Boston Plans for $45M Freight Facility

    Oct. 28, 2004
    The Boston Redevelopment Authority preliminarily approved a $45 million freight container handling facility

    Source The Boston Globe via NewsEdge Corporation

    The Boston Redevelopment Authority preliminarily approved a $45 million freight container handling facility that would be a modern gateway to the Boston Marine Industrial Park in South Boston.

    The International Cargo Center of New England, a proposed two-building, 314,000-square-foot complex that could open in about two years, would provide employment for about 500 people, said project partner Neil F. Fitzpatrick, president and owner of Boston Freight Terminals, a handler of imported and exported goods that come through Boston in shipping containers.

    Fitzpatrick said he plans to increase his company to about 60 employees from 40 and lease the rest of the space in the new facility to other companies that need to be near US Customs Service officials and other shipping services.

    "It will bring a lot of the different segments of one industry under one roof," he said.

    Boston Freight Terminals, a 24-year-old company that moved off Fargo Street to make way for the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, is developing the new freight site along Northern Avenue jointly with Cargo Ventures LLC of New York.

    "It's a rather tremendous move," said Arthur Lane, president of Peabody & Lane Corp., a shipping agent for bulk cargo in Boston, who has lamented the deindustrialization of the Port of Boston. "I don't see how anyone could oppose something of that size, given the jobs."

    The BRA board yesterday approved negotiations for a 65-year lease on the land. Two buildings on the site, between Northern and Drydock avenues and near the FleetBoston Pavilion tent, would be demolished, and two new larger buildings, with 28-foot-high ceilings, would be built starting in mid-2005.

    Boston Freight Terminals takes the contents of shipping containers from multiple companies, separates the goods, and sends them on by ship, airplane, or truck.

    Boston Freight processed more than 110 million pounds of imported cargo and 50 million pounds of exported cargo last year.

    Vivien Li, executive director of the Boston Harbor Association, where Fitzpatrick serves on the board, said this is a good use of the land. "This is not more music tents," said Li. "This is providing actual storage space for cargo coming off ships and helps to reinforce the Port of Boston."

    The Marine Industrial Park comprises 191 acres on the east side of the South Boston Waterfront. Only about 40 acres remain undeveloped.