The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has issued a request for proposals seeking a development team to design and develop an air rights project over the Massachusetts Turnpike at its Hynes Convention Center Green Line station in the Back Bay.
According to the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the MBTA, the parcel, at Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue, represents about 54,500 square feet of air rights over the Turnpike and portions of the MBTA Green Line tunnel across the street from the Hynes center. Proposals are due Nov. 7.
The MBTA operates Greater Boston's subway system and commuter rail lines. Hynes is one of the system's oldest stations, built in 1912. Its previous names were Massachusetts and Auditorium.
The DOT statement, released late Sept. 3, said Hynes Station does not meet the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and is the busiest Green Line station not accessible now to people with disabilities.
An average of 8,950 customers each weekday enter Hynes Station, which is also an important transfer point for the busy MBTA Route 1 bus.
The RFP seeks a single, coordinated project development team including both a transit developer to design Hynes Station accessibility and other improvements including new street-level entrances and a developer for the so-called Parcel 13.
"This unique development opportunity will continue the transformation of this critical Back Bay intersection along the Turnpike while providing a state-of-the art, accessible T station," said MassDOT secretary and chief executive Richard A. Davey.
