Columbus Center: RIP | Back Bay

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Re: Columbus Center

. . . The discussion of "it's high profit" but "it just happens to be high risk" is frankly as ridiculous as the claim that "it doesn't cost more to build over a highway" or the claim that "we need a study"to determine that . . .

Bankers assess risk and profit independently, because risk determine the chance of repayment, but whether post-construction profit is low, medium, or high affects them little.

. . . As for what appears to be an attempt to create some nexus that California=CalPERS and therfore that CalPERS must pull support because CARB (the California State Air Resources Board) is leading the charge against UFPs, I say, knock yourself out . . .

I did not predict CalPERS would ?pull support? based on CARB?s efforts to protect its public from UFP-related health damage, nor did I argue for it. What I said was that CalPERS couldn?t build this project in California without violating California EPA recommendations.

. . . A combination of stridency and naivete - for example, the demands for "full financial disclosure," which no for-profit developer could sign on for . . .

Private business is different from government business. For-profit companies that want to do business with government often must provide full financial disclosure so that the government can make appropriate cost/benefit decisions. And for-profit companies that share costs, revenues, profits, and subsisides with the government ? as California?s Columbus Center does ? expect full financial disclosure. Finally, the 99-year lease for this project requires such disclosure. The data is collected only post-construction, when it should be collected pre-construction, as well.

. . . If all this energy had been spent focusing on perfecting the streetscape and sweating the details, we'd have a helluva project, nearing completion.

Headline: ?California?s Columbus Center halted after 13 years because Ned Flaherty didn?t perfect its streetscape details.? Thanks for the hearty laugh!
 
Re: Columbus Center

. . . Say the investor pulls out, and well-respected Boston Properties buys the site and they get moving immediately... now, the entire "California-profiteer" angle would have to be scrapped completely . . .
No, not necessarily. If Boston Properties executes the proposal, unchanged but subsidy-free ? as it was proposed and approved ? then they would not be profiteers. However, if they simply pick up where the first two owners left off, chasing subsidies that the owners promised they?d never use, then the profiteering would continue, just with different people.

. . . So it's best to just sit back and wait for a real developer, with a real portfolio of $1B+ projects to step in and finish the project . . . all it's going to take is a developer who knows what they're doing with some real financial backing, and the project gets moving again . . .
It may be that Winn is not qualified to play in this arena. But the type of developer you say is needed is exactly what the CalPERS-CUIP-MURC organization is: ?a real developer with a real portfolio of $1B+ projects.? That very real developer stepped in during fall 2005, but 2.5 years later has poor results. CalPERS-CUIP-MURC is a ?developer who knows what they?re doing? as evidenced by their portfolio, track record, and $240 billion.

. . . The fact that other investors haven't been rushing in tells me that the project is unprofitable and/or too risky.
It?s no surprise that no one here knows why ?other investors haven?t been rushing in.? (Or if they do know, they never mentioned it.) But there is a specific reason, and it has nothing to do with low profit, or with high risk. I already documented this, but your message suggests that everyone needs a short refresher.

In 1996, Winn got no-bid, no-disclosure, no-competition, perpetual control of his air rights from MTA Chairman James Kerasiotes, who was trying to raise cash and conceal turnpike finances to avoid prison time for fraud. (The SEC found Kerasiotes guilty of fraud in 2003.)

Winn wrote a check to a politician for a mere $10,000 ?campaign donation?, and his no-competitors-allowed deal was cemented hours later. The only reason that no competitors ever materialized is because, after Winn?s $10,000 arrived, MTA agreed to refuse and reject all his competitors. Even if there were or would have been offers, MTA was contractually required to quietly turn each one away.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Can we put this topic to sleep for a while, until there's actually something new to report?
 
Re: Columbus Center

Stellarfun,
It?s nice to see someone truly look at this issue. It?s not easy. When I first began studying UFP, I had problems similar to the ones you?re having below. The points you raise are worth mentioning, because they illustrate how the subject confuses people. But none of these points are the problems you assume them to be. Here?s why.

A.) The California handbook, which gives valuers for increased incidence of cancer, notes that the incidence is based on 70 years of exposure to those particle concentrations within a so-called toxic zone.
That?s incorrect. Two errors were made here.
1. The above text is from the wrong California EPA CARB Handbook chapter, which does not apply to Boston?s I-90 corridor. That chapter is only for multi-acre warehouse facilities using diesel-powered Transportation Refrigeration Unit Airborne Toxic Control Measures.
2. The correct text is on page 18 of 109 in the Handbook, and states that risk estimates are for ?the increased chances of getting cancer due to facility emissions over a 70-year lifetime.? Repeat: the chance of cancer during a 70-year life. California estimated the chance that a person would develop cancer, after UFP exposure, during the typical American 70-year life span. Seventy years is the life span, not the exposure time.

B.) The mortality and morbidity rates that were cited are not specific to UFP. Some are specific to particulates in general; others factor in exposure to other air pollutants. There is a good reason for this; there is precious little monitoring data on the concentration of UFP over time in any location.
California EPA CARB?s Handbook is a land use handbook written for local planning boards. It?s inappropriate to view it as a medical journal.

The precise, UFP-specific morbidity and mortality rates you want are found in the medical studies completed by hospitals and universities for the world?s largest medical library: the National Library of Medicine, at the U.S. National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

There are oceans of very specific numbers found among the thousands of studies. Those studies typically examine a carefully defined population (e.g., 13-19-year old males, from certain socio-economic groups, with particular health profiles, in specific locations, during specific years). Arriving at generalizations for society as a whole requires considering many studies together.

C.1) The California ARB has no recommendations for mitigating the concentration of UFP in the atmosphere, as an alternative to siting.
The reason that CARB?s only recommendation is the no-build option is because no one can build a tunnel solely to handle UFP. But along Boston?s I-90 and I-93 corridors, developing air rights requires tunnels, and tunnels require vents. Boston already has an alternative solution; California does not.

C.2) UFPs are emitted by every vehicle traversing Clarendon St.; how would you abate the effect of UFPs emitted by near gridlock on Boston's crowded streets during rush hour?
A UFP toxic zone is any transportation corridor with 50,000 or more vehicles per day. I-90 has twice that number; I-93 has several times that number. The harm caused by UFPs from street-level gridlock has not yet been measured; consequently, there are not yet any recommendations for that. All current recommendations focus on high-volume transportation corridors, such as I-90, which, because of its tunnels and vents, includes a built-in opportunity to cure the known problem.

D.) Since when has Massachusetts classified certain areas as 'toxic zones' for UFPs? Is there a list of where these zones are located? Could somebody identify a citation in state law or city ordinance that requires a seller of property to inform a prospective buyer that the property is located within a so called toxic zone for UFP?
Massachusetts does not yet publish UFP toxic zone maps, but real estate salespersons have an affirmative obligation to disclose such known material defects. Any home?s location within a UFP toxic zone is a material defect. For state regulations and laws, see 254 CMR 3 (13) (c) (1) and MGL c.112, s.87AAA3/4(c).

Broker licenses can be suspended, non-renewed, or revoked for failure to disclose material defects. Property all along the I-90 corridor is still selling at the same rates as elsewhere in town, because none of the sales to date involved sellers or brokers who knew about UFP. As the word gets out, values and sales along the corridor will decline, unless the UFP problem is corrected.

E.) Massachusetts does have an air quality standard for fine particulate matter (not the same as UFP). Massachusetts meets that standard. Does Massachusetts have an air quality standard for UFP? Does Massachusetts monitor the ambient concentration of UFP?
Massachusetts does not yet have a UFP standard, so it is not yet measured.

. . . so much of what Ned Flaherty has said about UFPs . . . is either a mis-representation, mis-statement, or fabrication that in my eyes, it undermines the credibility of his other statements . . .
The information I presented is correct; none of it is mis-represented, mis-stated, or fabricated. Forum members are responsible for their own errors, such as the errors to which this message responds: reading the wrong chapter; using a land use handbook as a medical journal; and interpreting a lack of UFP maps as an absence of UFP.

Nobody here has the time or initiative to scour through the voluminous public records re: Columbus Center to check whether Ned is accurately and faithfully representing the information contained therein.
Every forum member can confirm any and all of the information presented. Some members misunderstand the problem, some err when confirming it, and some don?t even try to confirm anything at all. But missteps such as those don?t refute any of what has been presented.

The California record with respect to UFP is readily checked, as are several of the on-line scientific and medical journals cited. These sources do not support his assertions.
Most of your post was questions. You hadn?t yet seen the answers when you decided to label the information ?unsupported.? When you wrote ?several of the journals cited do not support Ned?s assertions? you named neither the journals nor the assertions. That?s no rebuttal. But several of your questions were worth asking, so if you have more like that, by all means please ask them.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Can we put this topic to sleep for a while, until there's actually something new to report?

Hello, Ron. I thought the last couple of members at least deserved replies to their questions.

Also, unresolved core issues are best discussed during quiet periods; it?s nowhere near as productive when newspapers keep interrupting with frequent changes. And speaking of news:
1. MTA seems to be losing patience with its uncooperative tenant (see below).
2. More news has already occurred, set to appear around mid-week.

FutureUnclear-1.jpg
 
Re: Columbus Center

"Bankers assess risk and profit independently, because risk determine the chance of repayment, but whether post-construction profit is low, medium, or high affects them little."


Huh? A project that has lower profit margins is riskier than a project that has higher profit margins. With higher profit margins, investors and financiers (read:banks) are insulated from fluctuations in sales prices and increases in construction costs. This has already been pointed out Ned, but you continue to press the point. From an investor's point of view, the amount of profit and the degree of risk are inextricably linked.

If memory serves you also stated that Columbus Center had unusually high profit projections. Unusual when compared to what exactly? When compared to other development projects? Really? Are you able to provide any evidence of that?
 
Re: Columbus Center

Folks, it's all but dead.
State pulls $10m slated for Columbus Center

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | April 8, 2008

In what may be the death knell for the problem-plagued Columbus Center project over the Massachusetts Turnpike, the state said yesterday it is withdrawing a $10 million grant the developers were counting on.

Though state funds are a relatively small portion of the overall financing, the developers contended that the $10 million - and a second $10 million grant they applied for - were crucial to making the project financially feasible.

Columbus Center developers received preliminary approval from state officials for the first $10 million, known as a MORE grant, last year, but the state did not act on the second request. MORE stands for Massachusetts Opportunity Relocation and Expansion Jobs Capital.

"The administration is redirecting those funds to other projects that will result in more immediate job growth and economic development," Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said yesterday. "The developer can apply for funding in the future, but no commitments are being made," she added.

Construction on the $800 million hotel, residential condominiums, and retail project between the Back Bay and South End, which struggled through 11 years of permitting and vigorous opposition, has been on hold since last month.

The developers had not yet received any of the grant money, plus another $15 million loan from MassHousing, and asked Turnpike officials for permission to suspend work for up to 18 months, pending either approval of the funds or an improvement in the economic climate.

The request for the construction delay "triggered our decision" to withdraw the funds, Jones said.

But it remained in dispute yesterday which came first - the request to delay construction or the state's decision not to provide the $20 million.

"We needed to know how and when the funds that were previously committed to the project would kick in," said Alan Eisner, a spokesman for the developers, a team including the local firm WinnDevelopment and the California Public Employees' Retirement System and its investment advisers.

The project's estimated cost has zoomed from $350 million to $800 million since planning began in 1997.

Gregory P. Bialecki, state-permitting ombudsman, who was involved in negotiations, said the grant money was redirected in part because the developer could not guarantee it would start on the Columbus Center buildings soon after it finishes the deck over the roadway that will serve as the foundation.

"We asked them to demonstrate to us within the last 60 days it was really true that if the MORE money came through, everything else was all set," Bialecki said. "At a meeting, I was not persuaded."

In any case, the decision not to award the $10 million may spell the end for Columbus Center. That prospect - like the project itself - drew contrasting reactions yesterday.

"This is a shame," said David I. Begelfer, chief executive of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. "You have one of the better urban projects I've ever seen."

"Most any other city or state would be tripping over themselves to make this happen,"
he said. "To take the money away at the end is unconscionable."

However, state Representative Marty Walz, a Boston Democrat, was relieved Columbus Center would not receive public subsidies. "I'm delighted," she said. "I thought this was an inappropriate use of taxpayer money. If this developer can't or won't go forward, the process should start all over again."

Another critic of the state funding for the project, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, said in a statement: "The Columbus Center project appears to be facing extreme financial difficulties . . . high-priced, luxury condominium projects of this kind should not benefit from state subsidies."

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority executive director Alan LeBovidge yesterday said the agency had recently reached a lease agreement with the developers to build the project on air rights over the Turnpike. But, before that lease could be finalized by Governor Deval Patrick, he heard back from the developers. "We got notified that they were stopping because of the MORE grants not being available," he said.

LeBovidge said the authority told the developers it was willing to negotiate a delay in construction of up to 18 months. But he also said he is concerned about what the developers will do in the interim, with an idle work site holding a substantial amount of equipment and materials.

"They've got to do something with all the things dug up, partial walls ripped down," LeBovidge said. "I don't want to leave it there for 18 months."

After a construction loan fell through last year, the developers decided to start work anyway, funding the construction on the deck with their own money, and even going so far as to give the Turnpike Authority a $270 million guarantee that it would be completed. Eisner said WinnDevelopment has already spent about $40 million on the project and the California pension fund has spent about $70 million.

Columbus Center was one of 23 projects that received preliminary approval for a total of $87.9 million dollars in job-creation grants. "This is the only one where the preliminary award has been redirected," Jones said.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.
Say goodnight, Gracie.

I think we, as a city, need to refocus our ideas about private property and public space.

The North End is about 99% private property and is probably the best public space in the city. The same could be said about Beacon Hill and to a lesser extent the Back Bay.
 
Re: Columbus Center

This isn't an industrial or office development, so I don't know why someone from NAIOP would have a relevant opinion. (If it were an office development, I'd be much more inclined to support a job-creation subsidy.)

What becomes of the developer's $270 million guarantee that they would complete the deck?
 
Re: Columbus Center

Is there a problem too with a developer making a profit, even if it is a large one?
 
Re: Columbus Center

In the delightful and fascinating chess game of politics and power, I'm not going to discount this one just yet. Everyone is posturing here and DiMasi sees this as a way to harm Deval Patrick even further.

This project is not dead for two reasons -

1) there isn't another site like it to build this much density and height right in the heart of the Back Bay's commercial corridor - it's just a block from the 790 foot Hancock Tower

2) It's all approved and ready to go and enjoys widespread city support (rare for a project this size). All it needs is a developer with money and it's a go.

The credit crunch will abate this coming Fall hopefully, a new development partner should be brought it, and the cranes and machinery will start whirring again. You simply cannot get money in today's market for a risky project like this.
 
Re: Columbus Center

If CalPERS (MacFarlane) has spent $70 million, to get that level of spending can only mean the steel for the deck was ordered.

What does CalPERS (MacFarlane) do now with respect to its sunk costs:

Let go of Winn and team up with another developer, e.g., Hines or Related, with whom they have partnered elsewhere?

Write off the steel?

Hold on to the steel and sell it to some future developer down the road?
 
Re: Columbus Center

Ned Flaherty, my comments on your comments are in bold below.

Stellarfun,
It?s nice to see someone truly look at this issue. It?s not easy. When I first began studying UFP, I had problems similar to the ones you?re having below. The points you raise are worth mentioning, because they illustrate how the subject confuses people. But none of these points are the problems you assume them to be. Here?s why.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
A.) The California handbook, which gives valuers for increased incidence of cancer, notes that the incidence is based on 70 years of exposure to those particle concentrations within a so-called toxic zone.

That?s incorrect. Two errors were made here.
1. The above text is from the wrong California EPA CARB Handbook chapter, which does not apply to Boston?s I-90 corridor. That chapter is only for multi-acre warehouse facilities using diesel-powered Transportation Refrigeration Unit Airborne Toxic Control Measures.

2. The correct text is on page 18 of 109 in the Handbook, and states that risk estimates are for ?the increased chances of getting cancer due to facility emissions over a 70-year lifetime.? Repeat: the chance of cancer during a 70-year life. California estimated the chance that a person would develop cancer, after UFP exposure, during the typical American 70-year life span. Seventy years is the life span, not the exposure time.

1. The increased cancer datum is for Freeways and High-Traffic Roads , not for warehouses. (See row 1 in table 1-2 on p. 18, of the Handbook.)

2. Sorry, but I believe you are incorrect. Note 1 to table 1-2 states: "1 For cancer health effects, risk is expressed as an estimate of the increased chances of getting cancer due to facility emissions over a 70-year lifetime. This increase in risk is expressed as chances in a million (e.g., 10 chances in a million)." If it is not a 70 year exposure period, what is the exposure period that produces this increased risk? Is it 7 minutes, 7 months, 7 years worth of exposure?

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
B.) The mortality and morbidity rates that were cited are not specific to UFP. Some are specific to particulates in general; others factor in exposure to other air pollutants. There is a good reason for this; there is precious little monitoring data on the concentration of UFP over time in any location.

California EPA CARB?s Handbook is a land use handbook written for local planning boards. It?s inappropriate to view it as a medical journal.

The precise, UFP-specific morbidity and mortality rates you want are found in the medical studies completed by hospitals and universities for the world?s largest medical library: the National Library of Medicine, at the U.S. National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

There are oceans of very specific numbers found among the thousands of studies. Those studies typically examine a carefully defined population (e.g., 13-19-year old males, from certain socio-economic groups, with particular health profiles, in specific locations, during specific years). Arriving at generalizations for society as a whole requires considering many studies together.

Sorry, but there are not thousands of studies on UFP. There may be thousands of studies on particulates, but damn few on UFPs. Having once worked for the Federal EPA, I hope I have retained a bit of familiarity with scientific studies, their limits and value. I am waiting for you to cite a study in a peer-reviewed journal, medical or otherwise, that correlates changes in morbidity and mortality to UFP (and please refrain from citing journals with studies on particulates in general, fine particulates, diesel particulates, etc. I am seeking a study limited to the health effects of UFP).

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
C.1) The California ARB has no recommendations for mitigating the concentration of UFP in the atmosphere, as an alternative to siting.

The reason that CARB?s only recommendation is the no-build option is because no one can build a tunnel solely to handle UFP. But along Boston?s I-90 and I-93 corridors, developing air rights requires tunnels, and tunnels require vents. Boston already has an alternative solution; California does not.

You stated that California, in its handbook, identified measures that could be taken to mitigate the effect of UFPs. Do you now concede that the handbook does not identify any mitigating measures for UFP, other than the no-build? And if a tunnel is a mitigating method for Boston, why would not this mitigation also be true for California?

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
C.2) UFPs are emitted by every vehicle traversing Clarendon St.; how would you abate the effect of UFPs emitted by near gridlock on Boston's crowded streets during rush hour?

A UFP toxic zone is any transportation corridor with 50,000 or more vehicles per day. I-90 has twice that number; I-93 has several times that number. The harm caused by UFPs from street-level gridlock has not yet been measured; consequently, there are not yet any recommendations for that. All current recommendations focus on high-volume transportation corridors, such as I-90, which, because of its tunnels and vents, includes a built-in opportunity to cure the known problem.

Again, you are mis-stating California data. California data:

a.) do not establish a so-called toxic zone, the nomenclature and characteristics of which are the creation of one Ned Flaherty;
b.) do specify that the 50,000 daily vehicle use datum is for rural highways; the urban freeways and highway volume is 100,000 vehicles a day;
c.) focus concern on heavy use by diesel trucks on these highways, i.e., 10,000 to 20,000 diesel trucks a day. Perhaps you have data showing that diesel trucks on I-90 or I-93 in downtown Boston reach that daily volume.
d.) in the Handbook, acknowledges that meteorology can significantly affect exposure. (The climatology of urban California is substantially different from the climatology of urban Boston, though the California handbook does not address climatological differences even within California.)


Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
D.) Since when has Massachusetts classified certain areas as 'toxic zones' for UFPs? Is there a list of where these zones are located? Could somebody identify a citation in state law or city ordinance that requires a seller of property to inform a prospective buyer that the property is located within a so called toxic zone for UFP?

Massachusetts does not yet publish UFP toxic zone maps, but real estate salespersons have an affirmative obligation to disclose such known material defects. Any home?s location within a UFP toxic zone is a material defect. For state regulations and laws, see 254 CMR 3 (13) (c) (1) and MGL c.112, s.87AAA3/4(c).

Broker licenses can be suspended, non-renewed, or revoked for failure to disclose material defects. Property all along the I-90 corridor is still selling at the same rates as elsewhere in town, because none of the sales to date involved sellers or brokers who knew about UFP. As the word gets out, values and sales along the corridor will decline, unless the UFP problem is corrected.

These paragraphs lie somewhere between the ridiculous and the absurd. There is no duty owed to anyone in the absence of a standard for UFP, in the absence of monitored ambient values for UFP, or in the absence of a specific Massachusetts law, ordinance, or government regulation citing the health danger of residing in a specific area because of exposure to UFP (or any specific pollutant(s). BTW, have you petitioned the Board of Assessors to lower the assessment of your condo because you live in a so-called toxic zone?

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
E.) Massachusetts does have an air quality standard for fine particulate matter (not the same as UFP). Massachusetts meets that standard. Does Massachusetts have an air quality standard for UFP? Does Massachusetts monitor the ambient concentration of UFP?

Massachusetts does not yet have a UFP standard, so it is not yet measured.

Commonly, before one ever sets a standard, one measures the ambient concentrations. The only standards typically set for which ambient concentrations are not measured beforehand are those for toxics, where the government seeks to eliminate emissions and/or discharges of a pollutant.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
. . . so much of what Ned Flaherty has said about UFPs . . . is either a mis-representation, mis-statement, or fabrication that in my eyes, it undermines the credibility of his other statements . . .

The information I presented is correct; none of it is mis-represented, mis-stated, or fabricated. Forum members are responsible for their own errors, such as the errors to which this message responds: reading the wrong chapter; using a land use handbook as a medical journal; and interpreting a lack of UFP maps as an absence of UFP.

See above.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
Nobody here has the time or initiative to scour through the voluminous public records re: Columbus Center to check whether Ned is accurately and faithfully representing the information contained therein.

Every forum member can confirm any and all of the information presented. Some members misunderstand the problem, some err when confirming it, and some don?t even try to confirm anything at all. But missteps such as those don?t refute any of what has been presented.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stellarfun
The California record with respect to UFP is readily checked, as are several of the on-line scientific and medical journals cited. These sources do not support his assertions.

Most of your post was questions. You hadn?t yet seen the answers when you decided to label the information ?unsupported.? When you wrote ?several of the journals cited do not support Ned?s assertions? you named neither the journals nor the assertions. That?s no rebuttal. But several of your questions were worth asking, so if you have more like that, by all means please ask them.

See my note above on providing citations in a peer-reviewed journal describing the health effects of UFP only.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Ned Flaherty, my comments on your comments are in bold below.

the technical back and forth kicks ass, but it doesn't speak to the man on the street issues. even if you're right, Ned, i don't believe for a second that the California EPA CARB Handbook is what gets you up in the morning.

and on a different note (unless you already said and I missed it) what productive thing would you do with a 30+ ft deep by 150+ foot wide particulate-rich cut through what would otherwise be a very attractive location, given the technical difficulties of converting the space?

dare to dream... and let us know what we're missing.
 
Re: Columbus Center

ned's duty to disclose commentary was laughable. I'm glad someone called him out on that. I didn't pick up on that.
 
Re: Columbus Center

if someone wants to post it, there is another depressing article on the future of this project on banker and tradesman.
 
Re: Columbus Center

The old adage of a 'little knowledge is a dangerous thing' might apply when trying to restrict, prohibit, or mitigate the siting of new development near busy highways because of the presence of UFPs.

The California law prohibiting building new schools within certain distance of high-use freeways and highways, but allowing exceptions. A principal concern is emissions from diesel trucks:
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/03-04/bill/sen/sb_0351-0400/sb_352_bill_20031003_chaptered.html


California toxic air contaminants listed here
http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/tac/toctbl.htm

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/pubs/tacmenu.htm

(BTW, California now lists second hand smoke as toxic air contaminant)
http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/nr012606.htm

California starting a monitoring program for UFP; example here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/apr/archive/dec05/dec05-4.htm

[FONT=&quot]With respect to UFPs, California is in the initial phase of both research and monitoring. The state does not have enough data to regulate, or even determine whether one can effectively regulate UFPs, as UFP are a ubiquitous combustion by-product.

[/FONT]
 
Re: Columbus Center

Interesting.

City: Dormant site needs a cleanup
By Scott Van Voorhis
Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Columbus Center developers recently halted construction on their $800 million air-rights project in Boston. Now, they are being asked to clean up after themselves.

John Palmieri, chief executive of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, yesterday called on project executives to restore the construction site to its original state.

The demand comes just a few weeks after Columbus Center builders Arthur Winn and Roger Cassin temporarily shut down work on the project, saying millions in promised state financing was slow in coming.

The move raised concerns among some state officials about the status of a project that had been in planning stages for more than a decade.
Patrick administration officials responded to the construction shutdown by pulling back a promised $10 million grant.

Now, Palmieri, the BRA?s new chief, wants Columbus Center developers to replant trees on Cortes Street near the site of the proposed project, which would be built over the Massachusetts Turnpike between the Back Bay and South End and would include a high-rise hotel, condo and retail complex.

Palmieri also wants the developers to restore parking for businesses and residents and clean up construction debris. Columbus Center developers had begun some preliminary work around the site, tearing up streets and putting up barriers, but no construction had begun on the deck over the Pike itself.

?I ask that this process begin immediately to help allay any fears the work site will sit as a dormant eyesore,? Palmieri writes.

George Regan, a spokesman for Columbus Center, said project developers are now considering the city?s request. But they have not thrown in the towel and still hope to resume construction.

?We want to say unequivocally we have no intention of abandoning this project,? Regan said. ?We have 13 years and lots of money invested. We are not going to give it up.?
f3b1e3ba14_pike_04092008.jpg



http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1085918
 
Re: Columbus Center

It's odd to think that something that started when I was five will not be completed until after I graduate from college in four years...sigh....such is Boston.
 
Re: Columbus Center

This is an editorial from today's Boston Herald:

Taking back a giveaway

By Boston Herald editorial staff | Wednesday, April 9, 2008

http://www.bostonherald.com | Editorials

In this dismal economic climate taxpayers shouldn?t tolerate gratuitous handouts to wealthy private developers. The Patrick administration did the right thing when it yanked a $10 million grant from the Columbus Center development, which it never should have awarded in the first place.

Yes, the $800 million hotel/ condo/retail development that was to be built over the Massachusetts Turnpike had great potential - and may still, if the developers can line up all of the necessary private financing.

But the construction of high-end condos in one of the city?s ritzier neighborhoods was hardly an appropriate use of the grant money, which was designed to encourage the creation of new manufacturing jobs.

It?s not as if the state hadn?t already stepped up to support the project. Before the $10 million grant, officials had already agreed to federal housing grants, low-interest housing loans and tax credits - not to mention the sweetheart deal that developers secured for the right to build on a deck over the Pike.

But the cash grant originally approved by the administration - which infuriated House Speaker Sal DiMasi and other lawmakers, who had previously rejected an earmark for the project - was an open-and-shut case of corporate welfare. And if the developers were unable to patch together the financing without a handout from taxpayers who are having trouble paying their own mortgages, well, that?s really just too bad.

The withdrawal of funds may kill a promising project, and that?s unfortunate. But the taxpayer money can now be directed to worthy projects that may in fact create valuable permanent jobs.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?articleid=1085896
 
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