The bill is in for developer Don Chiofaro’s proposed project on the waterfront, and it’s not going to come cheap.
Chiofaro’s plans for two towers on the site of what is currently a tremendously ugly parking garage runs up against the state’s Chapter 91, which limits the size and density of projects and requires the preservation of public access to the harbor.
The BRA this month issued its long-awaited draft municipal harbor plan. Contained within is a list of demands for the approval of Chiofaro’s $1 billion skyscraper plan, totaling $18.5 million in proposed so-called “offsets.” (See Steve Adams’ story for the breakdown.)
Following the proposal’s release, advisory committee members derided it as lacking in imagination and ambition – certainly not the first time that charge that has been leveled at our municipal planners.
Chapter 91 is problematic, but it’s better than nothing. City officials were right to recognize the waterfront’s significance to residents and tourists, and to protect access to it (although it could be argued that protections developers can buy their way out of aren’t terribly effective).
Adams reports that a city planning study recommended parks and green space along the harbor as far back as 1984 – when the waterfront was comprised of scruffy, underutilized lots and industrial plants overlooking fetid water and raw sewage.
We’ve come a long way since then. The Big Dig united a city (mostly in seething hatred for construction delays and cost overruns, but that’s a different editorial) and the Greenway is a jewel connecting two vibrant neighborhoods. Sparkling new development takes the place of unkempt lots and residents thrive in beautifully rehabbed lofts.
Chapter 91 and city officials had a lot do with that transformation. So too did the vision, imagination, guts and dogged determination of our development community – including, of course, Don Chiofaro.
Chiofaro’s vision for two new towers on the waterfront has faced a number of revisions since its conception and the latest may kill the deal entirely. While Chiofaro proposes a 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use development on the waterfront, the BRA has countered with a maximum of 900,000 square feet. Chiofaro, who through a spokesperson declined to comment for Adams’ story, has previously stated that size would not be financially feasible, though according to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, he’ll try to make it work.
While the BRA shakes down developers and defends its harbor plan, time is running out to get this project built. Boston’s building boom won’t last forever. If the onerous permitting process drags on for another year or two, the deal will be dead.
Concessions are vital to the success of the harbor, but so too are proposals like Chiofaro’s. Replacing an ugly, underutilized parking structure with a vibrant mixed-use development will have long lasting and long reaching benefits for the neighborhood. If the BRA digs in on the 900,000 square foot requirement and Chiofaro indeed cannot work with that requirement, the deal will be dead.
And that will be a short-sighted shame for the city of Boston.
