Investments in transportation improvements in southeastern Mass. continue to fuel the region's growth. First, train service opened on the Lakeville/Middleborough and Kingston/Plymouth lines. The Greenbush line added another spur to the train service, reaching into additional South Shore towns. Regional roadway improvements have also been made, most notably the long-anticipated Route 44 West. This 4-lane highway provides the first major east-west connection on the South Shore and has opened up travel to Rte. 3 in Plymouth from Middleborough, a town already well-served by Rte. 495.
These major infrastructure improvements are having the expected effects. A number of South Shore towns have seen strong growth as number of mega projects are heralding a boom in the region from Hingham to Plymouth. These mega projects are driving the commercial leasing activity on the South Shore, and tenants are establishing their competitive positions by locating in those projects that will offer the best draw for their businesses.
The large-scale projects look destined to sweep the leasing activity in the coming years include:
The Launch at Hingham Shipyard: A mixed-use waterfront project planned for 1.2 million s/f of shopping, dining, entertainment, residential and office space that will take advantage of Hingham's transportation network: Boston is easily accessible by boat, car, and, as of last fall, train service. Sitework and residential buildings are now underway.
SouthField in Weymouth: A 1,400-acre mixed-use re-development of a former Naval Air Station. The site is just 15 miles from Boston and boasts an adjacent train station, making it one of the country's leading examples of a major master-planned, transit-oriented project. An impressive grand entrance is in place and the welcome center opened earlier this year.
Colony Place in Plymouth: The region's largest open-air shopping center development with over 750,000 s/f of space already built and another 400,000 s/f planned. Major retailers in every category are represented here, and its highway interchange location gives Colony Place a regional draw.
The Pinehills in Plymouth: Another massive master-planned mixed-use project. 1,000 of a planned 3,000 homes have already been built and 3 of 4 world-class golf courses are now open. Exceptional design has attracted a coveted demographic: the profile of the average Pinehills resident is high in both income and education.
The above projects stand to benefit from other major projects proposed for the region. In Middleborough (near the new Rte. 44) the Wampanoag Tribe has purchased land and working toward a casino resort along the lines of the Mohegan Sun in Conn. In Plymouth, a major film and television facility ("Hollywood East") is proposed to bring a major attraction and thousands of jobs to a 1,000 acre site. Large-scale "transit-oriented" and "smart-growth" residential projects are underway on the Plymouth waterfront and at the Kingston train station. And in several South Shore towns, the largest private land owner in eastern Mass. (A.D. Makepeace) is now actively planning a number of residential developments including a 1,100 unit master-planned community in Plymouth.
Plymouth features particularly strong on this list, and is likely to continue to be a major residential growth engine due to its 20,000 developable acres. North Plymouth is effectively the bulls-eye of the region's growth, it is where the train service to Boston begins and where the two major highways meet (Rte. 44 West and Rte. 3). Residential assessed values have already risen by more than $2 billion in the past 5 years.
This growth is what keeps Saxon's massive Colony Place retail center in Plymouth busy with new leases year after year. This "hybrid" center started with over 350,000 s/f of big box retailers, then moved on to over 250,000 s/f of junior anchors, and most recently added a 150,000 s/f phase of lifestyle retailers. We designed every element of Colony Place in a manner that will allow it to continue to build its regional strength - from the traffic improvements and roadway design to the building materials and landscaping details. The sheer size of the center will draw customers, but the exceptional design elements are to ensure that the customers keep coming back. And, as the region grows, so does Colony Place. State permit filings were recently completed to expand the center from 865,000 s/f to over 1.1 million s/f and leasing activity remains strong - reflecting the fact that it is great to be a dominant draw in a growing market.
Southeastern Mass. has a lot to offer and with the improved transportation system is the major growth area for housing, shopping and business in general.

Robert Rechner is director of commercial development at Saxon Partners, Plymouth, Mass.