BPDA receives grant to provide environmental remediation at Roxbury’s P3, provides updates on next steps for publicly-owned parcel

Feb 11, 2021

Following tonight’s approval from the Board, the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) announced that MassDevelopment has awarded the agency a $250,000 Brownfields Redevelopment grant to provide environmental remediation at P3 in Roxbury. The environmental remediation completed under the grant will be a key step toward making the redevelopment of the site more feasible so that it can meet the goals identified by the community in PLAN: Nubian Square.

“The development of P3 is long overdue to provide residents of Roxbury and the City of Boston with good jobs, affordable housing, and space for arts and culture,” said BPDA Director Brian Golden. “Moving forward with the redevelopment of this site 2021 will allow us to deliver on the community’s priorities for the vacant parcel."

P3 is a 7.7 acre vacant piece of land owned by the BPDA located along Tremont Street in Roxbury. Due to its size, proximity to public transit, major roads, and educational facilities, both the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan and PLAN: Nubian Square have highlighted the potential of the site to contribute to the economic development of Nubian Square, while advancing the community’s commitments to affordable housing, arts and culture, and equity. In 2019, the previous developer designation for the parcel expired and the BPDA did not extend it in order to seek a new viable project that better represents the community's vision for the site.

BPDA will kick-off the public engagement for a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for P3 with a virtual workshop on February 22. Community members are invited to review the P-3 Toolkit, compiled by the BPDA to provide background information in order to guide P3’s future. Like all publicly-owned parcels in the City of Boston, the RFP for P3 will include a Diversity and Inclusion evaluation criterion, requiring proponents to include a Diversity and Inclusion Plan to outline their commitments to including M/WBEs in all aspects of their development which will be weighted at 25 percent of the total evaluation of the parcel. Respondents will also be required to submit plans to mitigate displacement, and include a Good Jobs Strategy Plan, outlining how the proposal supports the community’s expressed priorities to create and sustain good permanent jobs in all phases of the development.

MassDevelopment oversees the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which helps to transform vacant, abandoned, or underused industrial or commercial properties by financing the environmental assessment and remediation of brownfield sites in “Economically Distressed Areas” of the Commonwealth. The environmental remediation at P3 is expected to begin in the coming months.