Quincy, Mass. — Quincy Center will ultimately be a 20-block urban neighborhood that will include 700,000 square feet of retail.
Quincy, Mass. — Street-Works Development LLC, a mixed-use developer, has teamed up with general contractor Suffolk Construction to build Merchants Row, a 287-unit loft-style multifamily community in Quincy, located eight miles south of Boston. Merchants Row is the first block of mixed-use space for the $1.6 billion Quincy Center master development project.
Merchants Row will comprise two buildings, the Kilroy and the Granite Trust lofts. The community will feature more than 35,000 square feet of retail space on the ground levels and 24,000 square feet of office space in the Granite Trust building. The project is a public-private partnership between Street-Works and the City of Quincy.
“Eight years ago, we came to Quincy because of its potential to lead the rebirth of the great American downtown,” says Ken Narva, managing partner of Street-Works Development. “Ever since Mayor Tom Koch and our public sector partners put their faith and trust in us, we have made nothing but progress.”
Mayor Koch hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new development on Monday. Government officials and private partners of the development joined Koch at the ceremony. Merchants Row is slated for a 2014 opening.
“I’d like to thank everyone who had faith in our vision for a revitalized Quincy Center,” says Mayor Koch. “Today’s groundbreaking is the culmination of years of careful planning and sustained momentum. Everyone here had a role to play in bringing this vision to fruition, and the City of Quincy is grateful for the tremendous partnership that has worked together for many years to help make downtown Quincy an exciting 21st century destination.”
Street-Works and its partner, The Beal Cos., worked with LaSalle Investment Management to secure $55 million in equity financing for the project.
The downtown Quincy redevelopment will ultimately be a 20-block urban, mixed-use neighborhood, which will include several office buildings, 700,000 square feet of shops and dining, two new hotels, 1,400 residential units and new parking garages providing 5,000 public parking spaces. Street-Works is describing the development as the “urban gateway to Boston.”
Merchants Row’s construction is in conjunction with the development of the new Adams Green public space, which includes the resting place of U.S. Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams and their wives. The space will link Merchants Row to the MBTA Red Line Station in downtown Quincy.
— John Nelson