Hook Wharf | 400 Atlantic Ave | Downtown

Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Hook Lobster Co. announces it is in it for the long haul

Will reopen business, rebuild after fire

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | August 3, 2008

After a fire burned the storied and scruffy James Hook Lobster Co. building to the ground two months ago, there was little left except questions.

Would the owners fall prey to temptation to sell the property, situated in the heart of one of the city's toniest commercial districts? Would they rebuild? And if so, what?

Yesterday, the answers grew clear. Don your bibs, the Hook family plans to reopen for business within a week or two. Yesterday, the Hook family oversaw the delivery of two modular trailers at the site. And the family said they are hiring an architect and builder to erect a company headquarters there, one that owner Al Hook promised will be "very, very similar" to the edifice that burned.

"That's what people liked, that little fish shack," Hook said yesterday, standing on the excavated site. "We basically want to go back to the same thing."

The rough, Down East ambiance of the old building was renowned. The old wooden structure, painted a muddy brown and windowless, was partially bordered by a fence topped with razor wire. The walls of the interior, which smelled strongly of fish, were lined with old photos of Hook family members over the generations and other memorabilia, like an autographed image of Red Auerbach. A throwback to an era when Boston Harbor was a fishing hub, the business grew to become a beloved anomaly amid the Financial District's skyscrapers and gleaming hotels.

Hook said yesterday that he and his brothers got plenty of offers from developers for their prime waterfront land, but turned them down in favor of returning to the lobster business. The family started the company in the 1940s, turning it into one of the largest lobster distributors in the United States. The company brings Canadian lobsters to the city by the truckload, sending them off to restaurants, country clubs, and events around the world.

The retail portion of their business, selling lobster and lobster rolls to downtown lunch crowds, represented about 25 percent of the company's revenues, Hook said.

The business has been shuttered since May 30, when an early-morning fire raged out of control for several hours. More than 60,000 pounds of lobster living in tanks inside the building died; fire officials estimated more than $5 million in total losses. In the weeks to follow, city and federal officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled out arson as a cause. Unable to pinpoint exactly what started the blaze, fire officials said the cause was probably an electrical or mechanical malfunction.

Since then, the company has run its wholesale business out of the offices of two other nearby lobster distribution companies, P.J. Lobster Co. and John Nagel Co. in South Boston. Hook said longtime customers have tracked them down in search of fresh lobster and lobster roll lunches. He declined to say what the ingredients are in the Hook lobster roll, calling the recipe a secret.

"Our good, loyal customers are still hunting us down," Hook said. "They've found us."

The Hooks had promised the company would return, although they said they didn't know when or what shape the new business would take. Yesterday, two used modular trailers were delivered to the site, donated by Triumph modular buildings of Littleton. Hook family members said the trailers will be fitted with tanks that can hold about 1,200 pounds of lobster. They will also create a temporary outdoor seating space.

Al Hook said he hopes a permanent headquarters can be built on the site by October, in time for the Christmas lobster rush. He said he is trying to decide whether to repair the golden lobster weather vane that adorned the old building, one of the only artifacts that was not destroyed. Salvaged by firefighters, it was dented and chipped, but Hook said he views it as a symbol of survival.

Jimmy Hook, his brother, said he would like the new building to have a few more windows.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ar...r_co_announces_it_is_in_it_for_the_long_haul/
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

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Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Boston Globe - March 20, 2009
Lobster company's prime site on waterfront put up for sale

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | March 20, 2009

One of the city's prime waterfront tracts, home for decades to one of the nation's oldest lobster businesses, is up for sale.

Jimmy Hook, one of four brothers who own James Hook & Co., said the family plans to sell its downtown property after a fire nearly destroyed the business last May.

"I'd like to utilize the property better and get what it's worth," Hook said inside the shop yesterday, leaning on a lobster tank. "It's a beautiful spot.

It is undecided whether the Hook brothers' lobster business, a fixture on Atlantic Avenue since 1925, will remain on the site. Hook said he and his brothers are considering all their options.

"We'd like to keep the business here, but you never know," Hook said.

The Hook lobster company is a vestige of another era downtown, harkening back to the days when Boston's waterfront had more fishing boats than luxury condos. The family business thrived even as towering office buildings and luxury hotels sprouted around it. Even though the Hook company does a massive international business and keeps more than 300,000 pounds of lobster a year on hand for sale, the Hooks said they wanted to maintain a homespun feel, selling lobster rolls to lunch crowds and inviting customers to eat them at picnic tables outside.

Those days may be drawing to a close. Ten developers have submitted proposals for construction projects at the site, according to the family's real estate broker, Sandy Tierney of McCall & Almy.

Hook family members and Tierney declined to disclose the names of interested developers or the asking price for the property.

The assessed value of the land, according to city records, is $1.77 million.

Tierney said the Hook brothers will probably select one proposal within a month.

"The Hooks are committed to retaining a presence there," Tierney said. "They may have to temporarily move away during construction, but their goal is to remain on this site and to have it continue to be identified as the site of the James Hook lobster company. They've been here a long time, and they'd like to stay."

Al and Jimmy Hook said the family had no desire to sell the land until last year, when a massive early-morning fire ravaged the business, destroying more than 60,000 pounds of live lobster and the buildings that housed them.

When the fire was brought under control, what remained of the business's distinctive tin-topped building was charred and singed and had to be razed. About a month later, city fire officials, with assistance from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said the cause of the blaze was probably electrical, although an exact determination could not be made.

The brothers said at the time they wanted to rebuild. But after the fire, Tierney said, they were besieged with offers for their land.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority helped the company set up in offices in the nearby Marine Industrial Park. Eventually the brothers reopened their retail business in two trailers they had moved onto the Atlantic Avenue site.

The setup has not changed. The trailers sit in the shadow of the towering 1 International Place skyscraper.

Hook's next-door neighbor to the west is Independence Wharf, a 14-story luxury office building. And the gleaming glass Intercontinental Hotel, 21-stories, including seven floors of luxury condos, sits nearby.

Kairos Shen the BRA's chief of planning, said zoning laws drafted when the expressway stood there prohibit construction more than 55 feet high at the Hook location, although those rules can be appealed by property owners. In an interview yesterday, Shen called the Hook site "a very, very special location." A review board working with the BRA has hired several private consultants to undertake a study of Greenway zoning that will include creating new rules for development at the Hook site.

Citing the parcel's proximity to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Shen said that the BRA does not want to see towering buildings block the sun from the park and that the city will not allow the park to be compromised by "private development interests."

"It's a critical asset the city needs to cherish," Shen said.

It was a thought echoed by customers yesterday.

Maureen Daly, who works at a nearby Verizon office, went to Hook's to pick up two lobsters to bring to friends in Florida this morning. She said she would be crushed if the Hooks moved.

"I want them to stay," she said. "It's the best lobster in all of Boston. It's the freshest and the sweetest tasting."

Co-worker Ellen Paress said she wanted to see the Hooks rebuild a restaurant at the site, something similar to the casual shack they lost.

"When you get too big," she said, "you lose some of that family feel."

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Scenario #1) The Hook family puts up their land for sale, announcing they are moving their iconic business and cashing in for a skyscraper. The announcement is met with outrage and disgust. Neighbors call for a new operator to keep the building exactly as-is.

Scenario #2) The Hook lobster building burns down (cause still undetermined) and now, sadly, the Hook family puts up their land for sale, announcing they are moving their iconic business and cashing in for a skyscraper. Neighbors respond by waxing nostalgic about the lost building with a shrug.

I will not libel anybody and claim to know anything about things that I do not know anything about, but scenario two is far more desirable than scenario one for the current and future owners of that land.

Assessed at $1.77M???? The fix has been in on this site for a long, long time. If Chiafaro owned that plot of land it would be assessed for triple that.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

BTW - I absolutely and completely believe the fire was an accident. I'm just saying the scenario worked out very well for everyone involved in the transaction.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

I can't believe they're saying the value of the land is $1.77m....I would think it would be like $10m
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

If the current zoning sets a 55-foot height limit, that would limit the parcel's value.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

^^ Good point, Ron. And given:

Citing the parcel's proximity to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Shen said that the BRA does not want to see towering buildings block the sun from the park and that the city will not allow the park to be compromised by "private development interests."

"It's a critical asset the city needs to cherish," Shen said.

it will be a dog fight to get that lifted.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Yea, but aren't other buildings such as the Russia Wharf, Intercontinental, and the Harbor Towers all in the same category (abutting the water) and therefore making BRA's comments contradictory?
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

You see, the Big Dig has been a very well kept secret for the past two decades. The BRA had no idea there was going to be a park in this area someday.

But now that it is there, it must be protected at all costs.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

If the city's interest was to keep this historic business on the waterfront, and discourage developers from buying it to tear it down, the 55-foot limit was a good way to do that. I see nothing to object to here.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

You don't object to keeping or lifting the 55' limit?
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

I'd rather keep it if that makes it more likely that Hook will remain at this location in some form.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Why would the height of the building dictate whether or not Hook remains?

It would fit on the ground floor of a 5 story building as well as it would in a 50 story one.

I would understand if the original Hook building was still there, but now they are starting from scratch so they can incorporate anything.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Obviously the 55ft limit is a joke and would need to be modified. No sane developer would build anything 4 stories high righ in the middle of the financial district! It's just not economically feasible.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

This really isn't "in the middle of the financial district". It's at the water's edge.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

Boston Herald - March 23, 2009
Two builders take Hub bait
Eye Hook property

By Thomas Grillo | Monday, March 23, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo
Photo by Mike Adaskaveg (file)

Two Boston developers have expressed interest in buying the property owned by James Hook & Co., the burned-out landmark lobster business on the city?s waterfront.

Lincoln Property Co., the Dallas company that has Two Financial Center under construction at South Station, and the Chiofaro Co., the Boston owner of International Place, confirmed they have requested information about the sale from McCall & Almy, the commercial brokerage handling the deal.

The Boston Business Journal first reported last week that Hook was for sale and that 10 developers were interested in buying the 10,000-square-foot site.

The Atlantic Avenue business was destroyed by fire last year. But the Boston Redevelopment Authority quickly moved to help the 84-year-old firm settle in a new location in the city?s Marine Industrial Park.

The Hook family is considering closing the store or possibly working out a deal with the new owners to remain, because the site could support an office building with ground-floor retail.

Theodore A. Oatis, co-founder of Chiofaro Co., said his firm has their hands full with a proposal to transform the Boston Harbor Garage into a $900 million mixed-use development including 860,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, 100 condominiums and a grocery store.

But the company wanted to at least examine the possibilities of the Hook location for another building, he said.

John Cappellano, senior vice president at Lincoln, whose office project on Summer Street is stalled due to a lawsuit (see related story this page), said they are interested in the site.

?We are considering our options,? he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1160395
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

A good portion of the original Hook buildings sat on pilings. Water from the tanks would drip directly into the harbor. Questionable these days whether you could fill this area in; in any event, I don't think Hook owns the tidal flat. Smallish site = smallish height.
 
Re: James Hook Burns Down on the Greenway

^ Yeah, that isn't really land.
 
James Hook relocates to Union Park, South End

James Hook relocates to Union Park, South End.

We'll actually it's just the gold lobster. It's on the front of Joe V's. A pilot is being filmed here and the restaurant has been changed to The Boston Lobster House. I think the name of the series is 'Run, Katie, Run'.
 

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