The Bay State may be riding a wave of economic activity these days, but when it comes to development along Boston Harbor, many high-profile proposals continue to remain in dry dock.
As city officials try to move the Pritzker family’s controversial Fan Pier development off the drawing board, ventures in the North End, Seaport District and East Boston have received little attention of late, with several of those undertakings now seemingly in limbo until at least 2001.
“It’s pretty quiet,” Vivien Li, executive director of The Boston Harbor Association, said last week. “There isn’t a lot happening at the moment.”
In East Boston, for example, Winn Development Co. has opted to wait until the fate of an adjacent parcel controlled by the Massachusetts Port Authority is determined, an action that will not occur until October. Winn last year acquired Clippership Wharf with plans to develop upwards of 400 residential units there, but consultant Carol Gladstone said last week that Massport’s Pier One property could alter its plans, especially since Winn is among four developers competing for that 13-acre site.
“Essentially, we’re in a holding pattern right now,” Gladstone said. Winn would build between 500 and 600 units at Pier One if it is selected, she said, with she and the other three finalists slated to submit their final plans to Massport this week.
Massport spokesman Jose Juves told Banker & Tradesman that the agency is committed to getting developers designated for Pier One and two other sites it controls in East Boston, but said the proposals must first navigate through the community review process. Besides Winn, the firms vying for Pier One include Modern Continental, Peabody Construction and Roseland Corp., a New Jersey developer.
Across the harbor in the North End, the Raymond Group has shown no signs of beginning construction on a mixed-use complex at Battery Wharf, the longtime home of the Bay State Lobster Co. While calls to the company were not returned by press deadline, industry sources claimed the firm is in the process of selling the project, which would be anchored by a 195-room hotel.
It is unclear what would prompt such a sale, but some have speculated that the cost and complexity of developing the site may have led to Raymond’s decision. While now fully permitted, the project took nearly five years and several false starts to gain community backing and its Chapter 91 license, a state-issued permit required for developing on the harbor. In addition, the availability of hotel financing has dropped dramatically during the past year, especially for new construction.
In the Seaport District, developer Stephen Karp has retained Joseph Fallon of Corcoran-Jennison to help jump-start a foundering plan to redevelop the Anthony’s Pier Four parcel into a massive high-end complex. The 1.5 million-square-foot plan, which would include four buildings, met with stiff criticism when it was unveiled last autumn. Detractors chided Karp for the project’s size and density, with the larger buildings reaching up 300 feet.
Even with the arrival of Fallon – whose firm was designated to develop a hotel on Massport land in the Seaport District – observers said they expect Pier Four will proceed slowly.
“I think they are waiting to see what happens with the Pritzkers first,” said one source, who added that other projects will also remain on the sidelines to see how much space will be permitted for Fan Pier, as well as how high the mix of office, hotels and residential units will be allowed to go there.
An underlying issue, according to Li, is the uncertainty generated by Boston’s Municipal Harbor Plan. As part of the Chapter 91 statute, cities and towns are allowed to customize the parameters for waterfront development in their community, but the Boston Redevelopment Authority has yet to file its version. Indeed, Li said it now appears that the plan, slated for submission this week, will now be delayed until mid-June.
“The Municipal Harbor Plan is pretty crucial,” Li said, explaining that developers need to feel comfortable with the local ground rules before moving ahead with a plan. Gladstone concurred with that outlook in regards to the Clippership Wharf project.
BRA officials did not respond by deadline, but Li said she has encouraged the agency in the past to get the provisions in place with little success.
“It’s like a broken record,” Li said. “How many times do you have to say it?”
City officials did unveil the East Boston Master Plan last week, but work on the Municipal Harbor Plan for that neighborhood will not even begin until July. The master plan lays out the community’s vision for the entire neighborhood, with many of its tenets focused on how the waterfront should be developed, but the Chapter 91 aspect was not addressed in that process.
Despite such delays, Gladstone expressed optimism about the long-range future of the area, as well as Winn’s involvement there.
“We are very, very committed to do Clippership,” she said. “We love the site, and we love the neighborhood.”
