Mayor Martin J. Walsh is proposing to give a $4.6 million tax break to one of Boston’s most ambitious developments, a $550 million project near Fenway Park that could allow him to make his first major imprint on the city’s skyline.
A vote on the financing is scheduled for Thursday at a Boston Redevelopment Authority board meeting.
Rosenthal and city officials said the tax relief is structured to help fund construction of the project’s retail spaces, not its luxury apartments. The deal would reduce the project’s taxes over a six -ear period during its construction and early years of operation. After its completion, Fenway Center is expected to generate about $5 million a year in taxes, and the developer will also pay the state $226 million to lease the 4.5-acre development site over 99 years.
But the battle to start construction is not over. Rosenthal said it will take at least a year to finalize construction drawings, get a building permit, and complete financing arrangements with Bentall Kennedy.
That leaves the project vulnerable to sudden changes in the economy or local real estate market that could undermine its feasibility. For example, about 8,000 apartments are expected to be completed in Boston during the next few years, an unprecedented influx of supply that has caused some to question whether development of additional units will pay off.
The tax break is tied to the onset of construction, and would not be provided unless the work proceeds.
