A low-slung warehouse on Route 1A in East Boston could soon be swapped for a much bigger, greener back-of-house hub for Boston Logan International Airport’s food, drink and retail operations.
Developer Jacob Citrin’s firm Cargo Ventures has filed plans to tear down the existing building at 160 William F. McClellan Highway and put up a two-story, roughly 150,000-square-foot commissary. The new facility is pitched as a high-efficiency nerve center that would centralize many of Logan’s concessions deliveries and use an electric shuttle fleet to move goods out to the terminals.
What the City Filing Shows
The Boston Planning & Development Agency project page describes demolishing the current structure and replacing it with a roughly 154,000-square-foot receiving and distribution facility. Plans call for loading docks, accessory office space and eight dedicated truck chargers to support electric truck transfers. The filing is listed as a Letter of Intent and is currently under review through the BPDA’s Article 80 process.
Centralizing Deliveries and the Green Pitch
Cargo Ventures says MarketPlace Development, which manages Logan’s concessions program, would lease the space and bring several suppliers under one roof to cut down on duplicative, multi-stop runs, the Boston Globe reports. The filings and project page highlight LEED-Platinum ambitions and on-site charging infrastructure, and the developer has emphasized that operations would launch with an electric fleet.
That approach lines up with Massport and its public Net Zero goals for Logan, as well as recent electrification investments at the airport.
Traffic and Neighborhood Questions
The developer’s Letter of Intent includes a pledge to fund an extension of the Coughlin Bypass to the site so delivery vehicles could reach the airport without using McClellan Highway, a detail already noted in local coverage. Universal Hub points out that the proposal is framed as a way to keep trucks off Route 1A, and the bypass plan along with truck routing is expected to be a central focus during the public review process.
Next Steps
The BPDA project page lists the submission as a Letter of Intent that is under review, and the proposal would still need to move through city review before any permitting and construction phases could begin, according to the Boston Planning & Development Agency. The Boston Globe also reports that the project would replace a smaller commissary Citrin already owns nearby, with MarketPlace Development slated to be the tenant if the plan moves ahead.
