The Boston Redevelopment Authority has reopened the process to review air rights project proposals at the corner of Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue after developers temporarily shelved their plans during the worst economic crisis this century.
The state owns approximately 145,540 square feet of open space above the Massachusetts Turnpike at this heavily used intersection that is usually full of cars, students and buses, often all vying for concrete at the same time.
The financial roadblocks that put the brakes on development in Boston for the last few years, combined with the challenges of building infrastructure atop a major highway, has kept construction at this intersection halted – until now.
The Department of Transportation (DOT), the agency in charge of the roadway, has resuscitated the process to award air rights for projects that would fill in the gaps created by the Pike. And it has asked the developers that proposed projects on parcels 12, 13, 14 and 15 to reaffirm their plans and financials. Peter O’Connor, head of real estate for the DOT, said they have.
"It’s been a challenge as we’ve looked at how to … generate some revenue," from the air rights parcels, O’Connor said at a meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee appointed by Mayor Thomas Menino. "There is demand for certain kinds of development … especially residential."
The department is reviving project proposals received in 2008 to redevelop the sites. The most viable proposal right now is the single proposal for Parcel 13 submitted by Trinity Financial and its partner in the venture, Boston Architectural College. The plan calls for dormitory space, classrooms, and offices for the Boston Architectural College, as well as retail and rental apartments. The mixed-use building would extend over the turnpike from Mass Ave. down Boylston about a half block.
The Chiofaro Co., Carpenter & Co. and a team including Weiner Ventures and ADG Scotia LLC submitted proposals for the other three MassPike parcels. Those plans include a 200-room hotel, a 500-unit residential building and an office complex of more than a half-million square feet.
There is bound to be community opposition to some, if not all, of the projects. And the failed Columbus Center project looms in the background for anyone involved with the air rights process in the past. The $624 million mixed-used complex, which would have straddled the Turnpike about a half-mile east of Parcel 13, became so expensive to build and embroiled in neighborhood opposition that the developers, Winn Development, stopped trying.
"My experience in 25 years working in development and public land use is that [projects are] only feasible if there’s broad public support," O’Connor told committee members. "I actually want you to help me choose the proposals."
