Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
. . . it seems to me the city and state tried to get something for nothing by having developers cover the big costs.
No.
_ Re-read the Columbus Center proposals, in which the owners say that they are fully aware of all costs, and fully capable of covering all costs with private funding.
_ Of course, once they got an approval, those very same owners sought 19 public subsidies worth $605 million to pay costs and profits alike, and argued to Turnpike officials that these 7 acres are worthless and should be given to them for nothing.
_ It isn?t the state trying to get something for nothing, it?s the developers.
. . . The Pru was built 40 years ago and these new towers will have no affect on the traffic below.
Untrue.
_ Regardless of when an existing complex was first built, adding towers to it at any time adds traffic (the towers? occupants).
_ The developers already admitted to this.
. . . I make no connection between the drivers on a damn road that's been built for as long as I've been alive, and a building not even built yet that has nothing to do with the damn road. . .
No, you don?t make the connection, but it?s there nonetheless.
Regardless of the ages of you, the road, and the building, the proposed new towers will expose their occupants to a known public health risk.
_ Bbfen and Vanshnookenraggen argue that developers aren?t responsible for public health risks to the occupants of their buildings if the public health risks already exist, and the buildings are added later over the site of those risks.
_ But just as responsible developers don?t build luxury homes over toxic waste dumps without addressing the waste, responsible developers don?t build luxury offices and homes in toxic air without addressing that.
If these developers refuse to work with the public as the Secretary of Environment urged them to do, and use a loophole in the law to build new structures in an existing toxic air zone, then they are irresponsible.
_ And these towers will serve as a perfect example that justifies corrective legislation.
After the towers are finished 5-10 years from today, the owners may discover an increased awareness about the public health risks, and a decreased marketability of towers that expose people to such risks.