First it was the bankers, then it was the auto industry. Now it’s the turn of the developers to line up in hopes to grabbing a piece of the federal bailout pie.
With work having ground to a halt on major projects across the state, more than one major Bay State builder is looking to the incoming Obama Adminstration for a financial jumpstart.
Jay Doherty, the developer behind the massive, $1.5 billion Westwood Station office and residential complex off Rt. 128, is going for the money.
So is the development authority that oversees an equally ambitious plan to redevelop the former South Weymouth air base into the South Shore’s newest town.
And more power to them.
Frankly, I’d rather see some of that federal cash going to work on projects that get built and put people to work, than just sitting, unused, in the electronic vault of some megabank.
Apparently, some of our local developers are thinking the same thing.
Doherty, in a recent interview, laid out some compelling reasons why Westwood Station has a solid chance of landing some federal aid.
Unlike most private development projects, Westwood Station also involves the construction of a significant layer of public infrastructure. We are talking roads, sewers, power lines and even a town common and a fire station.
The project’s bill for these public improvements is a whopping $120 million.
“You name it, we’re building it,” Doherty said.
For the moment, the private investors backing Westwood Station are staying the course, but, in these times, a cash crunch is always around the corner.
The global credit crunch, Doherty notes, has already derailed a bevy of major projects. He points to the now nearly defunct $800 million Columbus Center air-rights development plan, among others.
“It’s shocking how few major projects have survived to even have this conversation,” Doherty said.
Doherty thinks can can make a case for federal money for about $80 million of Westwood Station’s infrastructure, projects not directly tied into his planned private development.
That, in turn, could put the government’s money to work on various public works projects, while paving the way for a private development that will create thousands of construction jobs over the next few years.
Moreover, unlike a bridge repair or highway repaving, it’s also the gift that keeps on giving. The millions of square feet of offices, storefronts and condos slated for construction at Westwood Center will eventually create another 2,500 permanent jobs.
The South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., which is overseeing the redevelopment of the old South Weymouth air base, is preparing to make a similar case.
The quasi-public authority is working with private developer LNR Property on the ambitous plan, which calls for 1.7 million square feet of office space and more than 2,800 residential units.
Tri-Town, however, has been unable to float the $200 million in bonds it needs to roll out the heavy infrastructure, from roads to a sewage plant, needed to make all that private development happen.
At stake are another 6,000 construction jobs and 3,500 permanent jobs at the new SouthField development.
Other private projects with plans to spend heavily building out public infrastracture, such as Fan Pier and other development planned along South Boston’s waterfront, may also qualify for a federal boost, argued David Begelfer, chief executive of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
“We need to get more money out there for good borrowers,” Begelfer said. “The credit market is still stifled by a lack of money.”
“There are some good opportunities out there,” he added.
The good news is the Patrick Adminstration’s economic development team, led by former Fan Pier development executive Dan O’Connell, is on the job.
Administration officials have been putting together a list of “shovel ready” projects. It’s a list that appears to include Westwood Station, said project spokesman Michael Goldman, who noted conversations with adminstration officials on the matter.
SouthField has also apparently made the cut, according to comments made by State. Rep. Ron Mariano in the Patriot-Ledger.
But the bad news is that this bid by our local builders to tap into the federal coffers is still something like a bank shot.
While President-elect Obama has been talking up a storm about the need to spend big on everything from road repairs to revamping old schools, there’s no bill yet to look at.
But if bailout money is going to be spent on banks intent on hoarding their assets and car companies that break down every few decades, throwing a bone or two to some worthy development projects seems like a pretty good idea to me.
It just actually may put a few people to work outside of Detroit.
