Photo by Steve Adams/Banker & Tradesman Staff
Condominium owners at Boston’s Intercontinental Hotel asked a judge to intervene in a property dispute over an office-to-lab conversion project they claim is generating around-the-clock disturbances.
A hearing is scheduled in Suffolk Superior Court on April 14 on the motion for a temporary restraining order, which seeks to prevent Nan Fung Life Science Real Estate’s contractors from allegedly trespassing on the InterContinental property.
Construction of lab infrastructure begins at 6 a.m. and continues at “all hours of the night,” the complaint states.
The waterfront hotel has 130 residential condominiums located on its 14th through 21st floors.
Nan Fung bought the 14-story, 337,000 square-foot Independence Wharf office building next door in 2021 for $238 million.
The company obtained a building permit on Oct. 31 for $3.5 million and another for $5.8 million on March 10, according to the Boston building permit database.
The 6-foot-wide walkway that separates the two buildings is owned by the condo association, Braintree-based attorneys Allcock & Marcus LLC state in the complaint.
In December, a Nan Fung representative told condo association representatives that the company has a 3-foot easement on the InterContinental property, but failed to provide documentation, according to the lawsuit.
Since February, demolition work in the garage has taken place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., under the approval of an off-hours permit, disturbing InterContinental residents. And on March 4, the company installed a large inflatable tube figure on its roof, which the condo association interpreted as a “message in response to the complaints,” the lawsuit states. Nan Fung indicated the figure is designed to repel birds.
Contractors working on the lab conversion have repeatedly blocked a driveway leading to the luxury hotel-condo building’s underground garage and loading dock, the complaint states. Crews have stored construction materials on the InterContinental property, damaging a brick walkway, attorneys for the condominium association claim.
Universal Hub first reported the lawsuit. According to the complaint, Nan Fung’s attorney asserted that the company has the right to use the public walkway under Massachusetts’ Chapter 91 waterfront zoning law.
Nan Fung provided a statement that it’s reviewing the complaint.
“We have made every reasonable effort to respond to the concerns that our neighbors at the Intercontinental have raised during our ongoing renovation project, and it is unfortunate that they have resorted to litigation. We look forward to the opportunity to address the allegations in their complaint in due course,” CEO Matthew Powers said in the statement
Boston-based Nan Fung also has acquired office buildings at 60 South St., 51 Sleeper St. and Winthrop Square for lab conversions in recent years.
Concerns about the effects of life science conversions including 51 Sleeper St. on nearby residential properties prompted two Boston city councilors to call for more regulations in 2021. The 51 Sleeper St. and Independence Wharf projects did not require a public review, because research labs are an allowed use in the zoning districts.
