Big Quincy, Mass., Makeover Features History at the Core

Rendering Courtesy of Street-Works

Public-private redevelopment will combine hotels, apartments, retail and office space.

Quincy, Mass., has broken ground on Merchants Row, the first mixed-use block of the $1.6-billion Quincy Center redevelopment project, one of the Bay State's largest construction projects, eight miles south of Boston.

The historic public-private downtown redevelopment project, managed in partnership with the city of Quincy, will include 1.1 million sq ft of new green office space designed by locally based Sheskey Architects. Comprising a 20-sq-block urban mixed-use neighborhood, the complex will have several office buildings up to 20 stories tall, 700,000 sq ft of retail shops and restaurants, two new hotels, 1,400 residential units and multiple new parking garages, with 5,000 public parking spaces.

Historic Burial Ground

Construction of Merchants Row will take place in conjunction with the building of the new Adams Green public space, which will encompass the resting places of the American Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams and their wives and will link to the Masschusetts Bay Transit Authority's Red Line station in downtown Quincy.

Doug Kimble, senior project manager at Suffolk Construction, says an early challenge on the first phase of the Quincy Center project involved formulating a proper foundation and soil retention system that would fit the unique characteristics of the site and be cost-effective. "The best solution for the project will be to install a concrete diaphragm [slurry] wall system utilizing tie-backs," he says. "While other options were considered, this option will provide a cutoff wall for ground water and a solid foundation [and] soil retention system."

Ken Narva, managing partner of White Plains, N.Y.-based Street-Works Development, master developer for the overall project, offered a long-term perspective. "Eight years ago, we came to Quincy because of its potential to lead the rebirth of the great American downtown," Narva noted. "I can't stress enough how important the public-private partnership has been in getting us to this moment."

In January, Quincy Mayor Tom Koch announced that Street-Works and partner The Beal Cos., Boston, working with LaSalle Investment Management, had secured more than $55 million in equity financing for Merchants Row, allowing the project to move forward.

The construction team includes Haley & Aldrich, soil engineer; EBI Consulting, civil engineer; Cosentini Associates, mechanical engineer; DeSimone Consulting Engineers, structural engineer; J. Derenzo Co., sitework subcontractor; JDC Demolition, a subcontractor subsidiary of J. Derenzo Co.; and Treviicos, the subcontractor for the slurry wall.

Johanna Knapschaefer, ENR’s New England Special Correspondent, has been writing about trends in design and construction of buildings, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure for more than a decade. She also profiles award-winning industry leaders and delves into broader construction issues such as workforce training, worker safety and health, climate change remediation and emerging offshore wind and tidal energy developments. Over the past two decades, her articles have appeared in Architectural Record, BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, American Banker, Modern Metals, BusinessNH Magazine, Pittsburgh Magazine and many other publications. Johanna is fluent in Japanese, and taught English and academic writing in the Science and Engineering Department of Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, while living in Japan for eight years.

When not writing, Johanna enjoys mountain climbing, singing and playing her Spanish guitar.

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