Tommy?s Tower: Just pie in the sky
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - Updated: 12:56 AM EST
You?ve got to hand it to local business magnate Steve Belkin for coming up with probably the most bold proposal for a new downtown tower Boston has ever seen.
A 1,000-foot Renzo Piano masterpiece at the center of the Hub?s skyline. The cherry on top is a half-acre park in the sky at the very top of the proposed skyscraper.
Too bad it will never get built.
Yes, Belkin, a brilliantly successful entrepreneur is loaded, having created the Trans National credit card and travel empire. And, yes, he has the backing of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has been pushing this idea of a new centerpiece for Boston?s skyline to cap his own legacy.
But there?s a limit on what even one very wealthy man, backed by one of the nation?s most powerful mayors, can do. And Belkin, who has no major development experience, has bitten off much more than he can chew.
Here are five big reasons to hold off on plans for that picnic in the skies atop Tommy?s Tower:
# Skyrocketing construction costs are already wreaking havoc with big development proposals across the city, causing some builders to pull back. Executives close to the project envision construction prices cooling off. They?d better cool off a lot.
Some experts peg the cost of building a 75-story tower in downtown Boston at $1 billion or more, though those familiar with Belkin?s plans insist it would be much less.
# There?s a reason no other developers in a city rich with builders responded to the mayor?s call for a skyline-topping tower. A 1,000-foot tower requires something very basic to make it a success - thousands of office workers. And while Boston?s office market is finally on the mend, the city?s big employers, such as Fidelity Investments, have been expanding everywhere but here. Belkin?s plan relies on the expectation that the office market will hit its stride just as the tower opens in 2011.
# Boston?s height-hating activists have never seen a big project they can stand. Anything over 10 stories and watch out, here comes Big Apple North. This time the usual suspects will have a potentially powerful battering ram to take on Tommy?s Tower: a state law barring new shadows on nearby Boston Common.
# But who needs critics when you have Boston?s abysmal track record when it comes to pulling off grand projects like this one. The most obvious example is Fan Pier, the would-be waterfront neighborhood in South Boston that is now nearly 30 years in the making. The bigger the plan in Boston, the more fingers in the pie. And what should be a golden goose turns into an albatross.
# Last, but not least, greed. City Hall is head over heels for this tower plan, and it?s not just about the architecture. City officials control the crumbling downtown garage Belkin needs to build his tower. And along with a whopping tax bill, Belkin can expect to fork over some big bucks for this property. Expect any number of groups, from historic preservationists to community activists, to present their own bills. A million here, a million there, and pretty soon, there is nothing left.
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) . Its original design isn't even remotely similar to its current design. This goes to show that a major building like Winthrop Square can indeed go through a dramatic design change before being actually constructed. Can't say I'm a big fan of either the original or final versions of the CC though.
