The developers of Dorchester Bay City are pursuing a federal loan of roughly $400 million to start the long-stalled Columbia Point project with more than 700 homes, a principal at Accordia Partners told the Dorchester Reporter in an interview published Oct. 6. The Dorchester Bay City loan application is part of a new strategy to get the 20-acre waterfront redevelopment moving three years after city approval.
What the $400 Million Loan Would Build
Richard Galvin of Accordia Partners said the team has applied through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau for financing under the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program. “We’ve gone and applied for a loan — approximately a $400 million loan — to support more than 700 units in two buildings,” Galvin told the Reporter.
The two residential buildings would go up on what is now a large parking lot used by UMass Boston on the former Bayside Expo Center site along Mount Vernon Street. Galvin said housing is the obvious first phase “given the pent-up demand” for it.
How the Federal RRIF Program Works
RRIF is meant to jump-start transit-oriented residential and commercial development near rail stations. Loans carry fixed rates tied to U.S. Treasury securities, with repayment periods generally up to 35 years, and payments can be deferred for up to five years after substantial completion, the Reporter said. Dorchester Bay City sits across the street from JFK/UMass station, which serves the Red Line and commuter rail.
Galvin said the project is one of three nationally that have completed the letter-of-interest stage with the Build America Bureau and is positioned for further underwriting. He expects the financing picture to become clearer in the first quarter of next year.
Stacking Up the Financing
Galvin said the RRIF loan could be combined with Opportunity Zone capital, possible investment from union pension funds and some form of city property-tax relief to close the financing gaps that have held the project back. “All those things, all of a sudden, start to make the economics potentially work,” he said. He said Accordia is “pretty confident” Columbia Point will keep its federal Opportunity Zone designation.
The Wu administration has been exploring tax incentives to restart housing construction slowed by interest rates and building costs, as we reported in our look at Boston housing tax abatements for stalled projects. Galvin said Accordia has had informal conversations with city officials, including Planning Department chief Kairos Shen, but has not made a formal request for help.
From 2023 Master Plan to Phase One
The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved the Dorchester Bay City master plan in September 2023, allowing 21 buildings and more than 6 million square feet on land owned by UMass. The plan called for nearly 2,000 homes and more than 4 million square feet of office, research and possibly academic space, according to the Reporter. Galvin said the team may now look at adding housing because of changes in the life sciences and office markets, while still favoring a mixed-use project.
Accordia remains under contract with the UMass Building Authority, which selected it in 2019. Separately, the ownership group that bought the 13.6-acre 2 Morrissey Boulevard property for $110 million in 2019 has been testing the market for a possible sale, though Galvin said a sale is not certain.
Our Take: Housing First Is the Realistic Play
This section is analysis and opinion from The Boston Report, separate from the reporting above.
Pivoting Dorchester Bay City toward housing reflects where Boston’s real estate demand is today. Office and lab space is hard to finance, as the Amazon Seaport sublease shows, while downtown owners are turning offices into apartments at 133 Federal Street and 31 Milk Street. Starting with 700-plus homes next to a Red Line station is a more financeable first step than the office- and lab-heavy vision of 2023.
The risk is that the plan depends on several moving parts at once: a federal loan still in underwriting, Opportunity Zone status, pension money and city tax relief. Any one of them slipping could push the start back again. Still, low-cost federal transit financing is the kind of tool that can make a big Boston project pencil out, and the first quarter of 2027 will be the time to watch.