In the wake of the Filene’s fiasco that left a gaping hole in the center of downtown, a clearly frustrated Mayor Thomas M. Menino last fall declared the city would start demanding developers show proof of financing before getting the permits to begin construction.
Now, roughly a year later, John Palmieri, the Boston Redevelopment Authority chief, has responded with what he calls a “director’s protocol” aimed at making sure builders have solid financing prospects before breaking ground.
Sounds logical, until a little digging reveals the “protocol” is basically a verbal directive the BRA chief gave to his staff.
Given city officials say they will hold back projects when they are not comfortable with the finances, it is pretty key for developers – and neighborhood residents as well – to know what standards and criteria are being used.
But with nothing written down – not even a tip sheet on what financial documents a prospective builder might need to show – figuring out exactly what this new policy means is becoming a challenge in and of itself.
An Articulate BRA?
Instead of a safeguard, this creates a dangerous ambiguity, one that could come back later to haunt both would-be Hub developers and neighborhood residents as well.
“No one has said anything to us,” said Hub tower developer Dean Stratouly. “At some point, someone is going to have to articulate what the standards are.”
I have to admit I initially goofed on this one.
After interviewing Palmieri, I wrote up an item for my Banker & Tradesman blog on how the authority had rolled out new financing rules.
It seemed logical, given the rising concern about the impact of failed projects on city neighborhoods. After all, work on the Filene’s project in Downtown Crossing came to an abrupt halt last fall, leaving a bombed-out looking block in the heart of one of Boston’s main shopping districts.
And, of course, construction work at the Columbus Center air-rights project in the Back Bay had also stopped suddenly, leaving neighborhood residents staring for months at an abandoned construction site.
Palmieri said he made a decision not to revamp the city’s Article 80 regulations related to reviewing major development projects. Instead, he’s simply issued an order from his office requiring an intensive briefing from developers on the status of their financing efforts before they are allowed to move forward.
If officials at the development authority are not convinced that a sound financing plan is in place, they will not issue the permits needed to begin construction, a spokeswoman later elaborated.
It was only later, when I wanted to write about the issue more in-depth and requested a copy of the new “protocol,” that I started to smell smoke, so to speak.
Sorry, there is no written policy, rules or guidelines, I was told. “Well, how about an e-mail?” I asked.
“There isn’t any e-mail or written policy,” said BRA spokeswoman Jessica Shumaker. “John has senior staff meetings. He communicates the protocol with staff that way, and has communicated it that way when developers come in for meetings on various projects.”
I am not the only one who is struggling to understand City Hall’s effort to spare a few more trees, skip the writing and force staffers to commit a major new regulation to memory.
The issue of failed development projects, and the ugly scars they can leave in the city’s urban fabric, is a touchy issue in the neighborhoods, especially in the Back Bay, home to the Columbus Center mess.
Write ‘Em Down
If there are going to be rules, they should be written out and publicly available, said one Back Bay activist.
“I think everyone – developers, neighborhood associations and the city – needs to be operating on the same standards,” said Ann Gleason, chair of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. “Without having something written, you don’t have a basis point on which to begin a discussion.
“The process needs to be clear,” she added.
Most developers, by contrast, likely want to see the whole issue just go away: As they struggle to keep projects on track in a down economy, this looks like another, ill-timed bureaucratic hurdle.
Yet given the fact that new rules are here, developers like Stratouly now want to at least find out what they are up against.
So far, he’s heard nothing – nothing that is except for scuttlebutt from a couple lawyers.
Maybe the new rules are a good idea, maybe they are not. I tend to sympathize with the developers in this case, who are battling it out amid the worst economy in generations.
But leaving this all as some shadowy “protocol” in the head of the some top City Hall official seems like a prescription for trouble.
Like it or not, there’s a widespread perception that a few politically connected developers get the red carpet at City Hall, while others, especially those unlucky enough to have angered the mayor, are left cooling their heels.
A policy as nebulous as this is sure to throw fuel on that fire.
