Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Pike will pay to clean up building site[/size]
[size=+1]Columbus Center lot to be restored[/size]
By Globe Staff ? Casey Ross ? August 18, 2009
Residents of Cortes Street have complained about unsightly fencing, vagrants, and construction debris. (George Rizer/ Globe Staff/ File 2008)
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority will use its own money to clean up a construction site at the stalled Columbus Center development in Boston, where work stopped in spring 2008 when the builders ran into financial problems.
Jeffrey Mullan, executive director of the Turnpike Authority, said the agency will spend $100,000 to clean up property along Cortes Street, where neighbors have complained about unsightly fencing, vagrants, and construction debris.
Mullan said the agency will seek to be repaid for the work from Columbus Center?s development team, which includes the real estate investment arm of the California state pension fund and Boston-based WinnCompanies.
A second cleanup, of the turnpike?s Arlington Street onramp, could cost much more. That work, which would include replacing lighting and a sidewalk, is estimated to cost more than $500,000. The developers have indicated they will pay for that work, but the state has not received a final commitment. ?We?re going to continue to monitor this, and we?re hopeful the developer will come forward,?? Mullan said. ?If not, that?s more work we have to do.??
He said the turnpike has been unable to force the developers to pay for the work because it failed to secure a performance bond or other guarantee that would compel them to do so. Mullan said the turnpike can pursue other remedies to recover the money, but he would not elaborate on them yesterday.
A spokeswoman for Columbus Center said the project?s principals could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Officials said the cleanup is an acknowledgement that construction of Columbus Center will not resume anytime soon. Still, negotiations about the project?s future are ongoing, and the director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority said yesterday the development team is trying to come up with a new construction schedule, one that would divide the project into phases, to make it more affordable to build.
?They?re working on a revised plan for their development,?? BRA director John Palmieri said yesterday. ?They?re planning to do the work one phase at a time.??
Palmieri added that Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has indicated a willingness to work with the Winn team on a new timetable.
Any changes to the phasing of the condominium, hotel, and retail project would require a new round of public hearings as well as approval from the BRA. It remains unclear whether or when that process would begin, because the developers have not indicated they are prepared to resume construction.
Work on the project was halted in April 2008 after the developers failed to secure loans needed to continue paying for construction. At that point, the builders had leveled the site and begun to build part of a platform over the turnpike. The site was then left covered with debris and equipment.
Several months later, the Columbus Center team hired the Beal Cos., developer of the nearby Clarendon condominium building, to review the project?s finances and devise a plan to move forward.
Meanwhile, Menino and turnpike officials have repeatedly pressured the developers to restore the site along Cortes Street because of the neighborhood complaints about its condition.
In addition to removing a construction fence and debris, the Cortes work will include leveling the site and planting grass. A spokesman for the turnpike said the authority does not plan in the near term to replace more than two dozen trees that were removed from the property.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/08/18/pike_will_pay_to_clean_up_building_site/
