Think the Pru
there was a combination of Federal, State and Boston + private sector participation
If I remember correctly the Boston part was some type of tax deal instead of the Pru paying straight real estate taxes
I think that Fan Pier / Innovation District can have the same level of influence on the economy of the City of Boston as either the Pru did in Boston or Cambridge Center did in Cambridge
so yes the taxpayer is part of the deal -- but in the end I think it certainly beats dumping the money into some union's pension fund
It's really tough to justify what private sector companies should get tax subsidiaries especially when the city of Boston is laying off teachers and closing libraries for our children.
Fallon bought Fan Pier with the intention of development. When the private sector buys a project they need to make it work, not depend on the taxpayers of Massachusetts. This is not capitalism. Basically Fallon paid too much for the site and just got bailed out by his friend the Mayor.
If we were going to use taxpayer’s money then try to entice a company that was located from a different state not a company located in the city of Cambridge. That is how pathetic these politicians are.
I'm glad to see that the site will be developed, Could it be a domino effect for Seaport? Possibly, but I still think the economy is very weak to justify 400-500K condos.
Plus I don't see Hynes developing Seaport I think he flips the property to someone else.
I think Fallon's project would have looked good near Kendall Square somewhere or maybe next to the Genyme building........ I think we should have had something different than the Biotech Sector in this area when it actually evolved in Cambridge for a reason. Fallon did what he had to do to survive.......
I think overtime companies will begin to flock back to the Downtown & Financial part of the city because of the underground transit makes a better commute for its employees in the winter time, especially if Filenes gets built. That is the one problem I see with Seaport.
Overall Fan Pier will look better than the parking lots we had before.
". Regarding the taxpayer: The Vertex tax break is a small fraction of taxpayer investment in the Innovation District."
Don't think of it that way......It justifies our politicans to take larger fractions in the future to try to justify creating more jobs for more private projects. It opens the flood gates of bailing out the failures of this nation. You see the more GOVT is involved with the private sector the more the laws get tainted and nobody gives a shit about regulations or laws. Then all of a sudden you have GOVT interests involved with the private sectors agendas against the hardworking class of this country. This is why so many things are gamed against the working class.