A joint venture partnership hopes to get city approval this week to develop a 28-story mixed-use complex along Lower Washington Street in Boston’s infamous Combat Zone.
It is said there is a time and a place for everything, and one development group is hoping that the time is right for Liberty Place.
Two weeks after receiving critical backing from a Chinatown neighborhood group, a joint venture team is slated to appear before the Boston Redevelopment Authority this Thursday seeking the city’s blessing for the mixed-use project, the cornerstone of which will be a 28-story, 419-unit apartment complex. The complex, recently redesigned at the behest of the BRA, will include 471 parking spaces, including 135 that currently exist.
With the recent changes, which included setting the building’s upper floors back farther from the street, developer W. Kevin Fitzgerald said he believes that earlier concerns about the project have been addressed.
“We expect we will get through this okay,” Fitzgerald said last week of the BRA hearing. A longtime property owner in the area, Fitzgerald has teamed with Charles E. Smith Residential Properties to pursue the residential concept. Fitzgerald had initially designed a hotel for the parcel at 660 Washington St., but revised the plan two years ago when it became apparent that the hospitality industry was in for a prolonged decline.
If the latest incarnation survives the BRA board and a subsequent appearance on August 6 before the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals, construction of the $105 million project could begin in early 2003, estimated Stephanie Wasser, regional vice president for Charles E. Smith Residential. Calling it the first large downtown rental housing development in the Hub in nearly 20 years, Wasser added that her company believes Liberty Place will “become part of Boston’s solution to the housing shortage.”
That very prospect was a key reason the Chinatown Neighborhood Council opted to unanimously support the project, even though there remains an element of local opposition to Liberty Place. CNC Co-moderator Bill Moy noted following the 14-0 vote that 20 units will be reserved for low-income seniors, while another 24 will be set aside for low- and moderate-income residents, allowing for 10 percent of the units to be considered affordable. Even with that accommodation, the Campaign to Protect Chinatown has claimed there are still not enough subsidized units and has also railed against the project’s height and density.
Regardless, Moy indicated that the CNC feels Liberty Place could also play a role in eliminating the last vestiges of the Combat Zone adult entertainment district located across from where the building would be constructed. Designated in the 1970s as the city’s adult entertainment area, the streets abutting Chinatown have slowly seen such uses disappear in recent years, but there do remain some pornographic bookstores, as well as two strip clubs, including one which only recently opened.
‘The Long Haul’
Fitzgerald is among those who also would like to see the adult-oriented businesses depart from the central city. The newest strip club, Centerfolds, is facing legal efforts by the city to shut it down, but Fitzgerald said that decision would be up to the court system. Even if the club is allowed to remain, however, Fitzgerald said he believes the existing adult uses will not intrude upon Liberty Place or future private investment in the market.
In the coming years, “people will not recognize the Combat Zone,” Fitzgerald maintained. Besides Liberty Place, travel industry maven Alan Lewis is pushing forward with a 300-unit residential building to be developed along the so-called Hinge Block. The district has already seen a substantial change in the past year with the opening of the Ritz Carlton Towers, a $510 million mixed-use complex featuring its namesake hotel, retail space, movie theaters and 309 luxury condominiums. In addition, Emerson College has acquired a number of properties in the area around the nearby Boston Common, while Suffolk University has also been active.
Also known as the Midtown District, the area surrounding Liberty Place does appear to be gaining acceptance as a mecca for residential development. Jonathan Close, a multifamily specialist with the Nordblom Co., said the willingness of a leading player such as Charles E. Smith to pursue a project there indicates solid market fundamentals, a notion backed up by the efforts of Lincoln Property Co. and Equity Residential to develop apartments nearby on the site of a city-owned parking lot. The BRA is currently reviewing bids for development of that site, known as Hayward Place.
“There’s a lot going on down in that area,” said Close, adding there should be a solid stable of residents who would like to live near the city’s historical and cultural attractions, such as the Theatre District a few blocks from the Liberty Place property.
Close acknowledged that the section of Boston is still a bit rough around the edges, but he insisted multifamily development efforts should ultimately succeed. “I do think the fruits of their labor will pay off,” he said. “As long as they are in it for the long haul, they should do well.”
Fitzgerald is among those who plans to remain a fixture in the district, explaining he has no intentions of selling his position in the complex once it is completed. Although Charles E. Smith tends to shy away from participating in joint ventures, Fitzgerald said he “will continue to be an owner of the project into the future.” The Fitzgerald family has had a stake in the area for more than 40 years, he noted, having most recently renovated the famous Liberty Tree Building and rented it to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Based in Virginia, Charles E. Smith made its initial foray into the Bay State in 1998 when it acquired 2000 Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton from the Rappaport family. The real estate investment trust has more than 21,000 apartments nationally in its high-rise portfolio.
