Turns out building a 277-room hotel on pilings over Boston Harbor isn’t that simple.
State regulators say JW Capital Partners’ proposal for a 5-story, 187,000-square-foot hotel “would result in a substantially reduced project shoreline” and developers should consider a smaller footprint suggested last year by Secretary of Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton.
Nearly three-quarters of the 9-acre site is over the water, including a wharf and deteriorated piling field. The Conservation Law Foundation has argued that the property owners forfeited their right to build by failing to maintain the structures.
In an advisory opinion issued this week, the DEP stated the hotel can’t build on portions of the piling field that aren’t visible at high tide.
“Regarding the proposed Lewis Wharf Project, the department believes that this regulatory clarification will result in a substantially reduced project shoreline,” the opinion states. “An existing pile field, therefore, would not include any broken piles that are not visible at high water, nor any piles intentionally cut at or near the mud line.”
An engineering survey last year paid for by an abutter concluded only 15 of the approximately 355 piles can support a structure.
The 187,000-square-foot hotel proposal is partnership between JW Capital, Philip DeNormandie of Lewis Wharf Limited Partnership and Winchester construction company owner John Moriarty.
Will Adams, a principal with JW Capital, Moriarty and DeNormandie did not return phone calls seeking comment.
In a previous interview, Adams said he would consider alternatives but argued the current proposal is compliant with state Chapter 91 waterfront regulations.
Some North End residents have objected to the proposal because of its traffic impacts and potential to block public access to the waterfront.
Developers said they would fill in a missing link in the Boston Harborwalk by building a 1,800-foot-long extension, and preserve nearly 3 acres as open space on the site. Part of the project would be built on a 223-space parking lot, which would be replaced with a 3-story underground garage with 379 spaces.
