MIT officials expect to submit a revised plan to Cambridge officials within a month or so, after gathering reaction from neighbors and city planners. Construction on some of the first buildings could be finished within two or three years of getting permits, they said.
The university’s plans add to an already robust construction scene around Kendall Square, with 5 million square feet of lab and office space underway or under consideration.
The new buildings, valued at more than $2 billion, would host operations for some of the pharmaceutical industry’s leading companies.
Meanwhile, Cambridge itself is in the midst of broader development review that is also looking at other underutilized spaces throughout Kendall Square, as well as in nearby Central Square and along the section of Main Street that connects the two.
City officials hope this will prompt other developers to follow MIT’s lead and add buildings with a range of activities that would contribute to a lively street life.
MIT’s plan echoes that of Harvard University, which is launching a massive build-out across the Charles River in North Allston. In addition to school-related buildings, Harvard is trying to replicate the success of the current Kendall Square by developing a 36-acre “enterprise research campus’’ that will include as many as 12 commercial and academic buildings aimed at attracting private companies.
In Kendall Square, most of MIT’s work would be around the lower Main Street corridor near the MBTA Red Line station. The construction plan calls for about 1.1 million square feet of new space at eight locations in Kendall Square, including two large office, lab, and retail buildings along Main Street. Other facilities would be built on parking lots just south of Main Street and near MIT’s One Broadway office building by Memorial Drive.
MIT is also proposing to create an outdoor plaza at the Kendall Square T Station and to make extensive “streetscape’’ improvements, such as with benches, trees, and streetlights.
