A state official dealt a blow to Chiofaro Cos.’ plans to build two skyscrapers on Boston Harbor, siding with city officials in setting a maximum size of 900,000 square feet and height of 600 feet.
Matthew Beaton, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, backed the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s guidance for the maximum buildout on the 1.3-acre parcel currently occupied by an eight-story parking garage. Developer Donald Chiofaro has stated that his original proposal for two towers totaling 1.3 million square feet is the minimum for a financially viable project.
Rich McGuinness, the BRA’s director of waterfront planning, said Beaton conveyed his stand in a phone conversation.
Boston-based Chiofaro Cos. wants to build offices, luxury housing, a hotel and retail on the property wedged between Central Wharf and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
In response to yesterday’s announcement, Chiofaro issued a statement saying that no decisions have been made on a next step.
“We have a healthy, high-performing asset in the existing garage, which affords us the opportunity to be patient, thoughtful and diligent in our internal planning. We have some significant challenges, but we remain hopeful about the prospect of redeveloping this site into a project that everyone can be proud of,” the statement said.
The proposal needs waivers from the BRA – and approval by the state Department of Environmental Protection – to exceed zoning for the height and density of waterfront structures under the state’s Chapter 91 regulations. Developers who are granted waivers to build taller and denser projects are required to provide community benefits in return.
The BRA has hired Boston consultant Pamela McKinney to draw up potential community benefits, McGuinness said. The findings will be presented in March to a citizen advisory committee that is advising the BRA on the Chiofaro proposal, along with redevelopment of the James Hook & Co. Lobster pound property into a high-rise residential building and ground-floor restaurant additions to the Boston Marriott Long Wharf Hotel.
The New England Aquarium has publicly opposed the Chiofaro project, arguing that construction vibrations would disturb its marine life habitats and that the project fails to address traffic and parking issues.
And the Conservation Law Foundation recently criticized how the city has handled the permitting process.
In a letter to the BRA, CLF attorney Peter Shelley took issue with BRA officials’ recent private discussions with Prudential Real Estate Advisors in an attempt to reach a compromise on the size of the development.
“This sequence puts the cart before the horse: the planning should drive development, not vice versa,” Shelley wrote in the Jan. 21 letter to McGuiness. “Boston seems to be reversing this process, purely for the benefit of private developers.”
