Encouraging and Implementing Transit-Oriented Development
Where: Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road
When: Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 4:00 – 5:30 PM ET
Development connected to smart transportation options is key to meeting many of our most critical urban goals, such as reduced car dependency, better public health, more efficient land use, and reduced congestion. While there are successful projects, many more are needed, but they can be very challenging to bring to fruition. Why? What makes these such “sticky” problems, and what can we do at every level to make more TOD projects a reality? Scott Bosworth, the Director of Transit Oriented Development at the MBTA, and John Rosenthal, an experienced local developer, will share their perspectives on how we can encourage and promote more TOD projects in urban areas.
About the Speakers
Scott Bosworth is currently the Director of Transit Oriented Development at the MBTA. His department is “focused on public-private partnerships” as the agency looks to use transit-oriented developments (TODs), an area of increasing interest over recent years, to link transportation infrastructure investment with social infrastructure development. Previously, Scott managed the MBTA’s Capital Delivery department and was the Chief Strategy Officer of MassDOT/MBTA. Scott has deep roots in federal, state, and local transportation policy spanning three decades, including influential assignments as Assistant Secretary of Transportation under Governors Weld and Cellucci and with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and its Chairman, Congressman Bud Shuster. Scott lives in Dorchester with his family and is a regular MBTA commuter.
John Rosenthal is the President of Meredith Management, a real estate development firm with a long history of success in the Boston area. Meredith Management developed the first mixed-income multifamily affordable housing complex financed by MassHousing in 1969 and has developed several thousand units since. Meredith currently owns over 1,000 apartments and approximately 150,000 sf of commercial space in the Commonwealth. Under his leadership, John recently co-developed and completed construction in June 2020 on Fenway Center Phase 1/BOWER, including 312 apartments and 37,000 sf of amenity-oriented retail space. Meredith Management and its Phase 2 partner, Life Science developer IQHQ, are currently constructing the balance of the 1.3MM square foot Fenway Center mixed-use transit-oriented development next to Fenway Park and abutting the Lansdowne Commuter Rail Station. John values and practices community-based environmental, social, and economic justice through Meredith Management and his work as an activist, advocate, and leader in aiding the homeless, reducing gun violence and implementing gun control reform, and tackling the opioid epidemic.