The Massachusetts Department of Transportation opened bidding on a roughly 20-acre waterfront site in Fall River that officials say could draw close to $1 billion in private investment and more than 1,000 new homes, according to a MassDOT press release. The Invitation to Bid, published July 24, sets an Oct. 21 deadline for developer proposals.
The property sits along the Taunton River and was created through the Route 79/Davol Street Corridor Improvements Project, which converted a former elevated highway into a multimodal boulevard, freeing up waterfront land adjacent to the MBTA’s new Fall River Depot commuter rail station. State officials are marketing the site as a rare, large-scale transit-oriented development opportunity in a mid-sized New England city, envisioning a mixed-use neighborhood combining housing, commercial space, restaurants, retail and public waterfront access.
“This site is uniquely positioned for transit-oriented development that will bring new homes, new businesses and new energy,” Gov. Maura Healey said. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll called it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform a former highway corridor into a vibrant neighborhood.” Interim Transportation Secretary Phillip Eng tied the opportunity directly to the completed roadway project, saying, “By transforming the Route 79 corridor into a multimodal boulevard, we delivered on this tremendous development opportunity.” Housing Secretary Juana Matias said the site “has the potential to deliver more than 1,000 new homes near transit, jobs, and downtown.”
Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan framed the project in economic development terms for the city, saying the site’s future growth “will bring close to 1 billion dollars of investment and open many new economic opportunities for the City of Fall River.”
The RFP represents the culmination of a long-running infrastructure investment: the Route 79/Davol Street corridor project itself required substantial public spending to convert the aging elevated highway into surface-level roadway before the adjacent parcels could be marketed for private redevelopment. That sequencing β public infrastructure first, private development bidding second β mirrors the broader pattern RealtyWire has covered in how cities structure transit-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment projects to de-risk sites before soliciting private capital.
What it means: The $1 billion figure and 1,000-plus-home estimate are the state’s own projections for what the site could ultimately support, not a confirmed development plan or investment commitment β no developer has yet been selected, and the specifics of what gets built will depend on which proposal MassDOT and the city select after the October deadline. The framing from state and local officials is uniformly promotional, as is typical for a newly opened RFP; the real test of the project’s scale and pace will come once bids are reviewed and a developer is chosen.
What to watch: Which developers submit proposals ahead of the Oct. 21 deadline, and whether MassDOT and Fall River select a bidder in time to begin construction on what officials are positioning as one of the largest transit-oriented redevelopment opportunities in the region.
