New plan unveiled for Riverside Station

Reimagined project needs Newton City Council approval

MBTA officials agreed today to move forward with a reimagined development plan at the Riverside MBTA station that will focus only on housing, not mixed-use or commercial, in its first stage, reports Chris Lisinski at State House News.

Mark Development’s original plan, which had been approved by the Newton City Council, envisioned a massive complex -- close to 1 million square feet -- combining life sciences space with retail shops, housing and other offices.

But in the face of rising construction costs and interest rates, Mark delayed the next steps in December 2022.

Under the new plan, Mark will start with a residential-only approach that emphasizes new housing amid a statewide supply and affordability crisis, then potentially advance to mixed-use development in a second phase, Lisinski adds.

"The life sciences development world has not improved at all, and so we've been reconsidering the project with the developer with a number of goals in mind," MBTA Chief Real Estate Officer Richard Henderson told the agency's board of directors.

Henderson said MBTA officials wanted to focus on the state's housing crisis, plus ensure the T still secured at least 650 parking spaces for the Riverside stop.

Mark Development CEO Robert Korff said the firm "remains excited by the opportunity to reimagine the MBTA's Green Line terminus at Riverside."

"In response to changing market dynamics and the statewide need for more housing options, we have reimagined the project to focus on housing in the first Phase, with an option to pursue both housing and commercial uses in the second phase," Korff said in a statement.

"We are pleased to have received approval from the MBTA board to proceed with this plan and look forward to a formal process to review a revised proposal with the city of Newton and the local community."

The updated plan's first phase envisions about 545 housing units, 20 to 25 percent of which will be affordable, according to Henderson. It will also designate 530 surface parking spots and 120 spots in a shared garage for the MBTA.

Mark Development can choose to pursue a second phase that Henderson said would involve a minimum of 175,000 square feet of development, most of which would constitute an office and lab building with about 100 extra housing units.

The timeline calls for phase one permitting to be complete by Aug. 31, 2026, and for the MBTA surface lot to be built no later than Sept. 1, 2027.

The MBTA board unanimously approved the revisions after a presentation by Henderson. That vote represents the first major hurdle for the updated project, which still needs to go before the Newton City Council.

Mark Development’s decision to emphasize housing first, follows Northland Investment Corp’s announcement last week that would like to back off plans to include nearly 200,000 SF of office in its now-underway development on Needham Street in Newton and focus instead on housing, retail and restaurants.