTA network include one at Woodland Stationin Newton where 180 apartments were built by a private developer.The pact fostered $4.3 million to erect a 548-unit parking garage,new roadways and a handicapped accessible platform, plus a deal toshare maintenance costs of the grounds. In Boston, the Red Linesubway's aging Ashmont Station is being modernized thanks to adeveloper's deal to build 100 units of housing and retail on anunderutilized parking lot. That venture was fomented by MBTAstaffers exploring ways to overcome a budget shortfall to make theneeded repairs, Moritz explains. "It is a great project," she adds.That same firm, Trinity Financial, is also doing a TOD on MBTA landat North Station in Boston, a $135-million mixed-use complex knownas Avenir that will yield 241 residential units and 30,000 sf ofretail. That and an adjacent project produced $27 million for theMBTA.

As TRA begins the third contract, which extends for five years,Moritz says increased TOD and securing more air rights contractsare among the near-term goals. Gone, she says, is thecontentiousness over privatization of the MBTA real estate thatmarred the launch of TRA in 1996. "That debate is over," she says,aided by results that have shown first-hand what can beaccomplished by a dedicated program to maximize an agency's realestate holdings. Exemplified by the Ashmont project, Moritz saysshe also believes the TRA has developed a solid workingrelationship with many divisions of the MBTA.