[ARCHIVED] Harbor Garage Redevelopment | 70 East India Row | Waterfront | Downtown

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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Did he not have a billboard size sign on the side of the garage last year, promoting the view that pedestrians would have once his project was built?

IIRC, he was allowed to keep that sign up. An issue in this instance is that his proposed signs are misleading, one could even say false advertising, because they are not based on the current reality. He does not have an approved project; it is not coming soon.

Second point, for those who think Chiofaro can outlast Menino. If one read a post I made a few days ago, quoting from the BBJ, the major part of his financing of the garage was an $85 million five year note. The lender I am sure has all manner of covenants in that note requiring Chiofaro to keep the building in good repair, etc., etc. Tearing down the garage in a fit of fury and spite as some here have called on him to do would result in his new residence being the Middlesex almshouse.

I would not be surprised if the five year note has a big balloon payment the fifth year, which is 2012. If Chiofaro does not get that note refinanced, if he does not get a project (that makes financial sense) approved and permitted, then there is a substantial risk the garage goes into foreclosure.

All his fulminations and public theater are not getting him any closer to approval, and the clock is running. Menino knows that, the BRA knows that, other big developers eying the possibility of picking up the garage at a much reduced price know that , and I suspect the abutting condo owners know that as well.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

^^ Maybe the public antics don't get him closer to his approval, but they do put Menino and the BRA in bad light. If done persistently and effectively enough it might give him some leverage in the situation. So much of politics is public perception.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

^^Exactly. Statler, it's almost assured that that Chiofaro will not get his towers built. But that's not stopping him from taking Menino and the BRA down with him.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

KentXie said:
Can he like add decorations onto the garage that can somehow create a subliminal message with it?
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It's not commercial speech, it's art.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

No thread for New England Aquarium I don't think, so this will have to do.

ne_aquarium.jpg
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Thursday, July 9, 2009 | Modified: Friday, July 10, 2009 Opinions over Chiofaro tower plan divided
Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman

Developer Donald Chiofaro has riled critics by orchestrating a write-in campaign to amass public support for his controversial two-tower project on the edge of the Rose Kennedy Greenway and Boston Harbor.

In total, there were 381 letters and postcards submitted in support of the Harbor Garage project, compared with the 252 letters opposed to the project, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

The postcards and letters were submitted as part of the BRA?s public comment period.

Of the 266 postcards in favor of the 1.5 million square foot mixed-use project, 144 were signed by people who do not live in Boston, according to the BRA.

Many of the people who submitted postcards and letters in favor of the project were part of an effort, led by Chiofaro, to win approval for the plan. A majority of the letters opposed to the project were from Harbor Towers residents who cited density and height as the main reasons they object to Chiofaro?s plan.

The deadline for public comments about the controversial redevelopment of the garage were due on Monday. The massive two-tower project has sparked hotly contested debates, largely among Harbor Towers residents opposed to the project and unions, in desperate need of construction jobs, in support of the project.
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http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/07/06/daily59.html
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Brian McGrory
First, build compromise
By Brian McGrory
Globe Columnist / March 31, 2010
E-mail this article To: Invalid E-mail address Add a personal message:(80 character limit) Your E-mail: Invalid E-mail address
Sending your articleYour article has been sent. E-mail| Print| Reprints| Yahoo! Buzz| ShareThisText size ? + They have become intractable enemies, these two outsized personalities. All over the city these days, all you hear is Tom vs. Don, Don vs. Tom. It would be entertaining if the stakes weren?t so high.

Discuss
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Don is Don Chiofaro. He?s a developer. Tom is Tom Menino. He?s the mayor. The last time Don and Tom spoke was in a chance encounter behind City Hall one evening last May. Don left the building and walked right past Tom. Don said he didn?t see him. A short while later, Don turned around and walked back toward Tom to chat. The chat was ? ahem ? brief.

They haven?t spoken since.

They need to. Don bought the Harbor Garage, perhaps the ugliest building in America, which is between the most popular part of the Greenway and the Atlantic Ocean. Don wants to tear down the garage and build two tall buildings ? hotel, condos, offices, and retail ? with a gap in the middle. Tom wants Don to build something short. If Don builds nothing, we?re stuck with the garage.

In pursuit of compromise, I visited Don on the 46th floor of International Place on Monday morning. As rain pattered against the picture windows, he constantly jumped out of his chair, ferrying heavy glass models of his proposed development to the table, showing me charts and graphs and letters.

Don loves confrontation. He is at once physical and cerebral ? a former Harvard football player. He goes to court as often as Cardinal O?Malley goes to Mass. While other developers try to win Tom?s favor, Don seems to try to tick Tom off.

?It?s a sham,?? Don said of the city?s Greenway study, which set the height limits that are behind Menino?s call for a shorter building. Of his relationship with the mayor, he said, ?I?m trying to elevate the conversation, the discourse. The mayor says I?m trying to become a gazillionaire.??

He pointedly said he could afford to keep the property as a garage because of all the money it makes, though he said the thought of keeping the building there ?is beyond anything I can imagine.??

Right when I was going to give up, he offered this: ?Does it have to be as high as this??? he asked, motioning to the model of his proposed building. ?No.??

Now we?re talking.

Next stop: City Hall. Tom was sitting in the picture window of his fifth floor office overlooking rain-soaked Quincy Market. His legs were elevated because of his knee injury. He couldn?t have seemed more relaxed.

Of Don, he said, ?You can?t come in and say ?I?m going to do what I want and everyone can go to hell.? It?s not my responsibility to make him a gazillionaire. I can?t be the guy who allows developers to run away with the city.??

I asked if he?d meet Don for lunch, trying to catch him by surprise.

?No,?? Tom roared.

Next thing you know, Kairos Shen, the city?s widely respected chief planner, arrived with intricate maps that showed the shadows Don would cast if he built 400-foot buildings. When you cut through all the urgent color-coding, it looks like they?d leave an hour or two of shadows on the Greenway ? in the early morning, in the early spring and autumn.

This is crazy. We have a developer who wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a project that would lead to several thousand construction jobs, millions in property taxes, and a new view of the water.

When I called Martin Walsh, the president of Local 223, the construction and general laborers union, he estimated about 35 percent to 40 percent of his membership is out of work.

?Fan Pier?s on hold,?? Walsh said. ?The Seaport?s on hold. Who knows what?s going on at Filene?s.??

This should be easy. Chiofaro was last at 625 feet on his proposal. The city is at 200 feet in its restrictions. Split the difference and build at 410 feet, about the height of Harbor Towers next door.

To get a deal done, Tom and Don just need to get out of their own way.

Brian McGrory is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at mcgrory@globe.com.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

It?s not my responsibility to make him a gazillionaire.
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No it's not but it's your responsibility to create jobs in the city you manage and you're just not doing that. Stop your petty feud and come to a compromise.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Next thing you know, Kairos Shen, the city?s widely respected chief planner, arrived with intricate maps that showed the shadows Don would cast if he built 400-foot buildings. When you cut through all the urgent color-coding, it looks like they?d leave an hour or two of shadows on the Greenway ? in the early morning, in the early spring and autumn.
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This didn't seem to bother the BRA when they had the massing study permitting 2 400ft towers for this site.

I agree with a compromise. I would like to see maybe a 530ft tower and a 270ft tower next to it. Something along those lines. I don't think another set of twins would look good here.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

^Seriously...this needs to move forward...they should head up to Tens in Salisbury, drink a few beeahs, catch a lapper, and then compromise on what they can do. They are both fairly one-sided on the issue, but Menino and the BRA are just not budging one bit. That is not compromise. Since when is Boston a dictatorship?
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

"Next thing you know, Kairos Shen, the city?s widely respected chief planner, arrived with intricate maps that showed the shadows Don would cast if he built 400-foot buildings. When you cut through all the urgent color-coding, it looks like they?d leave an hour or two of shadows on the Greenway ? in the early morning, in the early spring and autumn.

This is crazy. We have a developer who wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a project that would lead to several thousand construction jobs, millions in property taxes, and a new view of the water."

This paragraph says it all. Even the writer can't believe the Mayor is doing this.
If Chiofaro settles for 400ft I will personally feel sold out. This site is a screamer for a 600ft tower and he knows it.

The buildings will cast a two hour shadow. Who gives a Shit.
This site is key and so is Congress St for keys developments for the Greenway.

The way this is looking is the Mayor with the BRA are bitter about not getting a piece of the pie and Chiofaro could careless.
Love the fact that the Unions are 35-40% unemployed because of this buffoon.

Kairos Shen, the city?s widely respected chief planner LOL from what city are they talking about widely respected.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Love how he put common sense on the table regarding the shadows.
 
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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Everyone who has posted on McGrory's column seems to forget that Don Chiafaro stated public a couple months ago that he DID NOT have the money to build this project. He can't create a single job or a dime of new tax revenue without the money, and he said at a public meeting that he didn't have the money.

Everyone also seems to forget that the state's Chapter 91 law, which makes the BRA/zoning process look like child's play, caps the height on the site at 155 feet. You can't blame for the Mayor for a state law that's been on the books since long since he was elected Mayor. This is just the media trying to cook up a story so they can sell papers but they ignore the facts.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

greenwayguy1982 said:
Everyone who has posted on McGrory's column seems to forget that Don Chiafaro stated public a couple months ago that he DID NOT have the money to build this project. He can't create a single job or a dime of new tax revenue without the money, and he said at a public meeting that he didn't have the money.

Everyone also seems to forget that the state's Chapter 91 law, which makes the BRA/zoning process look like child's play, caps the height on the site at 155 feet. You can't blame for the Mayor for a state law that's been on the books since long since he was elected Mayor. This is just the media trying to cook up a story so they can sell papers but they ignore the facts.
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Don't you need approval from the city before anybody can actually finance a project of this magnitude. This developer built IP so his resume looks fine to me.

As of Chap 91......We might need TOBY to step in and see what he can muster up how the city and state can change the laws.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Greenway, if thats the case then I think the state law, in regards to this property, should be changed. Also the city came out with a master plan aproximately a year ago showing 400 foot towers.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

How old is Chapter 91?
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

"Adopted in 1866, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 91 protects the public's interest in waterways of the Commonwealth."

I ain't no fancy talkin' lawyer, but I'd say dat der be the problem.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Why is Chapter 91 even being discussed? I thought the building design addressed the public's right to access the water. The real issue seems to be height, according to Menino and the BRA.

Menino's crew always seems to find a way around the rules when they want something to happen.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

joebos said:
Why is Chapter 91 even being discussed? I thought the building design addressed the public's right to access the water. The real issue seems to be height, according to Menino and the BRA.

Menino's crew always seems to find a way around the rules when they want something to happen.
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Because Boston is still using an outdated zoning law where 155ft was equivalent to today's supertall towers. This is what the NIMBYs are using to fight against height and density and the Aquarium Tower is no exception. The 200 ft cap issued by the BRA is a joke. They only "increased" it to make it look like they are trying to compromise.
 
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