KentXie
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News ONLY Columbus Center Thread
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Ned Flaherty
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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/
[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/
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Pike to pay for Columbus cleanup[/size]
Photo by John Wilcox
CART OFF: The Mass. Turnpike Authority will pick up the $100,000 tab to clean up part of the stalled Columbus Center project near Cortes Street.
By Herald Staff ? August 18, 2009
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials said yesterday they will initially pick up the $100,000 tab for cleaning up part of the stalled Columbus Center construction site.
?This will stabilize the situation in response to the neighborhood?s concerns,? said Turnpike Authority Executive Director Jeffrey Mullan of a plan to remove debris along Cortes Street and plant grass. The cleanup should take six weeks and the Pike hopes to be paid back by the developer.
A spokeswoman for the project declined comment. The development team includes California pension-fund affiliate MacFarlane Partners and Winn Cos. of Boston with consultants The Beal Cos. and The Related Cos.
The $850 million, 1.3-million-square-foot condo, hotel and retail project has been in the works for about 13 years. The seven-acre project was supposed to be built on a deck over the Pike with a new park linking the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods, but funding woes put the project on hold last year.
Neighbors have complained about the unfinished business.
?The neighbors are right,? said Peter O?Connor, the Pike?s deputy secretary for real estate and economic development. ?There?s a wind screen that runs the length of Cortes Street and effectively blocks the eyes on the street. . . . I think we?ve seen an increase in petty crime and more homeless people camping out there.?
Mullan said the state is working with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to keep the project viable, but ?we don?t believe (the developers) are going to do anything any time soon.?
http://www.bostonherald.com/busines..._columbus_cleanup/srvc=business&position=also
[size=+2]Pike to pay for Columbus cleanup[/size]
Photo by John Wilcox
CART OFF: The Mass. Turnpike Authority will pick up the $100,000 tab to clean up part of the stalled Columbus Center project near Cortes Street.
By Herald Staff ? August 18, 2009
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials said yesterday they will initially pick up the $100,000 tab for cleaning up part of the stalled Columbus Center construction site.
?This will stabilize the situation in response to the neighborhood?s concerns,? said Turnpike Authority Executive Director Jeffrey Mullan of a plan to remove debris along Cortes Street and plant grass. The cleanup should take six weeks and the Pike hopes to be paid back by the developer.
A spokeswoman for the project declined comment. The development team includes California pension-fund affiliate MacFarlane Partners and Winn Cos. of Boston with consultants The Beal Cos. and The Related Cos.
The $850 million, 1.3-million-square-foot condo, hotel and retail project has been in the works for about 13 years. The seven-acre project was supposed to be built on a deck over the Pike with a new park linking the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods, but funding woes put the project on hold last year.
Neighbors have complained about the unfinished business.
?The neighbors are right,? said Peter O?Connor, the Pike?s deputy secretary for real estate and economic development. ?There?s a wind screen that runs the length of Cortes Street and effectively blocks the eyes on the street. . . . I think we?ve seen an increase in petty crime and more homeless people camping out there.?
Mullan said the state is working with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to keep the project viable, but ?we don?t believe (the developers) are going to do anything any time soon.?
http://www.bostonherald.com/busines..._columbus_cleanup/srvc=business&position=also
State may absorb $30m on project built over Pike
Governor Deval Patrick?s administration is offering to absorb up to $30 million of a developer?s cost to build a mammoth complex above the Massachusetts Turnpike, in hopes of jump-starting construction over the highway after the most recent effort, Columbus Center, stalled.
http://www.boston.com/realestate/ne...te_may_absorb_30m_on_pike_air_rights_project/
Governor Deval Patrick?s administration is offering to absorb up to $30 million of a developer?s cost to build a mammoth complex above the Massachusetts Turnpike, in hopes of jump-starting construction over the highway after the most recent effort, Columbus Center, stalled.
http://www.boston.com/realestate/ne...te_may_absorb_30m_on_pike_air_rights_project/
Ron Newman
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OK, but should a 'news only' thread about Columbus Center include news about other Turnpike projects such as that one?
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Columbus Center fix to leave trees behind[/size]
by Tony Lee ● Boston Metro ● August 21-23, 2009
PHOTOS BY NICOLAUS CZARNECKI/METRO
Metro Neighbors are upset the developers of the stalled Columbus Center project will not be replanting the trees that were torn down.
Residents abutting a portion of the much-maligned Columbus Center development are seeing the state clean up a strip filled with trash, jersey barriers and overgrown weeds.
But one question lingers: what about the trees?
Two years ago, in preparing the two-acre plot which separates Cortes Street from the Mass Pike for a proposed parking garage, developers of the stalled $624 million mixed-use project cut down 24 mature trees.
Never mind their aesthetic quality, the trees shielded Cortes residents from seven lanes of Mass Pike traffic and seven rail lines, blocking out noise and exhaust from trains, trucks and cars. With the garage delayed and the trees not part of the restoration plan, residents are concerned the landscape has permanently changed.
?My main concern, as an owner, is the value of this place,? said Stefanie Tam, who bought an apartment on Cortes just before the trees were ripped down. ?[The lack of trees] have had a huge impact on that.?
At least one resident is just happy something is happening to the land, trees or no trees. ?People need to realize that we?ve lived with this for 16 months,? said Cortes Street resident Lynn Andrews. ?For us it?s fantastic.?
The Turnpike Authority, after receiving complaints from neighbors, said it will pick up the tab for the $100,000, six-week restoration and seek reimbursement later from Columbus Center developers, but it has no plans to replant trees with the project still up in the air.
Developers were not available for comment but their inactivity speaks volumes to some.
?They shouldn?t have taken the trees down until they knew [how the project would play out],? said Ned Flaherty, an urban planning activist who lives on nearby Clarendon Street.
Why not throw in for a few trees?
Gov. Deval Patrick?s administration may offer up to $30 million in financial support to help different developers begin a $450 million complex over the Mass Pike near Fenway Park, according to reports. The aid would help construction start on the 800,000 square foot Fenway Center as the Columbus Center project ? which was eyed hopefully as a catalyst in a construction boom over the Pike ? remains stalled.
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/08/21/02/5034-72/index.xml
[size=+2]Columbus Center fix to leave trees behind[/size]
by Tony Lee ● Boston Metro ● August 21-23, 2009
PHOTOS BY NICOLAUS CZARNECKI/METRO
Metro Neighbors are upset the developers of the stalled Columbus Center project will not be replanting the trees that were torn down.
Residents abutting a portion of the much-maligned Columbus Center development are seeing the state clean up a strip filled with trash, jersey barriers and overgrown weeds.
But one question lingers: what about the trees?
Two years ago, in preparing the two-acre plot which separates Cortes Street from the Mass Pike for a proposed parking garage, developers of the stalled $624 million mixed-use project cut down 24 mature trees.
Never mind their aesthetic quality, the trees shielded Cortes residents from seven lanes of Mass Pike traffic and seven rail lines, blocking out noise and exhaust from trains, trucks and cars. With the garage delayed and the trees not part of the restoration plan, residents are concerned the landscape has permanently changed.
?My main concern, as an owner, is the value of this place,? said Stefanie Tam, who bought an apartment on Cortes just before the trees were ripped down. ?[The lack of trees] have had a huge impact on that.?
At least one resident is just happy something is happening to the land, trees or no trees. ?People need to realize that we?ve lived with this for 16 months,? said Cortes Street resident Lynn Andrews. ?For us it?s fantastic.?
The Turnpike Authority, after receiving complaints from neighbors, said it will pick up the tab for the $100,000, six-week restoration and seek reimbursement later from Columbus Center developers, but it has no plans to replant trees with the project still up in the air.
Developers were not available for comment but their inactivity speaks volumes to some.
?They shouldn?t have taken the trees down until they knew [how the project would play out],? said Ned Flaherty, an urban planning activist who lives on nearby Clarendon Street.
Why not throw in for a few trees?
Gov. Deval Patrick?s administration may offer up to $30 million in financial support to help different developers begin a $450 million complex over the Mass Pike near Fenway Park, according to reports. The aid would help construction start on the 800,000 square foot Fenway Center as the Columbus Center project ? which was eyed hopefully as a catalyst in a construction boom over the Pike ? remains stalled.
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/08/21/02/5034-72/index.xml
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Columbus Center seesaw puts playground on hold[/size]
Boston Courant ? 21 August 2009
[size=+2]Columbus Center seesaw puts playground on hold[/size]
Boston Courant ? 21 August 2009
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]First phase of Columbus Center cleanup set for September completion[/size]
[size=+1]MTA says trees won?t be replaced on Cortes Street until
?decision has been made about the project?[/size]
South End News ? By Staff Writer Ashley Rigazio ? September 2, 2009
The Columbus Center site as of Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Photo: Ned Flaherty
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) is spending $100,000 to clean up the site of the delayed Columbus Center development, and officials expect the first phase of safety and aesthetic improvements to be complete by the end of the month. But, don?t expect to see trees lining Cortes Street quite yet.
?The cleanup work should be done in a few weeks,? MTA spokesperson Adam Hurtubise told the South End News. But, he added, ?We?re not going to be replacing the trees until a decision has been made about the project or the parcel.?
Hurtubise did not know when that decision would be made.
Construction on the project?which is largely owned by California investors and has several consultants attached to it?came to a halt in spring 2008, but debris and fencing still lingered, and damage to the area?s greenery, including the destruction of 24 mature trees on Cortes Street, was already done.
The MTA?s six-week cleanup effort aims to level the site, plant grass, and remove chain-link fencing and leftover construction materials. The $100,000 used to clean the area will be paid for upfront by the MTA, which hopes to recover the funds from developers in the future.
Both South End residents and politicians have become increasingly critical of the 14-year-old proposed development, but many are encouraged by the MTA cleanup under way.
Resident Ned Flaherty, a neighbor of the site, has been studying the Columbus Center development since its conception, accumulating 15,000 pages of public records on the complicated proposal.
?It?s nice that someone finally is starting to restore these seven acres,? said Flaherty. While encouraged by the MTA?s work, Flaherty noted that a majority of the restoration has yet to be assigned or scheduled and offered a less-than-enthusiastic prediction.
?The most likely outcome is that either the restoration will never finish, or else Massachusetts taxpayers will have to pay for California?s damage,? said Flaherty.
When contacted by South End News after the MTA said it would move forward with cleanup efforts two weeks ago, Carolyn Spicer, a spokesperson for the development team, had no comment. Efforts to reach the development team for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
On Tuesday, 3rd Suffolk State Representative Aaron Michlewitz gave the MTA credit for taking a first step toward addressing residents? safety and aesthetic concerns.
?I?m very happy the Turnpike has decided to step up to the plate and start some of the reconstruction of the area, especially along Cortes Street,? said Michlewitz, noting that cleanup at the site was one of his ?primary objectives? upon taking office in June.
?It?s a shame that it?s come to this and the developer hasn?t decided to move forward with the reconstruction of the area,? he continued. ?It?s been a blighted area. ? To be stuck in this limbo for such a long time has really been a strain on the community and the people who live around the area.?
Still, local politicians believe proper and timely development of the site can stimulate economic growth and generate tax revenues. Menino commented on the project following a campaign stop at Rosie?s Place on Monday.
?We?re trying to either get it moving or replace all the stuff that was there,? he said. ?We?ve got to get all the players together?the state, the city, the feds. This is a good economic opportunity for us.?
Menino said that the project could possibly be phased in and completed on a smaller scale than originally planned. He added that developers must ?take into consideration the folks who live there and what kind of effect it will have on their quality of life. That?s very important, because they?re coming into their neighborhood. ? There should be minimal obstruction.?
Michlewitz said his beleaguered constituents living in the area are just happy to see any progress. But, he stressed, this is just a first step toward making the Columbus Center site viable.
?My theory has always been that it?s time to start from square one on this development, and it?s time to look at other development to go in there,? said Michlewitz. ?While the community has spent lots of time and energy on this development, it is obviously going nowhere the way it stands right now.?
Things haven?t turned out quite as developers, neighbors, and local pols had hoped thus far at the Columbus Center site.
Photo: Ned Flaherty
http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=95890
[size=+2]First phase of Columbus Center cleanup set for September completion[/size]
[size=+1]MTA says trees won?t be replaced on Cortes Street until
?decision has been made about the project?[/size]
South End News ? By Staff Writer Ashley Rigazio ? September 2, 2009
The Columbus Center site as of Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Photo: Ned Flaherty
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) is spending $100,000 to clean up the site of the delayed Columbus Center development, and officials expect the first phase of safety and aesthetic improvements to be complete by the end of the month. But, don?t expect to see trees lining Cortes Street quite yet.
?The cleanup work should be done in a few weeks,? MTA spokesperson Adam Hurtubise told the South End News. But, he added, ?We?re not going to be replacing the trees until a decision has been made about the project or the parcel.?
Hurtubise did not know when that decision would be made.
Construction on the project?which is largely owned by California investors and has several consultants attached to it?came to a halt in spring 2008, but debris and fencing still lingered, and damage to the area?s greenery, including the destruction of 24 mature trees on Cortes Street, was already done.
The MTA?s six-week cleanup effort aims to level the site, plant grass, and remove chain-link fencing and leftover construction materials. The $100,000 used to clean the area will be paid for upfront by the MTA, which hopes to recover the funds from developers in the future.
Both South End residents and politicians have become increasingly critical of the 14-year-old proposed development, but many are encouraged by the MTA cleanup under way.
Resident Ned Flaherty, a neighbor of the site, has been studying the Columbus Center development since its conception, accumulating 15,000 pages of public records on the complicated proposal.
?It?s nice that someone finally is starting to restore these seven acres,? said Flaherty. While encouraged by the MTA?s work, Flaherty noted that a majority of the restoration has yet to be assigned or scheduled and offered a less-than-enthusiastic prediction.
?The most likely outcome is that either the restoration will never finish, or else Massachusetts taxpayers will have to pay for California?s damage,? said Flaherty.
When contacted by South End News after the MTA said it would move forward with cleanup efforts two weeks ago, Carolyn Spicer, a spokesperson for the development team, had no comment. Efforts to reach the development team for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
On Tuesday, 3rd Suffolk State Representative Aaron Michlewitz gave the MTA credit for taking a first step toward addressing residents? safety and aesthetic concerns.
?I?m very happy the Turnpike has decided to step up to the plate and start some of the reconstruction of the area, especially along Cortes Street,? said Michlewitz, noting that cleanup at the site was one of his ?primary objectives? upon taking office in June.
?It?s a shame that it?s come to this and the developer hasn?t decided to move forward with the reconstruction of the area,? he continued. ?It?s been a blighted area. ? To be stuck in this limbo for such a long time has really been a strain on the community and the people who live around the area.?
Still, local politicians believe proper and timely development of the site can stimulate economic growth and generate tax revenues. Menino commented on the project following a campaign stop at Rosie?s Place on Monday.
?We?re trying to either get it moving or replace all the stuff that was there,? he said. ?We?ve got to get all the players together?the state, the city, the feds. This is a good economic opportunity for us.?
Menino said that the project could possibly be phased in and completed on a smaller scale than originally planned. He added that developers must ?take into consideration the folks who live there and what kind of effect it will have on their quality of life. That?s very important, because they?re coming into their neighborhood. ? There should be minimal obstruction.?
Michlewitz said his beleaguered constituents living in the area are just happy to see any progress. But, he stressed, this is just a first step toward making the Columbus Center site viable.
?My theory has always been that it?s time to start from square one on this development, and it?s time to look at other development to go in there,? said Michlewitz. ?While the community has spent lots of time and energy on this development, it is obviously going nowhere the way it stands right now.?
Things haven?t turned out quite as developers, neighbors, and local pols had hoped thus far at the Columbus Center site.
Photo: Ned Flaherty
http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=95890
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]The Related Companies lose stalled project in foreign bank foreclosure[/size]
The Related Companies, the financial powerhouse enlisted by The Beal Companies to save Columbus Center over one year ago, has lost a 3.5-year-old project to a German bank, which is selling it at a foreclosure auction next month.
Related tried to start ?Commons at Prospect Hill,? a $500 million, 1.7-million s.f. mixed use project in Waltham at the same time that California tried to start ?Columbus Center,? an $850 million, 1.5-million s.f. mixed use project in Boston._ At both sites, nothing was ever built.
In August 2008, Related promised a Columbus Center Financial Viability Review to be published in October 2008._ Related extended its own deadline 3 times, first to November, then to December, then to April, and finally stopped taking inquiries about it altogether.
The loss of the 119-acre property will be costly, and that doesn?t bode well for Related?s stalled efforts to re-launch the 14-year-old Columbus Center proposal.
http://www.boston.com/business/arti...oid_project_in_waltham_not_dead_analysts_say/
[size=+2]The Related Companies lose stalled project in foreign bank foreclosure[/size]
The Related Companies, the financial powerhouse enlisted by The Beal Companies to save Columbus Center over one year ago, has lost a 3.5-year-old project to a German bank, which is selling it at a foreclosure auction next month.
Related tried to start ?Commons at Prospect Hill,? a $500 million, 1.7-million s.f. mixed use project in Waltham at the same time that California tried to start ?Columbus Center,? an $850 million, 1.5-million s.f. mixed use project in Boston._ At both sites, nothing was ever built.
In August 2008, Related promised a Columbus Center Financial Viability Review to be published in October 2008._ Related extended its own deadline 3 times, first to November, then to December, then to April, and finally stopped taking inquiries about it altogether.
The loss of the 119-acre property will be costly, and that doesn?t bode well for Related?s stalled efforts to re-launch the 14-year-old Columbus Center proposal.
http://www.boston.com/business/arti...oid_project_in_waltham_not_dead_analysts_say/
Re: Columbus Center
The article that you linked doesn't offer any information that supports your assertion that the foreclosure will be costly to Related. This is because there is no indication how much of an equity stake Related has in the partnership, and how much of that stake was paid for in cash.
The article that you linked doesn't offer any information that supports your assertion that the foreclosure will be costly to Related. This is because there is no indication how much of an equity stake Related has in the partnership, and how much of that stake was paid for in cash.
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Last piece of steel[/size]
South End News ❘ September 10, 2009 ❘ Page 15
This last piece of rusted steel foundation will be demolished by state equipment and crews in early September, on Turnpike Parcel 18 at Berkeley and Cortes Streets. The steel was installed in October 2007 for the proposed Columbus Center.
Photo: Ned Flaherty
http://www.mysouthend.com/
[size=+2]Last piece of steel[/size]
South End News ❘ September 10, 2009 ❘ Page 15
This last piece of rusted steel foundation will be demolished by state equipment and crews in early September, on Turnpike Parcel 18 at Berkeley and Cortes Streets. The steel was installed in October 2007 for the proposed Columbus Center.
Photo: Ned Flaherty
http://www.mysouthend.com/
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Visions and revisions[/size]
Boston Globe ? Casey Ross ? September 20, 2009
We asked designers to suggest ways to spruce up stalled building projects around the city. Practical and whimsical alike, the results are a far cry from Boston?s buttoned-down norm.
There is no telling when a building will rise again at the stalled Filene?s redevelopment, so the city?s architects are filling the void with a few ideas of their own: One is proposing to use the site for a makeshift movie theater, another envisions an exhibit for 1950s neon signs, and still another imagines a towering vertical garden to grow algae for alternative fuels.
The ideas are not restrained by considerations of practicality or cost, and they are not meant to be. They represent an effort to do something creative with a landscape marred by a prolonged slump in commercial building. At stalled work sites, architects and planners are seeking to create forums for artistic expression and experimentation, transforming weed-strewn lots into places where people could pause to enjoy intriguing urban scenery, or at least walk their dogs.
?The idea is to breathe new life into these projects at a time when people would really appreciate it,? said Shauna Gillies-Smith, a landscape architect who proposed a medicinal garden for an empty site in the Longwood Med ical Area. ?It?s about signaling a present and future commitment to the public realm.?
At the request of the Globe, Gillies-Smith and nearly 20 other architects and designers submitted proposals for enlivening idled sites across the city. The $700 million Filene?s redevelopment, because of its prominent location downtown, drew the most responses. But proposals were also produced for the $800 million Columbus Center development, Harvard University?s $1 billion science center in Allston, and a $300 million biotechnology laboratory at the corner of Longwood and Brookline avenues.
While some submissions are whimsical, others propose straightforward improvements such as basic lighting improvements or graphics to upgrade dull construction fencing. At Columbus Center, principals of Schweppie Lighting Design Inc. proposed covering a fence with panels that change color as people pass by. At Harvard, John Powell suggested covering the fence in a video screen with images of Allston?s past and renderings of how development could change it in the future.
The fixes range in cost from $300,000 to $1.2 million. Together, they urge developers and city officials to break from Boston?s insistence on the traditional and consider bold displays that are more common in cities such as Tokyo or New York. At the least, said Tim Love, a principal of design firm Utile Inc., developers have an obligation to see that stalled projects don?t become eyesores.
?Any landowner has a civic responsibility to make their property look attractive,?? Love said. ?If a homeowner has a weed-filled front yard or leaves trash out, they would face penalties in most municipalities.?
Other cities are adopting an array of solutions to the construction slump. In Miami, officials are renting idled sites from developers for $1 a year and making temporary parks of them. In Seattle, one developer of a stalled 15-story office building volunteered to build a fountain, benches, and landscaping, while another allowed local food vendors to set up at the proposed site of a hotel he hasn?t been able to build.
A New York City business association solicited proposals for art installations at four work sites. The installations include a large mural, a series of ink and graphite drawings on a construction barricade, and a covering for 400 feet of Jersey barriers emblazoned with flowers and other colorful images.
Boston officials are now mulling whether to install temporary dressings at several sites. The Boston Redevelopment Authority asked developer John B. Hynes III to cover the two half-demolished buildings on his Filene?s site with large screens. Hynes and city officials are considering whether to print graphics or other designs on the screens.
The BRA is also consulting with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority about restoring the land at the Columbus Center site. And it is collaborating with the Blackstone Group on a project to install permanent sculptures in and around the lobbies of several buildings the company is renovating downtown.
?There?s not a lack of ideas being batted around,?? said Kairos Shen, the BRA?s chief planner. ?The problem is, how do you implement them? The reason these installations seldom get off the ground is there is no money to pay for them.?
In most cases, the burden of paying for temporary installations falls on the developer. Builders already don?t have the money restart construction, so they are reluctant to find and spend as much as $1 million for aesthetic improvements.
?I?m not averse to landscaping and creating something unique, but by the time you take down the fencing and mobilize to do the work, we hopefully will be ready to proceed with our development,? said Tom Alperin, chief executive of National Development, which stopped construction last fall on the Longwood biotech lab.
The Globe received two proposals from urban designers for the Longwood site, one a landscaped park with a raised plaza and walkways across the property; and the proposal by Gillies-Smith for a medicinal garden with echinacea, begonias, and other plants intended to evoke the healing theme of the neighborhood.
Alperin said it would be too much work to accommodate either proposal in the time frame he?s working with. He said he hopes to resume construction within 18 months.
Some architects and designers urged the city to consider new regulations to help pay for art installations. Josh Barandon, chief executive of Squared Design LLC of Los Angeles, said the city should consider levying a penalty on developers who leave their sites dormant for prolonged periods.
?In our opinion, such a penalty is both logical and feasible, especially in light of the current situation at Downtown Crossing,? said Barandon, whose firm collaborated with Howeler + Yoon of Boston to create a vertical garden at Filene?s to grow algae for the production of alternative fuel.
Love, the principal of Utile, said the city could require developers to buy insurance that would pay for aesthetic improvements in case financial problems forced them to stop construction.
?If developers want to play in this city and take risks, one of the risks they have to mitigate is the chance that the economy might collapse between permitting and construction,? he said.
But advocates for the commercial building industry said putting more demands on developers will only stifle building that the city should be trying to stimulate. ?To financially penalize developers trying to hold onto their projects is ludicrous at a time like this,? said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate trade group. ?We have a unique circumstance in the financial markets. If you try to put in place regulations because of that, it could have unintended consequences for future growth.?
Hynes, the Filene?s developer, doesn?t know when he?ll be able to resume construction. In the meantime, as he prepares screens to protect the two buildings on the site this winter, Hynes said he is willing to consider incorporating art but is more focused on the functional than the fanciful.
?Priority one is to protect the structure of the buildings, and priority two is the aesthetics,? he said. ?We?re not predisposed to anything, but the hope for us is that whatever we end up doing, the emphasis is on temporary.?
http://www.boston.com/business/arti...ed_building_projects_around_boston/?page=full
[size=+2]Visions and revisions[/size]
Boston Globe ? Casey Ross ? September 20, 2009
We asked designers to suggest ways to spruce up stalled building projects around the city. Practical and whimsical alike, the results are a far cry from Boston?s buttoned-down norm.
There is no telling when a building will rise again at the stalled Filene?s redevelopment, so the city?s architects are filling the void with a few ideas of their own: One is proposing to use the site for a makeshift movie theater, another envisions an exhibit for 1950s neon signs, and still another imagines a towering vertical garden to grow algae for alternative fuels.
The ideas are not restrained by considerations of practicality or cost, and they are not meant to be. They represent an effort to do something creative with a landscape marred by a prolonged slump in commercial building. At stalled work sites, architects and planners are seeking to create forums for artistic expression and experimentation, transforming weed-strewn lots into places where people could pause to enjoy intriguing urban scenery, or at least walk their dogs.
?The idea is to breathe new life into these projects at a time when people would really appreciate it,? said Shauna Gillies-Smith, a landscape architect who proposed a medicinal garden for an empty site in the Longwood Med ical Area. ?It?s about signaling a present and future commitment to the public realm.?
At the request of the Globe, Gillies-Smith and nearly 20 other architects and designers submitted proposals for enlivening idled sites across the city. The $700 million Filene?s redevelopment, because of its prominent location downtown, drew the most responses. But proposals were also produced for the $800 million Columbus Center development, Harvard University?s $1 billion science center in Allston, and a $300 million biotechnology laboratory at the corner of Longwood and Brookline avenues.
While some submissions are whimsical, others propose straightforward improvements such as basic lighting improvements or graphics to upgrade dull construction fencing. At Columbus Center, principals of Schweppie Lighting Design Inc. proposed covering a fence with panels that change color as people pass by. At Harvard, John Powell suggested covering the fence in a video screen with images of Allston?s past and renderings of how development could change it in the future.
The fixes range in cost from $300,000 to $1.2 million. Together, they urge developers and city officials to break from Boston?s insistence on the traditional and consider bold displays that are more common in cities such as Tokyo or New York. At the least, said Tim Love, a principal of design firm Utile Inc., developers have an obligation to see that stalled projects don?t become eyesores.
?Any landowner has a civic responsibility to make their property look attractive,?? Love said. ?If a homeowner has a weed-filled front yard or leaves trash out, they would face penalties in most municipalities.?
Other cities are adopting an array of solutions to the construction slump. In Miami, officials are renting idled sites from developers for $1 a year and making temporary parks of them. In Seattle, one developer of a stalled 15-story office building volunteered to build a fountain, benches, and landscaping, while another allowed local food vendors to set up at the proposed site of a hotel he hasn?t been able to build.
A New York City business association solicited proposals for art installations at four work sites. The installations include a large mural, a series of ink and graphite drawings on a construction barricade, and a covering for 400 feet of Jersey barriers emblazoned with flowers and other colorful images.
Boston officials are now mulling whether to install temporary dressings at several sites. The Boston Redevelopment Authority asked developer John B. Hynes III to cover the two half-demolished buildings on his Filene?s site with large screens. Hynes and city officials are considering whether to print graphics or other designs on the screens.
The BRA is also consulting with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority about restoring the land at the Columbus Center site. And it is collaborating with the Blackstone Group on a project to install permanent sculptures in and around the lobbies of several buildings the company is renovating downtown.
?There?s not a lack of ideas being batted around,?? said Kairos Shen, the BRA?s chief planner. ?The problem is, how do you implement them? The reason these installations seldom get off the ground is there is no money to pay for them.?
In most cases, the burden of paying for temporary installations falls on the developer. Builders already don?t have the money restart construction, so they are reluctant to find and spend as much as $1 million for aesthetic improvements.
?I?m not averse to landscaping and creating something unique, but by the time you take down the fencing and mobilize to do the work, we hopefully will be ready to proceed with our development,? said Tom Alperin, chief executive of National Development, which stopped construction last fall on the Longwood biotech lab.
The Globe received two proposals from urban designers for the Longwood site, one a landscaped park with a raised plaza and walkways across the property; and the proposal by Gillies-Smith for a medicinal garden with echinacea, begonias, and other plants intended to evoke the healing theme of the neighborhood.
Alperin said it would be too much work to accommodate either proposal in the time frame he?s working with. He said he hopes to resume construction within 18 months.
Some architects and designers urged the city to consider new regulations to help pay for art installations. Josh Barandon, chief executive of Squared Design LLC of Los Angeles, said the city should consider levying a penalty on developers who leave their sites dormant for prolonged periods.
?In our opinion, such a penalty is both logical and feasible, especially in light of the current situation at Downtown Crossing,? said Barandon, whose firm collaborated with Howeler + Yoon of Boston to create a vertical garden at Filene?s to grow algae for the production of alternative fuel.
Love, the principal of Utile, said the city could require developers to buy insurance that would pay for aesthetic improvements in case financial problems forced them to stop construction.
?If developers want to play in this city and take risks, one of the risks they have to mitigate is the chance that the economy might collapse between permitting and construction,? he said.
But advocates for the commercial building industry said putting more demands on developers will only stifle building that the city should be trying to stimulate. ?To financially penalize developers trying to hold onto their projects is ludicrous at a time like this,? said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate trade group. ?We have a unique circumstance in the financial markets. If you try to put in place regulations because of that, it could have unintended consequences for future growth.?
Hynes, the Filene?s developer, doesn?t know when he?ll be able to resume construction. In the meantime, as he prepares screens to protect the two buildings on the site this winter, Hynes said he is willing to consider incorporating art but is more focused on the functional than the fanciful.
?Priority one is to protect the structure of the buildings, and priority two is the aesthetics,? he said. ?We?re not predisposed to anything, but the hope for us is that whatever we end up doing, the emphasis is on temporary.?
http://www.boston.com/business/arti...ed_building_projects_around_boston/?page=full
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Re-imagining Boston?s stalled projects[/size]
20 September 2009 ? by Casey Ross (Boston Globe) & Jesse Nunes (Boston.com)
Stalled site: Columbus Center
Location: Between Arlington and Clarendon streets over the Massachusetts Turnpike
Estimated cost: $800 million
Status: Construction was stopped more than a year ago as developers search for funds to resume the development. Meanwhile, the state has said it will pay to undo construction work at the site, which has been the subject of many neighborhood complaints.
Wendy Maeda / Globe staff photo
[size=+1]Columbus Center design #1[/size]
Architect: Chris Reed
Design firm: Stoss Landscape Urbanism
Reed proposes suspending an energy-producing public garden from latticework over the Massachusetts Turnpike at Columbus Center. The latticework supports a field of microturbines that harness wind created by passing vehicles; it also supports walkways connecting the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods.
[size=+1]Columbus Center design #2[/size]
Architect: D. Schweppe
Design firm: Schweppe Lighting Design Inc.
Schweppe proposes to install dichroic panels around the Columbus Center site that change color as people pass by. During the day, the panels change color and will change color as the different angles of sunlight interact with it. At night, solar powered lights will illuminate it from behind.
[size=+1]Columbus Center design #3[/size]
Architect: Simon Hare
Design firm: Placetailor Inc.
Hare proposes to cast a nylon canopy over Columbus Center, to reconnect the community with the construction site and its possibilities. The canopy, to be spread across the Massachusetts Turnpike work site, would be supported by metal poles and braces that would lift it 30 feet over the highway.
http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/holerenderings?pg=15
[size=+2]Re-imagining Boston?s stalled projects[/size]
20 September 2009 ? by Casey Ross (Boston Globe) & Jesse Nunes (Boston.com)
Stalled site: Columbus Center
Location: Between Arlington and Clarendon streets over the Massachusetts Turnpike
Estimated cost: $800 million
Status: Construction was stopped more than a year ago as developers search for funds to resume the development. Meanwhile, the state has said it will pay to undo construction work at the site, which has been the subject of many neighborhood complaints.
Wendy Maeda / Globe staff photo
[size=+1]Columbus Center design #1[/size]
Architect: Chris Reed
Design firm: Stoss Landscape Urbanism
Reed proposes suspending an energy-producing public garden from latticework over the Massachusetts Turnpike at Columbus Center. The latticework supports a field of microturbines that harness wind created by passing vehicles; it also supports walkways connecting the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods.
[size=+1]Columbus Center design #2[/size]
Architect: D. Schweppe
Design firm: Schweppe Lighting Design Inc.
Schweppe proposes to install dichroic panels around the Columbus Center site that change color as people pass by. During the day, the panels change color and will change color as the different angles of sunlight interact with it. At night, solar powered lights will illuminate it from behind.
[size=+1]Columbus Center design #3[/size]
Architect: Simon Hare
Design firm: Placetailor Inc.
Hare proposes to cast a nylon canopy over Columbus Center, to reconnect the community with the construction site and its possibilities. The canopy, to be spread across the Massachusetts Turnpike work site, would be supported by metal poles and braces that would lift it 30 feet over the highway.
http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/holerenderings?pg=15
Ned Flaherty
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+2]Columbus Center: No solution in sight for this swath of the South End[/size]
January 22, 2010 ? by Mary K. Pratt ? Special to the Boston Business Journal
Like many of the city?s other major projects in the pipeline, the Columbus Center plans got sidelined when the economy crashed and financing for big developments dried up.
WinnDevelopment, part of the Boston-based WinnCos., initially spearheaded the project. But Alan Eisner, WinnDevelopment spokesman and president of Regan Communications Group, said WinnDevelopment is now a ?significant but minor stakeholder? in the project.
That?s officially where it stands today.
?We?re waiting for the financial markets to improve,? Eisner said. He said all the parties are ?working with the city and state to come up with a financial plan to move the project forward.?
However, Eisner wasn?t able to give a time line for the project.
?It all depends on the financial markets, being able to get sufficient financing on terms that are conducive to moving the project forward. That?s the subject of ongoing negotiations with financial institutions,? he said.
Eisner said he couldn?t comment on whether the scope of the project will change, and referred questions to the other stakeholders, The Beal Cos. and MacFarlane Partners.
The Beal Cos. declined to comment, and a spokesman for MacFarlane Partners said the firm was no longer involved and referred questions to Stockbridge Real Estate Funds in San Francisco.
Stockbridge did not respond to questions.
According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the project is still on the books as it was approved in 2003. Any changes would have to be approved by not only the BRA but also the state?s Office of Transportation, which runs the Massachusetts Turnpike.
But at this point nothing new seems to be on the horizon.
?Unfortunately we?re stuck in a holding pattern right now,? said state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, the Democrat from the Third Suffolk District. Michlewitz said it?s too early to tell what this year might bring at the site, but he indicated it?s not looking good.
?Optimism is at an all-time low just because of the stagnant nature of this entire project,? he said. ?I think the time has come for us to either hold the developer to moving forward with the project or moving forward with the restoration.?
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/01/25/focus4.html
[size=+2]Columbus Center: No solution in sight for this swath of the South End[/size]
January 22, 2010 ? by Mary K. Pratt ? Special to the Boston Business Journal
Like many of the city?s other major projects in the pipeline, the Columbus Center plans got sidelined when the economy crashed and financing for big developments dried up.
WinnDevelopment, part of the Boston-based WinnCos., initially spearheaded the project. But Alan Eisner, WinnDevelopment spokesman and president of Regan Communications Group, said WinnDevelopment is now a ?significant but minor stakeholder? in the project.
That?s officially where it stands today.
?We?re waiting for the financial markets to improve,? Eisner said. He said all the parties are ?working with the city and state to come up with a financial plan to move the project forward.?
However, Eisner wasn?t able to give a time line for the project.
?It all depends on the financial markets, being able to get sufficient financing on terms that are conducive to moving the project forward. That?s the subject of ongoing negotiations with financial institutions,? he said.
Eisner said he couldn?t comment on whether the scope of the project will change, and referred questions to the other stakeholders, The Beal Cos. and MacFarlane Partners.
The Beal Cos. declined to comment, and a spokesman for MacFarlane Partners said the firm was no longer involved and referred questions to Stockbridge Real Estate Funds in San Francisco.
Stockbridge did not respond to questions.
According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the project is still on the books as it was approved in 2003. Any changes would have to be approved by not only the BRA but also the state?s Office of Transportation, which runs the Massachusetts Turnpike.
But at this point nothing new seems to be on the horizon.
?Unfortunately we?re stuck in a holding pattern right now,? said state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, the Democrat from the Third Suffolk District. Michlewitz said it?s too early to tell what this year might bring at the site, but he indicated it?s not looking good.
?Optimism is at an all-time low just because of the stagnant nature of this entire project,? he said. ?I think the time has come for us to either hold the developer to moving forward with the project or moving forward with the restoration.?
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/01/25/focus4.html
Ned Flaherty
Active Member
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Re: Columbus Center
[size=+1]Columbus Center plan on the ropes[/size]
One of the most ambitious development proposals in Boston history may be history.
[size=+2]Down to its last chance
Developers? delays and funding woes spur the state to serve notice on Columbus Center, the $800m complex planned to span the Pike[/size]
By Casey Ross ? Globe Staff ? February 10, 2010
The Columbus Center project, now abandoned, was to be built over part of the Massachusetts Turnpike. This is an overhead view from the parking garage on Clarendon Street. The massive development of shops, condos, and parks was planned for a platform near the Mass. Turnpike.
A rendering of the Columbus Center highlights the ambition of the plan. Some urge a smaller-scale complex.
Massachusetts transportation officials have begun severing ties with the developers of Columbus Center, the latest, and perhaps last, chapter in one of the most ambitious and controversial projects in Boston?s development history.
The state Department of Transportation yesterday told the project?s developers they are in default of their 99-year lease, after stalling on plans to build an $800 million complex above the Massachusetts Turnpike that would have united the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods.
The developers face termination of the lease not only because they have failed to complete construction, but because they have not properly maintained the property, said a top agency official. He asked that his name not be used because the default notice is not yet public.
Because of funding problems, the developers ? the WinnCompanies and the California state pension fund, known as Calpers ? stopped construction in April 2008 on the six-building complex of condominiums, hotel, stores, and parks on a massive deck over the highway. Since then, they have neither cleaned up nor secured the building site to the level the state has demanded, according to the transportation official with knowl edge of the situation.
The default notice initiates a 30-day period during which Winn and Calpers can devise a plan to begin construction. If they don?t, or the new plan isn?t satisfactory to state officials, they will lose their lease.
WinnCompanies, which initially won the development designation in 1997, did not return a phone call seeking comment. A spokesman for Calpers said officials are still evaluating prospects for the development and could not comment further.
The transportation official said the default notice is intended to either force Winn and Calpers forward or bring closure to a fitful 13-year process in which the developers had numerous false starts, and their relationship with neighbors grew increasingly contentious as the site remained fallow and unkempt.
?We stopped getting cooperation from the developers, and there was only so much the transportation department could do,? said state Representative Aaron Michlewitz, a Boston Democrat whose district includes much of the Columbus Center site. ?We need to go back to square one and see what other opportunities might be out there for this property.?
State transportation officials told the Globe they decided to send the default notice after the developers started clearing debris and doing other work last fall, but then abruptly stopped, without explanation.
The impasse prompted state lawmakers who represent the area to press the Patrick administration to terminate the development arrangement. The lawmakers met with Patrick officials in October and again recently to press their case.
?The neighbors have just been stuck in limbo for a really long time,?? said state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat whose district includes the construction site. ?It?s been delay upon delay, so I?m thrilled [the transportation department] is sending the default letter.?
If the state does end the lease with Winn and Calpers, officials said the transportation agency will first complete a cleanup of the construction lots along the highway near Columbus Avenue. It?s unclear how much that would cost or who would pay for it, since the now-defunct Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which originally leased the property, did not secure collateral from the developers for such situations.
Then officials will consider whether to solicit new proposals for the property, most of which is air rights over the turnpike between Arlington and Clarendon streets. However they cautioned that process will take time, in part because the market for large developments remains slow, and in particular because of the extreme cost of building the turnpike platform, which at one point was estimated to cost more than $200 million.
It was ultimately the grandiose scale of Columbus Center that made it so difficult to build. When first conceived in the late 1990s, the complex was estimated to cost $300 million. But as the developers encountered delays, inflation took its toll, and the cost of the massive deck in particular mounted.
With the price tag hitting the $800 million mark, Columbus Center lost a key funder, the Anglo Irish Bank, in late 2007, and never recovered. The Patrick administration also withdrew about $40 million in public funds for the project after private financing fell through.
While Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino remained a supporter of Columbus Center, a spokeswoman said the city supports the state?s move to reconsider plans for the property.
?Given the economic realities, it makes a lot of sense,?? said Boston Redevelopment Authority spokeswoman Susan Elsbree. ?It?s the right time to revisit this project.?
State Representative Martha Walz, whose district abuts the project, said any new public bidding process should require the developer to hew to guidelines established for the property in the 1990s. Those guidelines called for smaller-scale development than Columbus Center?s developers were allowed.
?They may get some very positive creative ideas,? Walz said.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/10/down_to_its_last_chance/#end
[size=+1]Columbus Center plan on the ropes[/size]
One of the most ambitious development proposals in Boston history may be history.
[size=+2]Down to its last chance
Developers? delays and funding woes spur the state to serve notice on Columbus Center, the $800m complex planned to span the Pike[/size]
By Casey Ross ? Globe Staff ? February 10, 2010
The Columbus Center project, now abandoned, was to be built over part of the Massachusetts Turnpike. This is an overhead view from the parking garage on Clarendon Street. The massive development of shops, condos, and parks was planned for a platform near the Mass. Turnpike.
A rendering of the Columbus Center highlights the ambition of the plan. Some urge a smaller-scale complex.
Massachusetts transportation officials have begun severing ties with the developers of Columbus Center, the latest, and perhaps last, chapter in one of the most ambitious and controversial projects in Boston?s development history.
The state Department of Transportation yesterday told the project?s developers they are in default of their 99-year lease, after stalling on plans to build an $800 million complex above the Massachusetts Turnpike that would have united the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods.
The developers face termination of the lease not only because they have failed to complete construction, but because they have not properly maintained the property, said a top agency official. He asked that his name not be used because the default notice is not yet public.
Because of funding problems, the developers ? the WinnCompanies and the California state pension fund, known as Calpers ? stopped construction in April 2008 on the six-building complex of condominiums, hotel, stores, and parks on a massive deck over the highway. Since then, they have neither cleaned up nor secured the building site to the level the state has demanded, according to the transportation official with knowl edge of the situation.
The default notice initiates a 30-day period during which Winn and Calpers can devise a plan to begin construction. If they don?t, or the new plan isn?t satisfactory to state officials, they will lose their lease.
WinnCompanies, which initially won the development designation in 1997, did not return a phone call seeking comment. A spokesman for Calpers said officials are still evaluating prospects for the development and could not comment further.
The transportation official said the default notice is intended to either force Winn and Calpers forward or bring closure to a fitful 13-year process in which the developers had numerous false starts, and their relationship with neighbors grew increasingly contentious as the site remained fallow and unkempt.
?We stopped getting cooperation from the developers, and there was only so much the transportation department could do,? said state Representative Aaron Michlewitz, a Boston Democrat whose district includes much of the Columbus Center site. ?We need to go back to square one and see what other opportunities might be out there for this property.?
State transportation officials told the Globe they decided to send the default notice after the developers started clearing debris and doing other work last fall, but then abruptly stopped, without explanation.
The impasse prompted state lawmakers who represent the area to press the Patrick administration to terminate the development arrangement. The lawmakers met with Patrick officials in October and again recently to press their case.
?The neighbors have just been stuck in limbo for a really long time,?? said state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat whose district includes the construction site. ?It?s been delay upon delay, so I?m thrilled [the transportation department] is sending the default letter.?
If the state does end the lease with Winn and Calpers, officials said the transportation agency will first complete a cleanup of the construction lots along the highway near Columbus Avenue. It?s unclear how much that would cost or who would pay for it, since the now-defunct Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which originally leased the property, did not secure collateral from the developers for such situations.
Then officials will consider whether to solicit new proposals for the property, most of which is air rights over the turnpike between Arlington and Clarendon streets. However they cautioned that process will take time, in part because the market for large developments remains slow, and in particular because of the extreme cost of building the turnpike platform, which at one point was estimated to cost more than $200 million.
It was ultimately the grandiose scale of Columbus Center that made it so difficult to build. When first conceived in the late 1990s, the complex was estimated to cost $300 million. But as the developers encountered delays, inflation took its toll, and the cost of the massive deck in particular mounted.
With the price tag hitting the $800 million mark, Columbus Center lost a key funder, the Anglo Irish Bank, in late 2007, and never recovered. The Patrick administration also withdrew about $40 million in public funds for the project after private financing fell through.
While Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino remained a supporter of Columbus Center, a spokeswoman said the city supports the state?s move to reconsider plans for the property.
?Given the economic realities, it makes a lot of sense,?? said Boston Redevelopment Authority spokeswoman Susan Elsbree. ?It?s the right time to revisit this project.?
State Representative Martha Walz, whose district abuts the project, said any new public bidding process should require the developer to hew to guidelines established for the property in the 1990s. Those guidelines called for smaller-scale development than Columbus Center?s developers were allowed.
?They may get some very positive creative ideas,? Walz said.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/10/down_to_its_last_chance/#end
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I'm bringing this thread back to life as an outlet for any CC related talk. Since it's in General that means anything goes. The original CC thread should have been put in General long ago but that is neither here nor there.
I'm saying this here and now: Ned, if you hijack this thread with your ridiculous lists I will delete every one of your posts (from this thread). This thread is the last chance I will give Columbus Center since I do think that a civilized discussion should take place.
This thread will be for NEWS ONLY. What I mean by this is that this thread will be ONLY news sources as an archive. I am going to go back and copy over every news article from the CC thread into here so it will be easy to sift through without having to deal with all the BS from the last thread.
I'm saying this here and now: Ned, if you hijack this thread with your ridiculous lists I will delete every one of your posts (from this thread). This thread is the last chance I will give Columbus Center since I do think that a civilized discussion should take place.
This thread will be for NEWS ONLY. What I mean by this is that this thread will be ONLY news sources as an archive. I am going to go back and copy over every news article from the CC thread into here so it will be easy to sift through without having to deal with all the BS from the last thread.
Ned Flaherty
Active Member
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[size=+2]State wants costs for cleaning up project over Pike[/size]
[size=+1]Lawsuits seen over Columbus Center[/size]
By Casey Ross ? Globe Staff ? February 11, 2010
compiled from: Boston Globe printed edition, Business Section, page B.9; Boston Globe Reader; Boston Globe web site; Boston.com web site
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation?s default notice to Columbus Center indicates the developers owe the state money, performed unauthorized construction work, and then failed to restore the site under orders by the state.
The eight-page notice sent Tuesday paints a picture of a project in disarray, with developers WinnCompanies of Boston and the California state pension fund ignoring bills from state officials as well as multiple entreaties to clean up the fallow construction site along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston. The state?s default notice is the first step in terminating the developers? lease and revoking their development rights after 13 years.
Several state lawmakers said yesterday they expect the state will have to sue the developers to recover its costs, which include fees for legal, engineering, and consulting work.
Winn and Calpers stopped construction in April 2008 after failing to line up funding to complete the $800 million project, which was supposed to be hundreds of condominiums, a hotel, stores, and parks on a deck above the highway between Arlington and Clarendon streets.
The notice gives the developers 30 days to devise a plan to move forward with construction that is acceptable to state officials, or else lose their lease. In all, the state told the developers they are in violation of 11 provisions of the lease, including failing to: make minimum investments in the project, secure all necessary permits, proceed with construction, and reimburse the state for costs.
At WinnCompanies, a spokesman said the firm is a minority investor and is not responsible for decisions related to restoration of the construction site and other matters. The spokesman, Alan Eisner, said however that WinnCompanies has ?continuously urged? Calpers ?to come to an amicable agreement with the city and state regarding cleanup.?
A Calpers spokesman yesterday said the pension fund, the lead partner on the project, could not comment.
Massachusetts officials say yesterday could not say how much the developers owe the state. The default notice indicated they intend to bill Calpers and Winn for the costs of the remaining cleanup, but officials have acknowledged they failed to secure the collateral to cover those costs.
The restoration costs could be significant. The default notice stated the developers did more work on the site than they were allowed to by commencing construction of a large deck that would have supported the proposed development over the turnpike. Their permits only allowed relocation of fiber-optic cables to prepare the site for heavy construction, the notice stated.
State lawmakers urged transportation officials to aggressively seek reimbursement.
?They should go after them hard,? said State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, whose Boston district includes much of the Columbus Center site. ?Given the economic situation we?re in, they should leave no stone unturned in trying to recoup those dollars.?
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/arli...ants_costs_for_cleaning_up_project_over_pike/
[size=+1]Lawsuits seen over Columbus Center[/size]
By Casey Ross ? Globe Staff ? February 11, 2010
compiled from: Boston Globe printed edition, Business Section, page B.9; Boston Globe Reader; Boston Globe web site; Boston.com web site
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation?s default notice to Columbus Center indicates the developers owe the state money, performed unauthorized construction work, and then failed to restore the site under orders by the state.
The eight-page notice sent Tuesday paints a picture of a project in disarray, with developers WinnCompanies of Boston and the California state pension fund ignoring bills from state officials as well as multiple entreaties to clean up the fallow construction site along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston. The state?s default notice is the first step in terminating the developers? lease and revoking their development rights after 13 years.
Several state lawmakers said yesterday they expect the state will have to sue the developers to recover its costs, which include fees for legal, engineering, and consulting work.
Winn and Calpers stopped construction in April 2008 after failing to line up funding to complete the $800 million project, which was supposed to be hundreds of condominiums, a hotel, stores, and parks on a deck above the highway between Arlington and Clarendon streets.
The notice gives the developers 30 days to devise a plan to move forward with construction that is acceptable to state officials, or else lose their lease. In all, the state told the developers they are in violation of 11 provisions of the lease, including failing to: make minimum investments in the project, secure all necessary permits, proceed with construction, and reimburse the state for costs.
At WinnCompanies, a spokesman said the firm is a minority investor and is not responsible for decisions related to restoration of the construction site and other matters. The spokesman, Alan Eisner, said however that WinnCompanies has ?continuously urged? Calpers ?to come to an amicable agreement with the city and state regarding cleanup.?
A Calpers spokesman yesterday said the pension fund, the lead partner on the project, could not comment.
Massachusetts officials say yesterday could not say how much the developers owe the state. The default notice indicated they intend to bill Calpers and Winn for the costs of the remaining cleanup, but officials have acknowledged they failed to secure the collateral to cover those costs.
The restoration costs could be significant. The default notice stated the developers did more work on the site than they were allowed to by commencing construction of a large deck that would have supported the proposed development over the turnpike. Their permits only allowed relocation of fiber-optic cables to prepare the site for heavy construction, the notice stated.
State lawmakers urged transportation officials to aggressively seek reimbursement.
?They should go after them hard,? said State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, whose Boston district includes much of the Columbus Center site. ?Given the economic situation we?re in, they should leave no stone unturned in trying to recoup those dollars.?
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/arli...ants_costs_for_cleaning_up_project_over_pike/
Ned Flaherty
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- Aug 25, 2007
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[size=+2]Nearing its end: What now for the Columbus Center site?[/size]
[size=+1]Officials believe a state-led clean-up is likely[/size]
by Tripp Underwood ? Wednesday Feb 17, 2010
Much like construction on the site, the Columbus Center website is no longer active. (Source: Tripp Underwood)
The ill-fated Columbus Center, a proposed six-building, $800-million-plus complex that would contain condos, a hotel, business offices, and retail shops in air space above the Mass Pike between Back Bay and the South End, may never be built-which may not surprise many after years of delays.
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Massachusetts transportation officials told Columbus Center developers they are in default of their 99-year lease of the property for a number of violations, including failing to complete proposed building projects on time and maintain the construction sites to Department of Transportation standards.
Work on the long troubled development has been sparse since its inception 14 years ago, but there has been no official activity on the property since last fall when clean up of the area stopped abruptly.
Two of the lease-holders on the land slated for the project, Boston-based WinnCompanies and the California state pension fund known as CalPERS, have been given a month to present a plan to state officials that indicates they have a scheduled timeline to restart construction on the project. Failure to do so will result in a termination of their lease on the property.
Though foreclosure of the lease would likely be a fatal blow for the Columbus Center in its current from, it would be just one of many problems the ambitious project has endured over the years.
WinnCompanies first won designation rights for the project in 1996, then spent ten years expanding plans and submitting building proposals to city and state officials, all while looking for investors to help fund the project.
In 2006 CalPERS joined WinnCompanies as developers of the Columbus Center, and by October of 2007 construction on the center?s main deck-essentially a tunnel built under a foundation that would support the buildings as they towered above the Mass Pike-began.
Construction on the deck continued on and off for months, until it abruptly stopped for good in March of 2008. Ned Flaherty, a South Ender for the past 19 years who has closely followed the Columbus Center development since the beginning, believes the very visible construction work that took place during this time was little more than a ploy to attract investors, specifically those who might have been discouraged by the project?s slow development.
?With no owner funds, no government subsidies, and no bank loans, Winn?s managers spent $5 million of their own money each month, just to create an illusion of progress that might keep investors from bailing out, and keep bankers from refusing loans,? said Flaherty from his Clarendon Street home, directly across from one of the Columbus Center?s fallow construction sites. ?After only six months, the managers were broke, they hadn?t fooled any bankers or investors, the laborers left for good, the rented equipment was returned, and the site fell silent.?
MassDOT officials declined to speculate on the theory, noting that the agency?s grievances with developers were stated in the default letter. Neither WinnCompanies nor CalPERS returned phone calls from South End News.
Regardless of the construction?s legitimacy, the work done in that five-month period was never approved by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and therefore was a direct violation of the Columbus Center?s lease.
According to the eight-page notice of default that MassDOT mailed to WinnCompanies and CalPERS on Feb. 9, developers had only received the necessary permits to move fiber optic cables in the area surrounding the Columbus Center?s construction sites and the tenants had ?exceeded the scope of the Work Permit by beginning preconstruction activities with respect to the deck.?
But unapproved construction wasn?t the Columbus Center?s only concern-the project?s growing budget and lack of progress and investors posed problems as well.
According to a 2006 grant application letter, the Anglo Irish Bank, a company that initially considered investing in the center, walked away from the deal after developers failed to submit a plan that met a series of prerequisites set by the bank.
Afterward, Governor Deval Patrick?s administration withdrew millions in public funding once it became clear the center lacked substantial private financial support.
Adding to the development?s fiscal woes, 2007 media reports cited the Columbus Center?s proposed cost at over $800 million, nearly $300 millions dollars more than initial estimates.
Flaherty said he believed that the project?s skyrocketing costs and a lack of physical progress may have scared off would-be investors whose added funds could have sped up production.
?In 2001 the proposed cost was $300 million, but by 2010 that grew to $850 million, plus a taxpayer bail-out via lots of public subsidies that have been rescinded,? he said. ?CalPERS is one of the biggest real estate developers in the world. If they couldn?t solve all these problems and muscle their own pipe dream into reality, then any smaller investor would be foolish to even try.?
Unfortunately for many local residents, while the project wallowed in financial limbo, sections of the city that had been uprooted during the initial building were left unattended, creating three dilapidated construction sites in the South End neighborhoods that lined the turnpike.
For nearly three years those who live along the proposed building areas have been subjected to construction eyesores such as haphazardly arranged wire fences, cement Jersey barriers, and various debris and litter strewn across the sites.
Third Suffolk State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, whose district includes the South End portion of the development area, said the conditions created by the seemingly abandoned Columbus Center project are as ugly as they are dangerous.
?It doesn?t seem to be safe right now and visually it creates an element of disaster in the area,? said Michlewitz. ?The people that live right along the construction have to deal with looking at this on a day-to-day basis, and they?re the ones who have to face the issue of potential danger created by the disarray.?
Even if the state does repossess the air space it originally leased to Columbus Center developers, the fate of the area remains unknown.
Second Suffolk State Senator Sonia Chang-D?az, whose district includes the proposed Columbus Center sites, said building in the air space above the Pike could raise a lot of revenue in both income and property taxes, as well as create jobs for the Commonwealth, but believes that it should be done without passing the expenses onto taxpayers through government assistance or subsidies.
?We should look at economic opportunities that have the potential to benefit the city, but I have always been a skeptic of using tax dollars to subsidize a for-profit development there,? said Chang-D?az. ?In the case of the Columbus Center, I don?t think it was good use of taxpayer money.?
Before the state entertains any ideas for future developments in the area above the turnpike, both Chang-D?az and Michlewitz said they feel neighborhoods that were uprooted by the construction should be returned to their former condition.
?The first step is to get the area looking like it did before the developers moved in,? said Michlewitz. ?After that, I?ve always been supportive of building in that area above the Mass Pike, but it needs to be a project that is sustainable and viable. It?s obvious that Columbus Center wasn?t.?
While both officials agree that restoring South End neighborhoods to their previous state is a priority, who will pay for the clean-up remains unclear. The Massachusetts Turnpike Agency, which originally leased the property, failed to make a contingency plan with developers in the event the project shut down before completion.
Peter O?Connor, Director of the Office of Real Estate and Asset Development at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, said while possible, it?s unlikely Columbus Center developers will begin to clean up anytime soon. In the meantime, O?Connor said it?s likely that the publicly funded MassDOT will foot the bill for the restoration upfront, then, if necessary, use legal action to force Columbus Center developers to reimburse the state for the work.
Chang-D?az said the cost of the clean-up should be the sole responsibility of Columbus Center developers, but supports MassDOT doing work in the interim because legally forcing the developers to act could take months.
?It seems like the fair thing to do for residents who are neighbors to the site and have been in limbo for years,? the senator said. ?They?ve had to deal with the loss of trees, and unsafe, unclean sites for so long, I think [an immediate MassDOT clean-up] is the fair thing to do.?
http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=102437
[size=+1]Officials believe a state-led clean-up is likely[/size]
by Tripp Underwood ? Wednesday Feb 17, 2010
Much like construction on the site, the Columbus Center website is no longer active. (Source: Tripp Underwood)
The ill-fated Columbus Center, a proposed six-building, $800-million-plus complex that would contain condos, a hotel, business offices, and retail shops in air space above the Mass Pike between Back Bay and the South End, may never be built-which may not surprise many after years of delays.
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Massachusetts transportation officials told Columbus Center developers they are in default of their 99-year lease of the property for a number of violations, including failing to complete proposed building projects on time and maintain the construction sites to Department of Transportation standards.
Work on the long troubled development has been sparse since its inception 14 years ago, but there has been no official activity on the property since last fall when clean up of the area stopped abruptly.
Two of the lease-holders on the land slated for the project, Boston-based WinnCompanies and the California state pension fund known as CalPERS, have been given a month to present a plan to state officials that indicates they have a scheduled timeline to restart construction on the project. Failure to do so will result in a termination of their lease on the property.
Though foreclosure of the lease would likely be a fatal blow for the Columbus Center in its current from, it would be just one of many problems the ambitious project has endured over the years.
WinnCompanies first won designation rights for the project in 1996, then spent ten years expanding plans and submitting building proposals to city and state officials, all while looking for investors to help fund the project.
In 2006 CalPERS joined WinnCompanies as developers of the Columbus Center, and by October of 2007 construction on the center?s main deck-essentially a tunnel built under a foundation that would support the buildings as they towered above the Mass Pike-began.
Construction on the deck continued on and off for months, until it abruptly stopped for good in March of 2008. Ned Flaherty, a South Ender for the past 19 years who has closely followed the Columbus Center development since the beginning, believes the very visible construction work that took place during this time was little more than a ploy to attract investors, specifically those who might have been discouraged by the project?s slow development.
?With no owner funds, no government subsidies, and no bank loans, Winn?s managers spent $5 million of their own money each month, just to create an illusion of progress that might keep investors from bailing out, and keep bankers from refusing loans,? said Flaherty from his Clarendon Street home, directly across from one of the Columbus Center?s fallow construction sites. ?After only six months, the managers were broke, they hadn?t fooled any bankers or investors, the laborers left for good, the rented equipment was returned, and the site fell silent.?
MassDOT officials declined to speculate on the theory, noting that the agency?s grievances with developers were stated in the default letter. Neither WinnCompanies nor CalPERS returned phone calls from South End News.
Regardless of the construction?s legitimacy, the work done in that five-month period was never approved by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and therefore was a direct violation of the Columbus Center?s lease.
According to the eight-page notice of default that MassDOT mailed to WinnCompanies and CalPERS on Feb. 9, developers had only received the necessary permits to move fiber optic cables in the area surrounding the Columbus Center?s construction sites and the tenants had ?exceeded the scope of the Work Permit by beginning preconstruction activities with respect to the deck.?
But unapproved construction wasn?t the Columbus Center?s only concern-the project?s growing budget and lack of progress and investors posed problems as well.
According to a 2006 grant application letter, the Anglo Irish Bank, a company that initially considered investing in the center, walked away from the deal after developers failed to submit a plan that met a series of prerequisites set by the bank.
Afterward, Governor Deval Patrick?s administration withdrew millions in public funding once it became clear the center lacked substantial private financial support.
Adding to the development?s fiscal woes, 2007 media reports cited the Columbus Center?s proposed cost at over $800 million, nearly $300 millions dollars more than initial estimates.
Flaherty said he believed that the project?s skyrocketing costs and a lack of physical progress may have scared off would-be investors whose added funds could have sped up production.
?In 2001 the proposed cost was $300 million, but by 2010 that grew to $850 million, plus a taxpayer bail-out via lots of public subsidies that have been rescinded,? he said. ?CalPERS is one of the biggest real estate developers in the world. If they couldn?t solve all these problems and muscle their own pipe dream into reality, then any smaller investor would be foolish to even try.?
Unfortunately for many local residents, while the project wallowed in financial limbo, sections of the city that had been uprooted during the initial building were left unattended, creating three dilapidated construction sites in the South End neighborhoods that lined the turnpike.
For nearly three years those who live along the proposed building areas have been subjected to construction eyesores such as haphazardly arranged wire fences, cement Jersey barriers, and various debris and litter strewn across the sites.
Third Suffolk State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, whose district includes the South End portion of the development area, said the conditions created by the seemingly abandoned Columbus Center project are as ugly as they are dangerous.
?It doesn?t seem to be safe right now and visually it creates an element of disaster in the area,? said Michlewitz. ?The people that live right along the construction have to deal with looking at this on a day-to-day basis, and they?re the ones who have to face the issue of potential danger created by the disarray.?
Even if the state does repossess the air space it originally leased to Columbus Center developers, the fate of the area remains unknown.
Second Suffolk State Senator Sonia Chang-D?az, whose district includes the proposed Columbus Center sites, said building in the air space above the Pike could raise a lot of revenue in both income and property taxes, as well as create jobs for the Commonwealth, but believes that it should be done without passing the expenses onto taxpayers through government assistance or subsidies.
?We should look at economic opportunities that have the potential to benefit the city, but I have always been a skeptic of using tax dollars to subsidize a for-profit development there,? said Chang-D?az. ?In the case of the Columbus Center, I don?t think it was good use of taxpayer money.?
Before the state entertains any ideas for future developments in the area above the turnpike, both Chang-D?az and Michlewitz said they feel neighborhoods that were uprooted by the construction should be returned to their former condition.
?The first step is to get the area looking like it did before the developers moved in,? said Michlewitz. ?After that, I?ve always been supportive of building in that area above the Mass Pike, but it needs to be a project that is sustainable and viable. It?s obvious that Columbus Center wasn?t.?
While both officials agree that restoring South End neighborhoods to their previous state is a priority, who will pay for the clean-up remains unclear. The Massachusetts Turnpike Agency, which originally leased the property, failed to make a contingency plan with developers in the event the project shut down before completion.
Peter O?Connor, Director of the Office of Real Estate and Asset Development at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, said while possible, it?s unlikely Columbus Center developers will begin to clean up anytime soon. In the meantime, O?Connor said it?s likely that the publicly funded MassDOT will foot the bill for the restoration upfront, then, if necessary, use legal action to force Columbus Center developers to reimburse the state for the work.
Chang-D?az said the cost of the clean-up should be the sole responsibility of Columbus Center developers, but supports MassDOT doing work in the interim because legally forcing the developers to act could take months.
?It seems like the fair thing to do for residents who are neighbors to the site and have been in limbo for years,? the senator said. ?They?ve had to deal with the loss of trees, and unsafe, unclean sites for so long, I think [an immediate MassDOT clean-up] is the fair thing to do.?
http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=102437
Ned Flaherty
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2007
- Messages
- 486
- Reaction score
- 0
[size=+2]South End News ? 25 February 2010 ? printed edition, page 6[/size]
