The MBTA Owns a House and It’s For Sale
Image via Transit Realty
If you thought that the MBTA’s portfolio started with buses and trains, and ended with T stations and stops, you would be entirely mistaken.
According to a Transit Realty listing, the T also owns a home in Revere.
The house, seized and turned over to the T as part of a court recovery process following the conviction of Andres Townes, who was arrested and charged in 2011 for making and selling millions of dollars worth of fake MBTA passes, is currently on the market, and those interested are being encouraged to place a bid. The property was originally purchased by the suspects using funds generated from the “ghost pass” scheme—billed as the largest fare-evasion case in T history—according to officials.
Located on Emanuel Street, the sale of the three-bedroom property consists of a single-family residence and approximately 3,500 square-feet of surrounding land.
According to bid documents, anyone that’s willing to throw down some cash for the property has to meet the minimum bid requirement, which starts at $215,000, lump sum. Bids must be submitted to the offices of the Transit Realty Association, the company handling the transaction on behalf of the transportation agency, no later than 11 a.m. on May 7. Once all of the bids for the T house are in, they’ll be opened and read aloud, with the land going to the highest bid submitted. If you’re confused about how the bidding works, a pre-bid meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, at 11 a.m. at the site of the property in Revere.
Here’s some more details about what the T is offering:
The neighborhood generally contains single-family development. The Property is located in a Residential B zoning district. The immediate neighborhood includes the area east of Route 107, west of North Shore Road, Route 1A. Major highways in the Revere area include Route 1 which runs in a north/south direction through the westerly area of the city. Route 1 is a divided four-lane highway and is the main feeder road to many communities on the North Shore.
The sale of the house is mandated under the terms of state law, which says that the MBTA has “the obligation to maximize non-fare revenue from all sources.”
“Toward that end, the MBTA is offering this property for sale recognizing that this revenue is essential to its purpose of providing public transportation,” according to the details in the bid document. To translate: all the money the T brings in by getting rid of this property will go toward making the train and bus rides better for the general public.
Let the bidding wars begin.
