A rendering of an art studio that would feature work from artists of color. (Courtesy / Cronin Development)
A development team that bid on land near the Boston Convention Center is looking to bring the footprint of a historically Black college into Massachusetts for the first time, through a partnership with Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design.
Pensole Lewis College, based in Detroit, would have space in and a relationship with another “first-of-its-kind in Boston,” a Black Chip Art Gallery, “where lesser-known artists of color will be able to display their work,” said Tavares Brewington, founder of Street2Ivy, who partnered with Cronin Development on this proposal.
Pensole, Michigan’s only historically Black college or university, was founded by the self-described most prominent Black footwear designer in the world, D’Wayne Edwards, who was the lead designer of the Nike Jordan brand. The college had failed financially, Brewington said, until Edwards was able to reinstate it with the support of investors last year.
It’s now looking to expand its footprint to Boston, according to Cronin’s bid submission.
“What he really wants to do with us here in Boston, is for the first time in the history of the Northeast, and definitely here in Massachusetts, is have a historically Black college have a footprint in the city, and to work with our programs and our young people to teach them design and also business,” Brewington said.
“The Pensole school for design and business will have a space and relationship with this art gallery, which I think is really transformative.”
This partnership hinges on whether the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority opts to select Cronin’s bid, one of two submitted for a 99-year ground lease of three parcels of land it owns, totaling 6.2 acres, near the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Southie’s Seaport District.
While Cronin is banking on the “historic” nature of its proposal, the other bidder, Boston Global Investors, says what it’s seeking to build is much more feasible than the competing bid.
“I understand it’s like 2 million square feet of development space,” said John Hynes, CEO and managing partner of BGI. “I just don’t see that happening quickly. So, I think ours is just a more reasonable, practical and viable proposal, particularly in this environment.”
Hynes added, “I think ours is probably a little better thought out in terms of its benefits to the community and its adjacencies to the neighborhood.”
He said his development team, which includes four additional partners, also “checks a few more boxes,” in terms of minority investment, diversity and inclusion, and a track record of completed development projects.
BGI is proposing three mixed-use commercial buildings totaling more than 550,000 square feet, with more than 10,000 square feet of community programming.
This would be spread over the three MCCA-owned parcels, two of which are located on D Street. A third is situated on E Street.
A four-story building would include ground-floor retail with community space and a childcare center, two levels of office space, and a top floor reserved as office space for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.
It would also include two levels of underground parking, including 250 spaces reserved for exclusive use of the MCCA and surrounding hotels, with the rest available to tenants and the public.
A second building would house a grocery store, while a third, five-story building would be for life science research and development. Both would have underground parking, according to the BGI proposal.
BGI states in its proposal that the development would enrich the community “by bringing the neighborhood a much-needed full grocery store, a new café, community space and new childcare services, expansive public green space and places for new businesses.”
Brewington and Jon Cronin of Cronin Development are also proposing a grocery store, childcare services, life sciences space and office space reserved for MCCA, across three buildings, one of which would be located on each parcel.
According to their proposal, Cronin is also planning for an open food market, transportation hub with an expansion of the Nubian shuttle that Brewington says will reach underserved communities, and job training programs operating out of the Black Chip Art Gallery.
“We really want it to be this place where all cultures have a chance to be represented and their dreams to be realized, and to have the ability and connectivity to do that,” Brewington said.
Mark O’Leary, MCCA spokesperson, said the Authority envisioned expanding the property on the immediate Boston Convention & Exhibition Center first, but did not receive the legislative approval needed last session.
“We’re sort of putting the cart before the horse,” O’Leary said, explaining that further development is needed because hotels in the area can’t survive off the convention center alone.
“There’s just a lot of urgency for us to not be sitting around doing nothing.”
