Trustees of the Harbor Towers I and II condo complexes in Boston are on the record in opposition to developer Donald Chiofaro’s proposed 1.3-million-square-foot waterfront development, including a pair of 600- and 550-foot towers for offices, condos and a five-star hotel.
In a letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the trustees said the project is too tall and dense for the 1.3-acre site in front of the New England Aquarium, currently occupied by an eight-story parking garage.
"The Chiofaro Co. has essentially said: If you want any development of the Garage (site) at all, you must accept this proposal. Harbor Towers believes that the city must not let this become an all-or-nothing proposition. If it is, the Chiofaro proposal should be rejected," states the letter, signed by Marcelle Willock and Neal Hartman, Harbor Towers trustees chairs.
Boston-based Chiofaro Co. presented the latest designs for the property, including a 27,000-square-foot public plaza between the two skyscrapers, last month. Chiofaro withdrew a 1.5-million-square-foot proposal for the site in June 2012.
In their letter, trustees said the current plan doesn’t meet the city’s guidelines for development along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway or the state’s Chapter 91 regulations governing waterfront development.
"Since modern urban planning began here in Boston in the early 1960s, it has been customary and an article of faith that we do not build huge skyscrapers and excessive density on our waterfront," trustees wrote.
Chiofaro is scheduled for a follow-up presentation this afternoon at a meeting of the Municipal Harbor Planning Advisory Committee, which is advising the BRA on development in the central waterfront.