Massport greenlights development at former Edison plant

The plans call for 636 housing units, 1.7 square feet of office space, and retail space.

The development of the 15.2-acre former Edison Power Station at 776 Summer St. in South Boston cleared another hurdle in June. That’s when the Massachusetts Port Authority agreed to change deed restrictions on the property in exchange for $12 million from the redeveloper, greenlighting the project.

Plans for the mixed-use development call for 636 housing units.

The project, which will be done in several phases, is expected to take more than a decade to complete, according to the 2017 letter of intent filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency. The project is forecast to bring $298 million in benefits to the city, including 2,500 construction jobs, 1,500 permanent jobs, affordable housing, subsidized retail business, job training, annual internships, 6 acres of open space, and road improvements.

According to a January 2023 BPDA press release, “The project will build a new transit-oriented, mixed-use development, including the rehabilitation of the Edison Turbine Halls and the construction of two new buildings, each of which is expected to include office, research and development, and retail uses. This project is consistent with the Master Plan and the community’s goal to honor the industrial history of this site by preserving and adaptively reusing the early 20th-century Turbine Halls. Civic and retail spaces inside the Turbine Halls, and within the fully pedestrianized Turbine Alley, will activate the historic buildings and provide much-needed community gathering space. “

But is yet-to-be seen how much of that will actually materialize in a post-COVID economy and beyond. Fast-rising interest rates and material and labor costs dramatically change the equation for large housing construction projects like this one and the Suffolk Downs redevelopment project in Boston and Revere.

Demolition has begun on the South Boston project, groundbreaking should begin in September, while the first phase won’t be done until the beginning of Q4 2025.