Foundations are in place for three of six Kendall Square sites
Brothers Marketplace will open this summer in Kendall Square
Courtesy of Monica Lee/MIT Department of Facilities
The latest updates on the Kendall Square Initiative include complete foundations and concrete and steel structures at three sites: two on both sides of the Kendall Square T Station and one at 1 Broadway, across the street from building E62.
These are sites number 1, 4, and 5 out of six sites that MIT has zoned as part of the Initiative, which will transform Kendall Square into a unique mixed-use district, Israel Ruiz, executive vice president and treasurer at MIT, said at a faculty meeting Sept. 29.
Zoning for the project was approved in April 2013, and in total, there have been ten years of planning for the project.
Site 1 is on target for its retail portion to be complete in summer 2019, Monica Lee, senior communications officer for the Department of Facilities, wrote in an email to The Tech.
Brothers Marketplace, a local and artisanal specialty store and caterer, will occupy 19,000 square feet of the ground floor and is expected to open this summer. The neighborhood market is operated by Roche Bros. Supermarkets, a family business which currently has 20 locations.
The location, also known as 1 Broadway, will be about a five minute walk east of the Kendall Square T Station.
Site 4, according to Lee, is on target to complete by fall 2020. Construction of the exterior façade will start this December, while the concrete structure is expected to be completed next summer.
The building will house the MIT Admissions department, a child care center, and a welcome center, in addition to providing graduate housing, Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, said at the Sept. 29 faculty meeting.
Site 5 has a target occupancy of early 2021, Lee wrote. Tenants include the Boeing Aerospace & Autonomy Center, as well as the MIT Museum and the MIT Press.
The 437,000 square foot building will be located at 314 Main Street. On Tuesday, MIT invited the public to a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction at this site.
The sites lie over what used to be surface parking lots. To make up for the loss of parking lots, the Kendall Square Parking Garage is currently being excavated near the T stop. This will have 1,121 underground parking spaces, Lee wrote.
While unsure about how much demand will arise for parking after new lab and commercial spaces open, Ruiz said at the faculty meeting that this is the maximum amount of parking that the City of Cambridge would allow.
Above ground, on top of where the parking garage will be, the Kendall Initiative has planned an open space with performance areas, art, and an outdoor movie theater, Sarkis said at the faculty meeting.
Target completion dates for sites 2, 3, and 6 are still to be determined, with construction not yet started. These will contain a mix of commercial labs, office space, and retail, according to Sarkis.