Developers of a massive mixed-use project recently outlined plans to create a new thoroughfare along the southern edge of the Seaport neighborhood. They said extending F Street a half mile, connecting it to Summer Street, would lay the groundwork for a future expansion of the MBTA’s Silver Line.
But a spokesperson for the MBTA said the developers have not contacted the agency about that idea, and the T doesn’t currently have plans to extend the Silver Line in the area.
Real estate developers Oxford Properties and Pappas Enterprises recently met with members of the Boston Civic Design Commission’s Design Committee to discuss an updated version of their proposal to redevelop a 1.7 million square foot parcel between Summer Street, West First Street, E Street and Pappas Way. The developers hope to transform the area into a new commercial and residential hub, with nine newly constructed buildings, including 900 residential units and lab space.
Currently, F Street dead-ends at West First Street. The developers’ latest plan, first reported by the Boston Business Journal, calls for extending the roadway through the site. Proponents say it would give drivers another option in the area and could support a potential new Silver Line route, positioning the possibility of new transit service as a major community benefit.
“This would be a really transformational change to the transportation network here,” said Juan Carlos Lovelock, deputy director of real estate development at Massport, the quasi-public agency which owns and leases the proposed redevelopment site to Pappas Enterprises. “Massport is very supportive of this continuation of F Street.”
But a spokesperson for the MBTA told GBH News that developers haven’t reached out to them about the project.
“The MBTA is always open to collaborating with our municipal partners and stakeholders while exploring ideas to improve service,” the spokesperson said in an email. “That said, we have not been contacted regarding this proposal and there are currently no plans to extend the Silver Line in this way.”
Even if the T were on board with the idea, the reconfiguration of traffic in the project’s vicinity would have to wait nearly a decade. According to Lovelock, a storage yard that stands in the way of the F Street extension is currently under a lease that runs through 2034.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Oxford said that the MBTA hasn’t received any communication on the project yet, because “the appropriate way to share this info is through a project filing with the state,” and the companies have not yet made such a filing.
“We continue to look forward to our work with the State and City as we progress our permitting efforts with a goal for another filing in the early spring,” the spokesperson said.
