WS Development’s attempt to boost density on 12 acres of prime Seaport District real estate is a high-stakes litmus test for the Boston Planning and Development Agency and its approach to extracting concessions for parks, cultural space and transportation upgrades.
WS says its proposed game plan for the Seaport parcels it bought in 2015 for $359 million reflects unmet demand for more office space and multifamily housing in the city’s fastest-changing neighborhood. With a 1.7-million-square-foot increase in office space and 700 additional residential units comes redesigns that would improve the area’s walkability, the Newton developer contends. But critics fault the new designs on multiple fronts, including elimination of the 1.3-acre Seaport Hill Green park in favor of a pedestrian corridor from Summer Street to Seaport Boulevard.
That was one of the sticking points cited by BPDA staff as part of a “robust dialogue” on the project, said Jonathan Greeley, the BPDA’s director of development review.
“You had this huge open space element (Seaport Hill Green) and they’ve proposed a different public space,” Greeley said. “How do we ensure that feels public? How is that an effective path to the waterfront? These are some issues that we’d like them to think deeper about and come back to us.”
The changes would amend a 2010 master plan for 23 acres of former surface parking stretching from Northern Avenue to Summer Street, approximately half of which was completed by previous master developer Boston Global Investors.
Performing Arts Space Needs Surveyed
WS also seeks to eliminate a 200,000-square-foot performing arts space approved in the original Seaport Square plan. WS Vice President Yanni Tsipis suggested at a March public forum that arts groups could use a variety of smaller spaces in the new residential and commercial buildings.
But the BPDA asked for more specifics on the size and location of facilities and directed WS to study four options: a performing arts space including an orchestra pit with capacity for 800 people, a facility for theater, music and dance with 500-person capacity, and black box theaters for audiences of 150 and 100 people. The letter from Greeley and BPDA Director of Planning Sara Myerson also suggests WS establish a management plan and long-term funding strategy, including a possible endowment to ensure that performance arts spaces remain accessible and affordable.
A city-commissioned performing arts facility assessment released this month echoed the developers’ stance that a group of smaller performing arts spaces would more efficiently serve the arts community.
The survey of 190 arts groups and independent artists and 45 space providers by consultants TDC said high costs deter arts groups from using existing facilities, contributing to a shortage of rehearsal spaces. The Boston Lyric Opera company continues to search for a permanent home after leaving the Schubert Theatre in 2016 and shifting performances among four different venues.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity in the Seaport Square development to create a facility in any number of formats that could serve a broad spectrum of groups, from opera and dance to smaller organizations and the entire gamut in between,” BLO spokeswoman Eileen Williston said.
Nick Thorkelson, co-artistic director of Fort Point Theater Channel, said the group was “thrilled” that the BPDA is asking WS to reconsider its approach to art space.
“If the city is interested in involving fringe and medium-size performance companies in figuring out how to make this work, I think I can say we would be happy to participate. And we are in touch with plenty of people in theater, dance, and other performing arts who, like us, are desperate for venues and want to move this forward,” Thorkelson said via email.
In a statement, WS Development said it “found the data to be very informative and meaningful as we work to incorporate the performing arts venues that best serve needs within Seaport. We applaud the city for all the legwork it has done to develop a thoroughly informed perspective on what is needed in the neighborhood.”
‘Missed Opportunity’ On Transportation?
The Harbor Way pedestrian corridor would complete a “Seaport Loop” to the waterfront and Fort Point Channel, according to WS, improving the district’s oft-criticized pedestrian and bicycle accommodations. And a staircase from the Summer Street overpass would form a new link to the waterfront for visitors to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and other pedestrians.
Massport opposes elimination of the street previously approved for the route, citing its economic development role supporting industrial tenants in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park.
“The elimination of vehicular traffic on Harbor Way misses an opportunity to improve the street network for general traffic in the district,” Massport Deputy Director of Environmental Planning and Permitting Stewart Dalzell wrote in a public comment to the BPDA. “Furthermore, the proposed project changes will place added stress on an already busy D Street.”
Massport also said WS should be required to contribute to the cost of upgrades to the MBTA’s Silver Line capacity, and transit activists have asked WS to subsidize commuter ferries and shuttle services.
While there is no deadline for a response, WS said it will submit revisions to the BPDA “in the very near future.”
“We stand by our goal of creating a beautiful series of public places in the Seaport and are excited to move that process forward,” the company stated.
