Back in July, Mayor Marty Walsh released the findings of a sweeping audit he conducted of the Boston Redevelopment Authority as part of a promise to revise how the organization operates. One notable discovery was that the BRA owns a number of land parcels throughout the city that are underdeveloped and/or fail to generate any kind of revenue. This is true for eight lots in the Boston Marine Industrial Park, though the BRA has tapped a new firm to update the area’s outdated master plan.
Boston-based Utile Inc., which teamed up with Sasaki Associates to bring us the popular, experimental open space The Lawn on D, has been selected by the BRA to overhaul the the master plan for the BMIP, the current version of which dates back to 2000.
According to the BRA, four organizations answered the call back in June when it began soliciting ideas for the master plan revision. Utile emerged from the fray victorious with a budget of approximately $250,000 or less.
“Our team will conduct an economic analysis of the park’s port facilities and identify the port’s relative position in the regional maritime economy, as well as examine how future land uses will relate to the South Boston Waterfront Innovation District,” noted Utile on its website.
The BMIP is a combined 191-acre chunk of Southie waterfront that has experienced tremendous change since the 2000 master plan was drafted. It outlined plans to bolster public-private redevelopment and investment strategies to take advantage of the abundance of industrial space that could aptly serve the constantly evolving economic drivers of the area. In the master plan, the BRA said that over 3,500 jobs were based in the BMIP.
Utile is more than capable of advantageously transforming the area as evidenced by its portfolio chock full of urban design projects that have resonated soundly in Boston and other municipalities across the country. They played an integral role in bringing the aforementioned The Lawn on D into fruition, as well as the Boston Harbor Islands pavilion and also weighed in on Don Chiofaro’s proposed Harbor Square development project.
Stay tuned to BostInno for more information regarding the BMIP master plan. Have an idea that you think ought to be included? Drop us a hint in the comments section below.
