The architectural designs for a new pier between Liberty Wharf and the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston are as different as what developers are planning there, including a concert hall, a luxury hotel, a fishing pier and tackle shop, restaurants and a marine transit hub.

Four developers have filed plans with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) planning a wide variety of uses. Now, it’s up to city planners to decide who will build a new pier and docks along the South Boston Waterfront.

The city is trying to encourage pedestrian traffic in the area by combining marine activities with a technology- and life sciences-driven district Mayor Thomas Menino is creating along the Waterfront and in the Fort Point areas of the city, an area deemed the “innovation district.”

The BRA also wants to improve the overall appearance of the site through private resources, while attempting to promote water-based activities on the Waterfront by creating daytime and hourly boat slips for visitors to the port.

The plans proposed by the developers – Cresset Development; a joint venture of Starboard Capital and partner Madison Marquette,; a team of Live Nation and Legal Sea Foods; and a combination of restaurateur Jon Cronin and Atlantic Fish Coast Seafood – will certainly change the appearance of the site, some more than others.

Quays Boston

Starting with the biggest departure from what’s now in the area, the proposal from Jon Cronin, the man behind Jerry Remy’s Boston restaurants, has the look of a cruise liner to it. The building is long and made of glass, with large, upside-down, yellow L-shaped features adorning the ends.

Cronin’s concept for “Quays Boston” has him teaming up with wholesale seafood distributor Atlantic Coast Seafood on the adjacent Fish Pier to create a boat-to-table dining concept. The 138,595-square-foot Quays project would include 72,830 square feet of restaurants, 41,475 square feet of office space and 24,290 square feet of event space. There would also be a fish market as well as a public fishing area, bait and tackle shop and a fish cleaning station at the end of the dock.

According to the proposal filed with the BRA and viewed by Banker & Tradesman, priority for offices would be given to fishing, docking and harbor excursion activity. The owner would then target technology-oriented tenants.

An estimated 700-800 construction and 1,700 permanent jobs would be created by the project. The state would receive about $7.5 million from meals and sales tax, and Boston would receive $900,000 each year from local option meals taxes, according to the developer.

Harborlights

Next up is the angular plan for a new concert hall from Legal Sea Foods’ Roger Berkowitz and Live Nation’s Don Law, dubbed “Harborlights.” Law operates the adjacent Bank of America Pavilion concert venue. Berkowitz is a major tenant at Liberty Wharf, with restaurants on three floors – which combined could create a mini monopoly on that portion of the Waterfront.

The team would create a floating, 25,000-square-foot structure with an 11,000- or 12,000-square-foot concert hall, featuring either 650 seats at tables or 1,200 in rows, and a full sound stage.

The rendering included in the developer’s proposal shows a long, low building with various roof angles and glass-curtain walls, similar to plans for the city’s Innovation Center being built adjacent to Fan Pier just down the road. The venue would target those aged 35 to 55 for jazz, comedy and popular acts all year. That kind of activity would be a direct attraction to the Waterfront for visitors from the nearby Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, according to the proposal.

At the northern end of the project, “a new public water transportation hub” would serve the Waterfront’s transit needs, the developer’s proposal says. In addition, the owners have vowed to make the venue’s “assembly spaces” available for harbor-focused educational programs.

Freedom Wharf

Then there’s the proposal for a 51-room luxury hotel and a small satellite campus for Beverly-based Endicott College, from a joint venture of Danvers-based Starboard Capital and Washington, D.C.’s Madison Marquette. Called “Freedom Wharf,” the project would be 143,737 square feet, with two main buildings at 86,521 and 57,217 square feet. It would feature new dockage facilities and a marine terminal for Boston Harbor Cruises.

The team has received a letter of interest (LOI) from a Libra Group hotel affiliate to lease and manage a “Captain’s Quarters” hotel on the newly built pier. Additionally, the owner of Blue Martini, a Florida restaurant chain, has expressed interest in operating a 7,000-square-foot restaurant with a large patio at the site, according to filings.

Pier 7

Finally, Boston’s Cresset Development, the firm that built Liberty Wharf and is now trying to sell it, wants to build “Pier 7,” a 51,000-square-foot restaurant and office building, along with a “cruise terminal.” According to the proposal, the building would be modern, “but is designed to retain the image of an abstract vessel.”

The four-story building would house ticketing, commissary and offices for the Charles Riverboat Co., a key component for the project, according to the developer’s proposal. The Porch at Pier 7, which the developer claims would be the city’s largest public roof deck, “will be a dunescape,” with water features, plants and space for lounging, according to the proposal.

Economies Of Scale

BRA spokesperson Melina Schuler declined to comment since the proposals are now undergoing internal review, but one local waterfront advocate was surprised by the scale and programming of the projects. The uses and sizes of most of the projects would likely trigger state and municipal reviews that could take years to permit, said Vivien Li, president of The Boston Harbor Association.

“I think the BRA was looking for water-based activities to reinforce the destination restaurants at Liberty Wharf, and that would mean more of a marina or water taxi stops,” Li told Banker & Tradesman. “Instead you’re talking about office space and hotels. I think the city also really wanted to see something happen in time for 2013. But the large projects on the land side would likely have very extensive environmental reviews and trigger a regulatory review process that would almost certainly take longer than that. Would the city really want to go forward with a proposal that would require an intense environmental and regulatory process? That’s probably not what the BRA envisioned when they put out the [request for proposals].”