A pair of skyscrapers on the Boston waterfront would cast hour-plus-long shadows along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway past Faneuil Hall Marketplace for much of the year, consultants told a city review committee.
Boston-based Chiofaro Co. proposes a pair of 615- and 538-foot-tall towers to house offices, a luxury hotel and condos built on the site of the eight-story harbor garage between the Greenway and the New England Aquarium.
The 1.3-million-square-foot plan is under review by an advisory committee to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Developer Donald Chiofaro withdrew a 1.5-million-square-foot proposal in 2011 before returning this year with the dual-tower concept.
Regulators will consider the structures’ effect on shade and wind patterns, among other factors, as they decide whether to let the billion-dollar project go forward.
Boston-based consultants Utile Inc. calculated sunlight patterns on Oct. 23, and determined the towers would throw shadows down the Greenway as far as the Dock Square garage on Clinton Street. The shadows would cover a large portion of Long Wharf in the afternoon.
Oct. 23 was chosen because regulators have cited it as the latest date of widespread outdoor activity in the area.
After hearing Wednesday’s presentation, members of the Downtown Waterfront Municipal Harbor Planning Advisory Committee said they needed more information. They asked for details on wind effects and shadow patterns during other times of the day and year.
"This area tends to have a lot of families walking through the area. It’s not just 9-to-5 workers," Boston Harbor Association President Vivien Li said.
State regulations set a maximum height of 145 feet for development on the 1.3-acre harbor garage parcel. But the BRA is in the midst of a complex process that would give it leeway to waive the height limit.
Massachusetts communities that submit municipal harbor plans to the state can waive limits on height and density of waterfront developments. In return, developers are required to provide improvements that contribute to marine uses or public enjoyment of the waterfront.
Both Chiofaro proposals have been opposed by the trustees of Harbor Towers, the two 40-story condo buildings located next to the harbor garage site. The Harbor Towers trustees have hired George Thrush, director of the School of Architecture at Northeastern University, to present alternatives to the Chiofaro plan. The committee will continue to review the plans throughout the fall.
