After nearly three years of directing the state transportation department’s real estate development decisions, Peter O’Connor has been fired.
MassDOT officials declined to comment on the termination, citing the fact it was a personnel issue.
O’Connor was appointed deputy secretary for real estate and economic development in what is now the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) by Jim Aloisi, the former state transportation secretary in January 2009. O’Connor was the first to serve in his position in the newly-consolidated state transportation department. He oversaw all real estate development and disposition in his tenure and has been deeply involved in the creation of air rights projects proposed for construction above the Massachusetts Turnpike.
A real estate developer that wished to remain anonymous said he thinks DOT’s move is purely politics – with a new transportation secretary, Richard Davey, it makes sense that he would put his own team in place.
"Peter was a major, major part of the Aloisi team," the developer said. "Now there’s a new secretary. I’m sure that’s at play. I’m sure it has nothing to do with Peter, per se. But I think Peter has had difficulty for the last several months. Look how much has changed. Jim got fired. Then he didn’t know where he stood with Jeff Mullan and then [Mullan] gets fired. Now there’s a third secretary in as many years."
Changing real estate gurus could have a positive, negative, or neutral effect on development in the state, the developer added. If O’Connor didn’t have the support of the new secretaries because he wasn’t considered a true part of their teams, then it could potentially help push some projects forward to have someone in place that does.
"The whole development process is like the Titanic," the developer added. "It moves very slowly no matter what. Plus we’ve seen three [transportation] secretaries in three years. That certainly can have a negative effect. But who knows, maybe the ship gets righted with the new secretary’s team."
An attempt to reach O’Connor was unsuccessful.
