Article

Leasing Opportunity: 15 State Street

A 15 story building on a street corner across the street from a historic brick building.

NPS Photo

[Insert abstract here]

The National Park Service and National Parks of Boston

Key Dates for this Request for Proposals (RFP)

RFP Release Date:
TBD		 Initial Question Submittal Deadline*:
TBD		 Initial Proposal Submittal Deadline
TBD		 Anticipated Date for Selection of Qualified Proposals:
Four to Six Weeks after Submittal Deadline
Site Tours:
Scheduled Upon Request		 Rolling Question Submittal Deadline:
Every Wednesday until a selection is made.		 Rolling Submittal Deadlines:
Every Friday until a selection is made		 Anticipated Lease Effective Date:
Subject to Negotiation or TBD

*Submit Questions to BOST_Permits email address (listed in RFP document below)

The initial RFP solicitation will be open for 60 days, if the NPS has not received enough proposals by the initial submittal deadline the RFP solicitation will remain open on a rolling 1-week basis until a proposal has been selected. During a rolling RFP period, questions must be submitted by Wednesdays at 1:00 PM EDT (or EST if applicable).

Summary of Leasing Opportunity

This Request for Proposals (RFP) provides the opportunity for any interested individual or organization, hereinafter referred to as “Offeror” to submit proposals to the National Park Service (NPS, ‘Lessor’) to lease NPS property at National Parks of Boston (Park) for a Commercial Use under the following general terms and conditions.

The selected offeror (Offeror, ‘you’, ‘your’) will have exclusive negotiation rights to enter into a lease based on the attached Sample Lease (See Attachment A). Elements of your proposal may be incorporated into the Lease at Lessor’s discretion.

Overview of Property Offered for Lease

The subject property is located at 15 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109. The assessor’s parcel number is: 303900000. The site is an irregular corner parcel containing a gross site area of 4,053 SF (or 0.09-Acre) and is zoned BP-10 – “Boston Proper” by the City of Boston. The site is located at the intersection of State Street and Devonshire Street, in front of the Old State House, a historical tourist attraction and MBTA station. The subject site is improved with an eleven-story steel and masonry-constructed office building over English basement, that was constructed in 1902. It was designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, architects. It contains a Gross Building Area (GBA) of 37,070 SF of which 32,654 SF represents the Net Rentable Area (NRA).[1] It is listed as a Historic Building in the Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the NPS is putting together a nomination package to add it to the National Register of Historic Places. Note, once on the National Register of Historic Places, both Federal and State Tax Credits may be available for rehabilitation projects.

[1] Colliers International Valuation & Advisory Services. (2019). Easton Building: Appraisal Report (Report No. BOS180341). Pg. 11.

zoomed in map of Devonshire, Washington, and State Streets, with 15 State Street highlights with a red star
Exhibit 1 - Location Map

Allowed Uses of the Lease Premises

The intent of this RFP solicitation is to offer the property under a master lease to a developer or property management company who can then sublet the property for office space, hotel, or residential housing units. Additional uses will be considered. If office space is proposed, there are non-profit partners affiliated with the Park who might be interested in leasing spaces, including some who are current tenants of 15 State Street. If residential is proposed, it might qualify for the City of Boston’s Downtown Residential Conversion Incentive Program.

Key Information About This Leasing Opportunity

floorplan showing a starwell, two bathrooms, an elevator hallway and a big open room.
Exhibit 2 - Lease Premises - Representative Floor Plan. Full floor plans for 15 State Street may be downloaded, see Attachment E: Floor Plans.

Jurisdiction

For all purposes except building codes and zoning, the Lease Premises are subject to concurrent jurisdiction. Under concurrent jurisdiction, Federal and State governments share the governmental authority, and unless otherwise stated, the laws of both governments are applicable.

The Lessee must comply, at its sole cost and expense, with all Applicable Laws and Requirements (including Federal, State, and local laws, rules, regulations, requirements, and policies) in fulfilling its obligations under the Lease.

It is the responsibility of the Lessee to determine whether it is subject to specific taxes and assessments and abide by those applicable statutes. Any comments made by the NPS in this RFP do not alter those responsibilities, if any, nor should they be construed to take a position nor express a view on behalf of the Lessee.

Term of the Lease

The term of the lease will be negotiated with the selected Offeror. The term shall be as short as possible, while considering the financial obligations of the lessee and other factors related to determining an appropriate lease term. No lease shall have a term of more than 60 years and the NPS anticipates a term between 40 and 60 years. The lease term will commence as soon as possible following selection of the best offer pending completion of any required compliance work and property valuation by the NPS.

Rent

NPS is required under 36 CFR Part 18 to receive, at a minimum, Fair Market Value Rent (FMVR). The FMVR will be determined by the NPS after selection of the best proposal. The FMVR determination will consider any restrictions on the use of the property or terms of the lease that limit the value and/or the highest and best use of the property and any requirements under the lease for the lessee to restore, rehabilitate or otherwise improve the leased property. The amount of rent will be negotiated subsequently with the selected offeror, provided that, the final rent must at least equal the FMVR as determined by the NPS.

Insurance

During the term of this Lease, the Lessee shall maintain General Liability, Property & Casualty, Worker’s Compensation & Employer’s Liability, and Business Interruption & Extra Expense insurance in amounts set by the Lessor. Further information regarding insurance requirements can be found in Attachment A: Sample Lease. Lessee’s insurance coverage amounts will be periodically reviewed by the Lessor. These reviews will ensure the Lessee has appropriate coverage in light of any changing circumstances.

Utilities

The Lessee is solely responsible for all utilities including, but not limited to, telephone, cable, and internet access. Subject to advance written approval by the Lessor of any utility service, the Lessee at its sole expense shall make all arrangements with appropriate utility providers (including the Lessor where applicable), for all utilities not provided by the Lessor and furnished to the Premises. Any utility service provided by Lessor will be subject to the Lessor’s established policies and procedures for provision of utility services to third parties.

Maintenance Responsibilities

Lessee's Responsibilities

Lessee will be fully responsible for all maintenance, improvements and repairs for the building, including, but not limited to:

  • Scheduled repair and maintenance of the building on the Lease Premises.
  • Unscheduled, emergency work (e.g. after-hours drain clearing, plumbing or electrical work) necessary to ensure the successful operation of the Lease Premises.
  • Routine housekeeping of the Lease Premises and its exterior facilities.
  • Pest management of the Lease Premises and its exterior facilities.
  • Grounds maintenance within the Lease Premises. This includes snow removal and trash/recycling removal.

Potential Improvement Projects

  • Lessor may undertake projects intended to improve the Lease Premises or utilities serving the Lease Premises during the Lease Term. Lessor will coordinate with Lessee to minimize the impact on Lessee’s operations.

Key Personnel

Lessee shall be required to maintain and provide to NPS an updated list of its qualified and experienced personnel, including a list of all subcontractors it uses.

Premises Condition

Facility will be delivered to Lessee, “As-is with all faults.”

Contractors

Lessee may utilize contractors to perform repairs, replacements, and improvements, and to provide event services.

  • Contractors must abide by all Lease provisions as well as all local and national laws and regulations.
  • Lessee will require Contractors to maintain appropriate insurance coverage that names the Lessee and the United States of America as an additional insured party.
  • Lessee will develop and implement, subject to NPS prior approval, a contractor informational document, which will inform the contractor(s) of all pertinent information about the site.

Sustainability

The Park manages its sustainability program under an Environmental Management System, which sets forth goals ranging from solid waste and energy conservation to renewable energy and climate change education.

  • Lessee shall require that hazardous and universal waste generated from the site is disposed of in accordance with state and local laws.
  • Lessee shall ensure that all trash, recycling, and composting meet applicable federal, state, and local requirements and goals.
  • Lessee shall make every effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle solid waste.
  • Lessee shall make every effort to utilize efficient energy and develop and implement a comprehensive plan for energy and water conservation.

Other Terms and Conditions

The proposed terms and conditions of the offered Lease are as described in Attachment A, “Sample Lease” included in this RFP and are consistent with 36 CFR Part 18.

Competitive Process

This Lease opportunity is open to all interested persons and businesses on a competitive basis. Whoever submits the proposal judged best under the proposal selection criteria will be given an opportunity to negotiate a final Lease agreeable to both the selected offeror and NPS.

To be selected by the NPS you must demonstrate that you have the capacity to plan, carry out, and finance your proposal. Evaluation criteria and the process for selecting a Lessee are described in detail in the PROPOSAL CONTENT AND CRITERIA and EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCESS sections of this RFP. The NPS reserves the right to reject one or all proposals or terminate lease negotiations at any time prior to executing a final lease without penalty or liability.

Appointments-Only Site Tour and Additional Information

Requests for site tours and questions about the RFP or the Lease Premises should e-mail us at our BOST_Permits email address listed in the document RFP below.

Questions from interested parties will be answered via a Question & Answers (Q&A) or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section on the park’s website. Questions must be submitted by the dates provided on the first page of this RFP. The Q&As or FAQs, as well as the RFP and attachments, can be found at: https://www.nps.gov/bost/getinvolved/leasing.htm

NPS reserves the right at any time, and from time to time, for its own convenience, and in NPS’ sole discretion, to cause or do any or all of the following:

  • Waive or correct any defect or technical error as to form or content of this RFP or in any response, proposal, or proposal procedure, as part of the RFP or any subsequent selection and negotiation process.
  • Reissue an RFP.
  • Modify, amend, cancel, or suspend any and all aspects of the RFP and selection process.
  • Modify the scope of the Lease or the required responses or modify the components of the Lease.
  • Request that Respondents clarify, supplement, or modify the information submitted.
  • Extend deadlines for accepting RFP responses, or request amendments to responses after expiration of deadlines.
  • Consider comparable projects owned, developed, or operated by a Respondent.

Proposal Submission Protocol

Proposals may only be submitted electronically. Proposals that are not received at the designated electronic address by the specified deadline will not be considered. NPS will not consider hardcopy proposals.

Telephonic proposals, faxes, e-mails to other addresses, and other means of transmittal will not be considered. Please refer to the Proposals Considered Public Documents section, in this RFP if you believe that a proposal contains trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information that you do not want to be made public.

Authority

This RFP is issued under the authority of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 18 Leasing of Properties in Park Areas (36 CFR Part 18). This RFP and the offered lease are subject to and incorporate all terms and conditions of Part 18 as applicable. In the event of any conflict between the terms of this RFP and Part 18, Part 18 controls.

The NPS has the authority to lease historic property through the Historic Leasing Authority (54 USC 306121), as well as the authority to lease NPS-administered buildings and associated property pursuant to the National Park Service General Leasing Authority (54 USC Ch. 1021), and other applicable authorities.

NPS regulations require all leases with the NPS to receive Fair Market Value Rent.

Requirements

Proposals must be submitted electronically to our BOST_permits email address listed in the RFP document below.

Proposals must be submitted on or before the time and date provided on the first page of this Request for Proposals. The subject line should include the following: BOST_15 State Street_Lease Proposal_[Your name or the name of your business entity or organization] (please do not include the brackets).

Proposals are limited to 50 pages or less, not including attachments. Any proposals over these limits will be deemed non-responsive and not evaluated further.

Offerors should submit their proposal in electronic format as one cohesive document in the Adobe PDF format. The required Identification and Credit Information forms (either 10-352, 10-353, or 10-354), the required Financial Information for Revenue-Producing Uses Forms (10-355 and either 10-355A or 10-355B), financial statements, and credit reports should be incorporated into your PDF submission as attachments. If you do not have PDF management software, such as Adobe Acrobat, installed on your computer there are free websites, such as PDFCandy or PDFgear, that will allow you to convert other document formats to PDF and combine PDF documents. Proposals must be formatted to 8-1/2" x 11”-page size. Proposals submitted by mail, in-person delivery, telephone, fax, or other methods will not be considered.

While there is no limit on the file size of your proposal, the total file size of the email submission, including all attachments, cannot exceed 40MB. If your proposal exceeds this limit, you must separate your document into smaller files and send them in separate emails. If you do this, please separate your proposal into as few files as possible and clearly name the files so they can be reassembled in your intended order.

Effective proposals should be organized in the order of the Required Information detailed below and should contain clear, concise responses that address all the questions and requirements for each of the Selection Criterion listed in the RFP. Proposals that do not specifically answer all questions will be deemed non-responsive and not evaluated further.

NPS reserves the right to deviate from any provision of this RFP, consistent with applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. NPS may extend the submission deadlines for any reason.

Proposal Evaluation and Selection Guidelines

NPS Leasing Regulations, as provided in 36 CFR 18.8(e), require that proposals be evaluated by the criteria below:

  • The compatibility of the proposal's intended use of the offered property with respect to preservation, protection, and visitor enjoyment of the park area.
  • The compatibility of the proposal with the historic qualities of the property.
  • The financial capability of the Offeror to carry out the terms of the lease.
  • The experience of the Offeror demonstrating the managerial capability to carry out the terms of the lease.
  • The ability and commitment of the Offeror to conduct its activities in the park area in an environmentally enhancing manner through, among other programs and actions, energy conservation, waste reduction, and recycling.
  • The benefit to the NPS of the financial and other terms and conditions of the proposal, including the amount of rent proposed and other proposed lease terms and conditions.

Please keep these requirements in mind when developing your proposal, many of these criteria will be relevant to more than one of the selection criteria listed below.

Proposal Content and Criteria

Proposals submitted in response to this RFP must follow the format described below. You are asked to answer questions or supply specific information in response to the specified items. Please label your responses correspondingly and respond fully and accurately to all questions and/or requests.

Checklist of the Components of a Responsive Proposal

  • A Transmittal Lettersigned by all managing members, owners, partners, or principals within your organization
  • The Proposal itself, with clearly labeled sections for Offeror Identification and each of the Selection Criteria that covers all of the required questions and elements
  • One of the following:
    • Form 10-352 Identification and Credit Information for Individuals, and all of the required attachments
      • A Personal Financial Statement that identifies your total assets, your liquid assets and your financial liabilities
      • Earnings, bank, or investment account statements that substantiate the information provided in your Personal Financial Statement
      • A credit report, with credit score, from within the last 30 days
    • Form 10-353 Identification and Credit Information for Sole Proprietor Businesses, and all of the required attachments
      • A Personal Financial Statement that identifies your total assets, your liquid assets and your financial liabilities
      • Earnings, bank, or investment account statements that substantiate the information provided your Personal, and or, Business Financial Statements.
      • Business Financial Statements for the most recent 2 years
      • A credit report for the Individual (and Business if available), with credit score, from within the last 30 days
    • Form 10-354 Identification and Credit Information for Business Entities (Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships, etc.), and all of the required attachments
      • One of the following:
        • If this is for an existing business entity:
          • Business Financial Statements for the most recent 2 years
          • Earnings, bank, or investment account statements that substantiate the information provided in your Business Financial Statement
          • A credit report for the Business Entity, with credit score, from within the last 30 days
        • If this will be for a new business entity created for this project:
          • Personal Financial Statements for all the principals of the organization, that identifies total assets, liquid assets, and financial liabilities
          • Credit reports for all the principals of the organization, with credit score, from within the last 30 days
  • Form 10-355 Financial Information for Revenue-Producing Uses
    • One of the following:
      • Form 10-355A Offeror Financial Statements and Projections (Small Lease) (Word)
      • Form 10-355B Offeror Financial Projections (Excel)

Please Note: Review the credit report you provide carefully, many of the free annual credit reports that are available do not include a credit score.

Requried Information

Evaluation and Selection Process

The National Park Service will review all responses to this RFP through an evaluation panel assisted by technical consultants as appropriate.

All proposals will first be screened for adherence to the requirements of this RFP. The NPS will not consider non-responsive proposals. A non-responsive proposal is a proposal that was not timely submitted or fails to meet the material terms and conditions of this RFP as determined by the NPS. The NPS will only use information provided in the appropriate section of a proposal during the evaluation process, please organize your proposal carefully.

It is the intention of the NPS to select the best responsive proposal as determined under the selection criteria without further submittals or presentations. If this cannot be done, the NPS will select those lease proposals that appear most suitable under the selection criteria and will request additional information or presentations from that group so that the best responsive proposal can be selected.

NPS will negotiate the terms of the final Lease with the selected Offeror. Award of a Lease to that Offeror is dependent on successful negotiation of the final terms of the lease. If negotiations fail, NPS may negotiate with other Offerors for award of the Lease or terminate this solicitation without liability to any person.

The NPS reserves the right to reject one or all proposals, terminate lease negotiations, or cancel this RFP Solicitation at any time prior to executing a final lease without penalty or liability.

Additional Information and Modification of Proposals

The NPS may request from any Offeror additional information or written clarification of a proposal after the submission date. However, proposals may not be amended after the submission date unless permitted by the NPS. The NPS may not permit amendment of a proposal unless all Offerors that submitted responsive proposals are given an opportunity to amend their respective proposals.

Lease Terms and Conditions

Term of Lease

The Lease to be awarded under this RFP will have a minimum term of ten (10) years. The Lease may be extended once for a period not to exceed one (1) additional year if the NPS determines that an extension is necessary because of circumstances beyond the control of the NPS. In accordance with applicable policy guidance, all leases with a term of five or more years must contain a CPI adjustment provision; and, and all leases with a term of fifteen or more years must contain a rent reconsideration provision.

Conditions

Selection of a proposal does not guarantee a lease for the Offeror. The responsive proposal judged best under the proposal selection criteria will be given an opportunity to negotiate a final lease agreeable to both the Offeror and NPS.

Lease Provisions

The Lease to be awarded under this RFP will contain the provisions required by 36 CFR Part 18 as well as other provisions determined by the NPS to be necessary to assure use of the leased property in a manner consistent with the purposes of the park area, and where applicable, to assure the preservation of historic property. Required provisions include, without limitation:

  • A termination for cause or default provision and a termination for convenience provision;
  • Appropriate provisions requiring the Lessee to maintain the leased property in good condition throughout the term of the Lease;
  • Appropriate provisions stating that subletting of a portion of the leased property and assignment of a lease, if permissible under the terms of the lease, must be subject to the written approval of NPS;
  • Appropriate provisions requiring the Lessee to pay for use of all services and utilities not provided by the Lessor and to pay all taxes and assessments imposed by federal, state, or local agencies applicable to the leased property or to Lessee activities;
  • Appropriate provisions stating that the Lessee has no rights of renewal of the Lease or to the award of a new Lease upon Lease termination or expiration;
  • Appropriate provisions stating that the Lessee may not construct new buildings or structures on leased property except in limited circumstances;
  • Appropriate provisions requiring that any improvements to or demolition of leased property to be made by the Lessee may be undertaken only with written approval from the NPS; and
  • Appropriate provisions that describe and limit the type of activities that may be conducted by the Lessee on the leased property.

A Sample Lease is attached to this RFP and incorporates these terms.

Proposals Considered Public Documents

All proposals submitted in response to this Prospectus may be disclosed by the Service to any person, upon request, to the extent required or authorized by the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.§ 552). If you believe that your proposal contains trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, mark the cover page of each copy of the proposal with the following legend:

“The information specifically identified on pages of this proposal constitutes trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information that the Offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The Offeror requests that this information not be disclosed to the public, except as may be required by law.”

You must specifically identify what you consider to be trade secret information or confidential commercial or financial information on the page of the proposal on which it appears, and you must mark each such page with the following legend:

“This page contains trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information that the Offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, and which is subject to the legend contained on the cover page of this proposal.”

Information so identified will not be made public by the NPS except in accordance with law. The NPS does not warrant and assumes no liability for the accuracy of the information provided in this RFP.

Eligibility

Applicants subject to existing legal authorizations must be compliant with current lease obligations in order to be eligible for this opportunity. Current lessees of NPS property who have not satisfied reporting obligations or other lease obligations or have outstanding rent payments will not be considered eligible for this opportunity.

Applicants who are presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from a public transaction by a federal department or agency, or whose legal authorizations to undertake operations on park lands or to use and occupy park lands and facilities have been revoked, suspended, or terminated, or whose obligations for payments have been deemed delinquent and have been deferred to the United States Treasury, are not eligible for consideration.

Exhibits & Attachments

Frequently Asked Questions

Check back for a list of frequently asked questions.

Last updated: March 19, 2025