Tropical Foods expansion to move forward

Financing for the expanded home of Tropical Foods in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood has been finalized, allowing the first phase of development to proceed.
 

Located on a 2-acre lot at the gateway to Dudley Square adjacent to the existing Tropical Foods at 2101 Washington St. and the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard, the parcel is co-owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the state Department of Transportation. The project is a partnership between the Madison Park Development Corp. and the Tropical Foods grocer.
 

The new Tropical Foods facility has a total development cost of nearly $15 million and financing for the project will utilize $3.6 million of New Market Tax Credits, provided through Bank of America, $1.4 million of MassWorks infrastructure program funding provided by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and a $788,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Community Services as part of its Healthy Food Initiative.
 

Tropical Foods has been a Dudley Square landmark for more than 40 years, and the new location will allow the grocery store to quadruple its size to 40,000 square feet. The former supermarket will remain open while the new facility is constructed and following its completion the building will be redeveloped as a mix of market rate and affordable housing. Later phases for the development at Parcel 10 includes the construction of a 60,000-square-foot, five-story retail and office building at the corner of Washington Street and Melnea Cass.
 

Through an RFP process conducted by the BRA and MassDOT, Madison Tropical LLC was granted designation for the redevelopment of Parcel 10 last May. The BRA and MassDOT worked with the Roxbury Strategic Oversight Committee, a neighborhood group, and the development team through the designation process to craft a multi-faceted development program at the site.

The redevelopment of Parcel 10 is part of the overall Dudley Square vision, which includes the $115 million restoration of the Ferdinand Furniture building into the new headquarters of the Boston Public Schools and the proposed redesign of the Dudley Square Library. More than $300 million of public and private sector investment has been made in the area in the last decade under the Menino administration, including the new Area B2 police station, the Eustis Street fire station, and Palladio Hall.