As part of an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), MIT completed the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Kendall Square and has acquired the Volpe site's 10-acre development parcel. With the new federal building now open, MIT is preparing to proceed with the creation of a dynamic mixed-use project on the site, incorporating the Cambridge community’s extensive planning and visioning efforts to increase housing, open space, and retail activity, while adding commercial office and laboratory spaces.

The overall project began with a lengthy bidding process, after which the GSA selected MIT as its partner to construct the new federal building. The building opened in September 2023 and features conference rooms, laboratories, offices, open workspaces, specialized building hangars, a day care center, and a unique public art lawn created by renowned designer and sculptor Maya Lin. Currently targeting LEED Platinum certification, the building is expected to use less than half the energy of a traditional building, due to sustainability components including triple-paned glass, heat recovery chillers, electric vehicle chargers, a rainwater reclamation and reuse system, and a rooftop solar array.

Sustainability is also a foundational component of the Kendall Common project. The development plan includes a large urban district-scale blackwater treatment plant to reuse all eligible building water onsite. Additionally, MIT intends to design four all-electric residential buildings as a means of charting this development’s net zero future. The development plan establishes a pathway to all-electric commercial buildings, and the project team will evaluate each of the four buildings against this pathway as it approaches the design review phase. Among other sustainability design elements, all of the buildings are expected to meet LEED Gold standards and will be designed to minimize embodied carbon. After construction material selections are optimized, MIT will offset the remaining carbon emissions resulting from the embodied energy. In addition to its sustainability design elements, the development addresses resiliency by raising the finished grade of the entire 10-acre site to the 2070 100-year flood elevation.

MIT's master plan for the site development was approved in 2021 by the Cambridge Planning Board after a robust community engagement process. Consistent with the zoning passed by the City Council in 2017, the proposed development includes nearly 3 million square feet of space providing retail and restaurants, market-rate and affordable housing units, a community center, and science and innovation facilities. The vibrant, mixed-use center will also provide pedestrian links and publicly-accessible open space, including a large park at the corner of Third Street and Broadway, a linear park adjacent to Sixth Street/Loughrey Way, a park adjacent to the community center, and a park on Binney Street.

The design phase for below-grade infrastructure, individual buildings, and open spaces began in 2022, and design review for the initial buildings and parks began in 2023. Infrastructure work is expected to begin in the fall of 2024.