This artist’s rendering depicts Lovejoy Wharf, a proposed waterfront development in Boston. Abutters are fighting the plans for the project.
A pair of shabby waterfront buildings is one step away from becoming luxury condominiums with stunning views of Boston Harbor and the Leonard Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. But a group of abutters insists that construction will not start anytime soon.
“If the developer persists with plans for a 14-story behemoth and a 300-car parking garage, we’re prepared to do everything in our power to block it,” said Dr. Robert Sarno, who lives next door at Strada234, an upscale development on Causeway Street near the TD Banknorth Garden. “We have staying power and money to finance this battle in court for a long time.”
Sarno, a cardiologist at New England Medical Center, and 21 other Strada residents have filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court to stop Lovejoy Wharf. The $85 million project at the water’s edge includes the rehabilitation of 160 North Washington St. – a former Registry of Motor Vehicles office – and a new 10- to 14-story tower at 131 Beverly St.
Strada residents are seeking to overturn an amendment to the Municipal Harbor Plan that allows building height at Lovejoy Wharf to 155 feet, up from 55 feet. A trial date has not been scheduled.
Ajax Management Partners acquired both buildings for $26.6 million in 2004. The Lexington-based company received Boston Redevelopment Authority approval for 250 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail space at the underutilized 2.1-acre waterfront site. The dilapidated and inaccessible wharf will be redesigned as open space for the public connected to the Boston HarborWalk, a 46-mile pedestrian walkway that stretches from the North End to South Boston.
The developer is awaiting a Chapter 91 license from the Department of Environmental Protection. The certificate is required for waterfront projects and is the last major approval required before construction can commence. Ben Lynch, DEP’s program chief, said the agency will decide on the issuance of the permit this spring. He noted that few applications are denied but many contain contingencies such as building-height restrictions.
State Rep. Martha M. Walz said she and the Strada homeowners could support the project if it did not exceed the existing height of the buildings at North Washington and Beverly streets. She has asked DEP to deny the Lovejoy license or issue it requiring reduced height. “We are not opposed to redevelopment, but we want smaller, less dense buildings,” she said.
But Robert B. O’Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association, representing more than 125 commercial and residential groups, said he strongly supports the Lovejoy project. He said the redevelopment of the two buildings is long overdue.
“This is the realization of a development dream that the community never thought would happen until the Central Artery’s Big Dig project was complete,” he said. “A rejuvenated wharf will enhance, not hurt, property values in the area.”
‘Above and Beyond’
Strada was originally a 6-story building and the site of a Stop & Shop bakery where many longtime residents still recall the aroma of freshly baked bread that emanated from Causeway Street. The bakery closed in the 1980s and was reborn in 2002 when a developer received approval to add six stories atop the building and build office space on the first six floors and apartments on the upper levels. The 1906 building was later sold to a developer for $40 million who turned the rental units into condominiums priced between $600,000 and $1.6 million
By the time the units were listed for sale, much of the planning for the Lovejoy parcel had been completed. The neighborhood understood taller buildings would be located at the waterfront, according to O’Brien.
“I sympathize with the Strada residents,” O’Brien said. “But the plans have always been to put a pair of towers along the water, long before the Strada owners bought their units.”
Still, Sarno said the Municipal Harbor Plan, a set of zoning ordinances, was changed to accommodate the developer. He calls it “spot zoning” and said he is convinced a court will overturn that decision.
“This is about greed,” said Sarno, who paid $1.6 million for his two-level unit. “They would have instant support for a 55-foot height similar to buildings at Lewis and Battery [wharves] at 6 or 7 stories. I have attended every public hearing and in two years and there has not been one shred of support for the building in its present form.”
Heather Campisano, the BRA’s deputy director for development, said the project’s design and size have been changed based on the feedback from the neighborhood. Members of the community – including Strada residents – said they wanted the buildings to look like two separate different towers, she noted, and the developer agreed.
“As a result of the public process, a big portion of the buildings was cut out in the middle to allow for more light and air and all the loading and parking are inside the building to limit traffic,” she said. “Ajax also went above and beyond what they had to do with the public portion of the project along the water. Some of the Strada residents are happy, but not all.”
Jamy Buchanan Madeja, the Boston attorney representing Strada, said the traffic and air pollution from vehicles is a major issue that has not been resolved.
“We can’t understand why a so-called transit-oriented development within steps of the MBTA needs to have parking for 300 cars,” she said. “It appears that the developers are trying to sustain an extremely high profit margin.”
Robert Easton, a principal at Ajax, declined to comment on the lawsuit or respond to Sarno’s or Madeja’s criticisms. He said the project has undergone an intensive community process and enjoys broad support.
“Our project will be a gateway that everyone can be proud of,” he said. “We are taking a rundown, 1-acre timber wharf without any public access and replacing it with a new concrete deck and floating dock that will be part of the HarborWalk with performance and exhibit space. We expect to start construction on it this summer.”
While the BRA’s Campisano is hopeful construction can begin soon, she said she believes litigation must be settled before financing for the project can proceed.
“I don’t believe Ajax can go forward while the matter is pending,” she noted. “I doubt they would get financing. We are still hopeful that the project will get built sooner rather than later.”
Sarno is betting that Lovejoy Wharf could take years if it ever gets off the ground. “I’ll fight this until they take me off to a retirement home or the cemetery, whichever comes first,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
