Fan Pier Developments | Seaport

Sicilian said:
^
What I don't exactly understand is what City Hall gets by decades of parking lots. I hate to say it, but it appears that the BRA has become a tool for ensuring re-election of candidates and appointees involved in the horse-trading. This might bear out based on who gets the lion's share of approvals. It's entirely a political game, and has been for quite some time.
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Sicilian, You said it in this quote. This is exactly what the BRA is about. Very sad that the city has gone this route. The BRA needs to be a seperate entity from city hall. This is a conflict of interest.

How is this even legal? Everybody is starting to see what is going on.
 
That building in the center will look onto the back wall of the ICA.
 
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Such miserable, uninspired, downright lazy architecture.

"Hey guys wanna go to lunch in half an hour?"

"Sure, let me just do this Fan Pier thing"

"OK"
 
Arborway said:
Such miserable, uninspired, downright lazy architecture.

"Hey guys wanna go to lunch in half an hour?"

"Sure, let me just do this Fan Pier thing"

"OK"
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Now this is hilarious. The city of Boston should sue Fallon for picking this architecture team. What was Fallon's management team blind going over these renderings.


LOL
 
^I don't think you can get sued for having bad taste. Otherwise I'd have to keep Toby on retainer.
 
TheRifleman said:
Now this is hilarious. The city of Boston should sue Fallon for picking this architecture team. What was Fallon's management team blind going over these renderings.
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Fallon's management team was looking for the cheapest way to build "class A" office space. One could consider it perfection in value engineering. They gave no consideration to how architecture / aesthetics could add to the long-term value of Fan Pier; just the short-sighted bottom line.
 
Funny to think that the same architects who are responsible for this also came up with the design for the stunning Copley Place condo tower.

So who's to blame: Elkus-Manfredi, or Joe Fallon?
 
I'd place the blame squarely on the BRA and Menino administration.

Just a guess that Pritzker walked away with a hefty profit, securing and flipping 3+ million square feet of approvals on their parking lot, leaving town without developing a single square foot. They did give the ICA land in exchange for the development rights. Maybe that counts for something.

And I'd venture a guess that the BRA coffers were enriched in the process.

So, Fallon steps in, buys a pre-approved projects at a premium from Pritzker, and figures out his margin on top of that.

Elkus probably assigned time and quality of effort within the limits of the budget their given. They were probably constrained by Fallon, who was constrained by an inflated purchase price.

This is how things work. Projects are approved, flipped with approvals, and the purchaser claims they paid an inflated price so their hands are tied.

The BRA oversaw the whole process from start to finish. After spending mega-$$$$ on the Seaport Plan and Municipal Harbor Plan largely for the Pritzker's benefit, they then let Pritzker sit on approvals for 3 boom years without putting a single shovel in the ground.

If I've got some of the above wrong, I'd look forward to a correction.
 
let Pritzker sit on approvals for 3 boom years without putting a single shovel in the ground
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You're forgetting that those 3 years coincided almost exactly with two major events:
1. The dot.com burst / 9-11 mini-recession.
2. Leslie Pritzker sued the entire family which made any kind of risky business venture (like a multi-million dollar development) infinitely more difficult to pull off. Financing becomes more difficult if there's a lien on the property. Ground-breaking becomes more risky if a judge can slap an injunction on the property. I always thought the Pritzkers sold for just that reason.
 
^Both valid points, thanks for noting.

Fair to say, though, that the Pritzkers sat on the land for thirty years, turning down offers through 2005 at which point they sold with approvals for $115m. So it's still fair to say a) they missed a few real estate cycles, b) the City invested mega$$$$ in the planning of Fan Pier at taxpayer expense and c) having invested heavily in the Seaport District the taxpayer will end up with an indistinctive district that could just as well be in Houston, Miami or (as I usually say) a suburb of Dallas.

All said, I don't blame Pritzker... I hold the BRA and Mayor accountable.
 
Sicilian said:
^Both valid points, thanks for noting.

Fair to say, though, that the Pritzkers sat on the land for thirty years, turning down offers through 2005 at which point they sold with approvals for $115m. So it's still fair to say a) they missed a few real estate cycles, b) the City invested mega$$$$ in the planning of Fan Pier at taxpayer expense and c) having invested heavily in the Seaport District the taxpayer will end up with an indistinctive district that could just as well be in Houston, Miami or (as I usually say) a suburb of Dallas.

All said, I don't blame Pritzker... I hold the BRA and Mayor accountable.
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Don't worry Pritzker will end up buying the entire property back at a discount 60Million including the building. I will give Fallon credit for building this class A building. But for me it's just not that appealing and why would anybody pay class A rents so far away from the action downtown?

Fallon really needs help to jump start this lifeless area. He needs a BLUECHIP company to base their headquarters in this area. Then we might see Fan Pier evolve with some potential which would lead to the Seaport being developed. MONEY FOLLOWS MONEY.

What tax breaks did the BRA and Menino give to Fan Pier?
 
TheRifleman said:
Fallon really needs help to jump start this lifeless area. He needs a BLUECHIP company to base their headquarters in this area. Then we might see Fan Pier evolve with some potential which would lead to the Seaport being developed. MONEY FOLLOWS MONEY.
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Jetblue was recently looking for a new headquarters, but the main competition was between Orlando and NYC (They decided upon Queens, i believe). I would have loved to land Jetblue. (pun intended :rolleyes:)

More locally, BJ's just announced the relocation of their headquarters from Natick to a new campus in Westborough. I wonder if anywhere inside Boston was even considered. Not a giant company, but the new building is 6 stories with a 2 story annex to house about a 1000 employees. This could have put a good dent somewhere downtown.
 
Fair to say, though, that the Pritzkers sat on the land for thirty years, turning down offers through 2005 at which point they sold with approvals for $115m. So it's still fair to say a) they missed a few real estate cycles, b) the City invested mega$$$$ in the planning of Fan Pier at taxpayer expense and c) having invested heavily in the Seaport District the taxpayer will end up with an indistinctive district that could just as well be in Houston, Miami or (as I usually say) a suburb of Dallas.
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All fair points. I love the irony of the Pritzkers owning dozens of acres a stone's throw from one of the busier convention centers in the country . . . and we don't end up with a Hyatt there.
 
What tax breaks did the BRA and Menino give to Fan Pier?
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I don't think the City/BRA offered tax breaks ("121A Blighted Area") or incentives ("District Improvement Financing") to Fan Pier owners/developers, as they have considered elsewhere in the Seaport and Fort Point.

My comment was that the Pritzkers were the direct beneficiary of significant taxpayer $$$ spent on planning their site through a City-funded public process from 1998 (Seaport PRP) through 2003 (Seaport MHP). They were also are beneficiary of $$$billions in taxpayer-funded area improvements (T, BCEC, CAT exits/entrances) which they and other area property owners advocated for, with the promise that each taxpayer funded project would stimulate Seaport development.

The tune is as old as the hills, and plays on...

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/11/25/developers_envision_a_waterfront_jump_start/
 
palindrome said:
Jetblue was recently looking for a new headquarters, but the main competition was between Orlando and NYC (They decided upon Queens, i believe). I would have loved to land Jetblue. (pun intended :rolleyes:)

More locally, BJ's just announced the relocation of their headquarters from Natick to a new campus in Westborough. I wonder if anywhere inside Boston was even considered. Not a giant company, but the new building is 6 stories with a 2 story annex to house about a 1000 employees. This could have put a good dent somewhere downtown.
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JetBlue would have made a lot of sense for Boston (or the other way around)?

Hard to find a reason for BJs to go to Boston when most of their stores are suburban?
 
How doe this project at this point not go bankrupt?

Land cost 115 Million for 21 Acreas

Building 500,000 Sq ft
Fish & Richardson lease 124,000 ft in 2010

Does anybody know how much the total building costs?
Did Fish & Richardson pay $40 Sq Ft. How can Fallon make his money with these types of deals. They have that much equity in this project?
 
Rifle, you're forgetting the cashflow he's getting off the land. Chiafaro paid $155M for 400,000 SF of parking. Fallon paid $115M for what was essentially 914,760 SF of parking (43,560 * 21 acres).

Now obviously that's not the real square footage of parking (there's streets, sidewalks, an empty park, an empty building, etc.) but you can see where, from a strictly cash flow perspective, he's no worse off than Chiofaro.
 
From the facebook page

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