GSA, MIT Finalize Volpe Center Deal

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center will be replaced.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MELANIE GOLNICK/MIT

Under a $750-million agreement finalized on Jan. 18 between the U.S. General Services Administration and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the university plans to build a new federal building and redevelop a large parcel of surrounding land, now the campus for a federal transportation center in Cambridge, Mass.

As GSA’s partner, MIT will provide a new building for the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on about four acres of the 14-acre campus, the institute stated. Once construction is complete, MIT will purchase and redevelop the remaining 10 acres into a mixed-use site in the Kendall Square innovation district.

Israel Ruiz, executive vice president and treasurer at MIT, says, “Our [$750-million] bid included the cost to build this new federal facility as well as payment for the land that MIT will acquire through the transaction.”

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Volpe Center campus, at its current location for 45 years, includes six buildings, open areas of landscaped land and two parking lots.

In 2015, the GSA invited bids for the Volpe Center redesign project, selecting MIT as the winning bidder in November. MIT will design and construct a new federal facility. In exchange, MIT will work with Cambridge to formulate a development plan for the 10 acres that will include commercial innovation space, residential and retail facilities, and open space.

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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