MBTA Board OK's Barnat Development For Beverly Depot Project

Photo courtesy of the MBTA.

The MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board unanimously voted in favor of designating Barnat Development as the winning bidder for a piece of MBTA land near the Beverly Depot Commuter Rail Station, according to a MassDOT press release.

Barnat signed on to a 99-year lease, and will pay $32.4 million to develop and manage a “transit-oriented rental project” with 70 units and 3,000 square feet of retail space on Rantoul Street. The MBTA garage will serve the new residences and businesses.

“As the Commonwealth’s second largest property owner, the MBTA has tremendous opportunities to leverage unused or underutilized property to advance transit-oriented housing and development,” Governor Charlie Baker said in a press release. “The pursuit of private sector partnerships and the MBTA’s vast real estate portfolio, ensure our ability to promote the use of public transit, generate non-fare revenue, and boost economic growth.”

According to the MassDOT, the Beverly Depot project aims to put as much of the space adjacent to a train station to use. They also listed a designated cap rental prices on 20 percent of the units for middle-income households.

“The MBTA has long planned for the Beverly Depot Station and Garage site to be an ideal location for a Transit-Oriented Development project,”Acting General Manager Brian Shortsleeve said in a statement. “With today’s formal designation of a developer, we can now move to the next phase of creating new housing and retail opportunities while generating critical revenue for the MBTA.”