Quincy Center Redevelopment

Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Why would anyone spend a billion dollars in downtown Quincy?

Just a bunch of ol' parking lots.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

because us folks in Dorchester like to shop and eat there cause there's nothing in Dorchester
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

^ Dorchester is Boston's largest and most populous community.

As of 2000 the population of Dorchester was 92,115. --Wiki

Quincy: Its estimated population in 2008 was 92,339 --Wiki

And yet:

Boston02124 said:
...us folks in Dorchester like to shop and eat there [Quincy] cause there's nothing in Dorchester
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What gives? More unintended effects of Boston zoning?

Is that why there's nothing in Dorchester?
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

There's tons of places to eat in Dorchester. Shopping wise, you can find the usual crap in South Bay that you can fnd anywhere else, but if you want yuppie boutiques and stuff like that, then no.
ablarc said:
Why would anyone spend a billion dollars in downtown Quincy?
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So that one day it won't be a bunch of parking lots? Isn't that the whole point?
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Why would people in Dorchester shop and eat in Quincy as opposed to downtown Boston? Something's wrong there.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

IT being the LOW LOW prix and the Much free and ez PARKINg. Marine Bay is Nansukit for DOT peeples. AND. MUCH MUCH Chinese and Indian peeples with these markets and the EATING places!!! With Hey Man Marketplace for your nockoff PRADA and Vuiton baggeries for bighare girlfiends.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

^Yup, basically.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

I lived in Dorchester for 7 years and I didn't regularly go to Quincy for anything.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

^ Different strokes for different folks, obviously.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

The Billion has to be Taxpayers money. Nobody in their right mind would invest a Billion dollars in hardearned private money in Downtown Quincy. I actually like the area but this is absurbed.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

^ Would you rather see a billion dollar DOT redevelopment? Quincy in big enough, close enough to the city, and has quite a bit more potential in my opinion. The infrastructure is already in place, it just needs to be adjusted to stimulate the area.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

We'll why not let private industry decide where they want to invest their money. Our politicians are on thin ice they are becoming private developers with people's tax money.

I don't live in quincy nor do any business their so why not invest 1 billion dollars in tax money in my neighborhood.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Good point.

I feel like someone would argue the other way.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Officials hash out the future of downtown Quincy
By Jack Encarnacao
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Feb 22, 2010 @ 11:59 AM
Last update Feb 22, 2010 @ 12:46 PM

QUINCY ?

As a team of legal, financial and planning experts hashes out an agreement between Quincy and developer Street-Works that will govern the $1 billion downtown redevelopment, officials are trying to keep the larger picture in focus.

?We have a selfish purpose: We want to revitalize the downtown. (Street-Works) has a selfish purpose: They want to make money,? said Dennis Harrington, Quincy?s planning director. ?We trust them, but we have to verify everything that they say they can do and will do.?

The city plans to borrow $250 million to upgrade downtown infrastructure including utilities, sidewalks and parking.

Under the proposed arrangement, Street-Works would do the infrastructure work and be paid back by the city bond, but only if the redevelopment is producing enough new tax revenue to cover the city?s annual bond payments.

Which conditions Street-Works needs to meet before it can receive the money is a big part of what is being negotiated.

The key people representing the city in negotiations ? Harrington, lawyers Thomas Kiley and Robert Fishman, architect James Edwards and Mayor Thomas Koch ? recently sat down with The Patriot Ledger to discuss the negotiations, which are expected to be completed by summer.

QUESTION: What has the city already committed to with Street-Works and what are some of the bigger subjects that will be negotiated under the Land Disposition Agreement?

ROBERT FISHMAN: The document the city has signed laid out ... really basic issues like: based on an appraisal, what the city would sell their two parcels ? the (Ross) garage and the Hancock Lot ? for, what the deposits would be. Those kind of really basic terms that you would put even in an offer to buy a house.

We?re going to set specific dates (in the Land Disposition Agreement) by which certain steps need to be accomplished ... negotiating what those obligations are, that level of detail. Things like: If construction starts, how long does the developer have to complete the project? What if they don?t? Who?s building what, what exactly is it, who gets to approve it, by when? What if they want to bring in an investor; what kind of approval rights do we have over that?

QUESTION: What?s in it for Street-Works?

DENNIS HARRINGTON: They get exclusive development rights in the majority of the downtown, and a guarantee of permitting if they comply with the guidelines that we?ve set up. They want to know that they can move quickly, to go into the ground when they?re ready to go into the ground. They don?t want to be talking about it for five years.

We have offered them exactly what developers want, and what they?ve offered us is a plan to have $1 billion in private investment in the downtown paid for by the development itself, not by the homeowners of the city of Quincy. That?s the premise of the deal.

QUESTION: If the entire vision for the downtown isn?t realized, what will the city be left with?

FISHMAN: There will be plans that (Street-Works) is preparing on their nickel rather than ours that will help advance the planning for the downtown. In the event they don?t proceed, that?s of value for the next developer to come along. It?s not that there?s a huge amount of money that comes to the city... (What Street-Works is doing would) otherwise be done by the city?s engineering department or outside consultants ... at our expense.

HARRINGTON: Without performance, the surrender of some cash deposit wouldn?t mean much if everyone was sitting around for two or three years expecting the development and they got nothing. So we want to make sure that we have product, very valuable product, and it?s paid for.

QUESTION: We know Street-Works has development options on some Quincy Center properties. Have any retailers or tenants committed to coming?

MAYOR THOMAS KOCH: Street-Works has been to a number of national conventions, and their focal point has been Quincy. Their expertise is talking with retailers, and I think the answer is there is interest in Quincy. I don?t think there?s been a deal made that I?m aware of, between Street-Works and a retailer...

They obviously have an interest in a good mix of both mom-and-pop-type, mid-range-type, your big-box-type (retailers), so we have a great range.

The feeling of Street-Works is you build out top-quality retail space as you?re discussing it so that it can be used. In the retail area, we see changes quickly. (Retailers) may use very similar square footage, but the names of the companies change, the fads change. Who knows in two or three years if certain retailers are still going to be in business?

FISHMAN: We fully expect, and Street-Works has indicated, that they will at some point bring in other co-developers or investors. This is far too large a project for any one company to do. They will ask us for as much flexibility as possible to respond to the market and financing conditions. Our job is to give them enough flexibility that they succeed ? because it?s in no one?s interest that they fail ? but not so much flexibility that we?re not ultimately in control of what happens to our own city.

QUESTION: Might Street-Works at some point own most or all of the land in the Quincy Center redevelopment district?

HARRINGTON: If there are building owners in the square that do not choose to sell, they?re going to remain where they are in their own building. But if someone has optioned their land, and many have, to Street-Works, Street-Works will control that. Street-Works will never own all of Quincy Center. Anyone who chooses to remain an owner will stay an owner. There?s no eminent domain involved.

QUESTION: The deal calls for Street-Works to pay for infrastructure upgrades ? utilities, sidewalks, streets, garages, water and sewer ? and then sell it back to the city. How does the city plan to pay for it?

FISHMAN: Think about two income streams (when the project is) completed. We would get revenues from parking in these new public garages that eventually we own, and we get taxes from the new development.

The garage, once it?s completed, we don?t have to buy it unless there?s enough income coming to us from those two income streams to pay the bond payments. We float a bond to buy the garage, but we don?t have to do that unless we?re satisfied (the income is) sufficient.

THOMAS KILEY: The instructions that the negotiation team has had from the mayor is: it isn?t enough that we just cover (bond payments). There?s got to be a positive on the other side. That is something we?ve been negotiating for ... a net positive gain in terms of revenues to the city.

QUESTION: Is there a way ? based on the zoning in place and talks with Street-Works ? to visualize what the new downtown will look like?

JAMES EDWARDS: As I see it right now, we?ve got three tall structures being considered in the 15-to-20-story range. That?s what the city zoning guidelines permit at this point, but how do those get spaced around the site, and what is the impact on adjacent structures?

We want to guard against homogeneity, we want to guard against cookie-cutter architecture. We want to make sure that the blend of open spaces and built structures is appropriate. We want a good scale of buildings. We don?t want large 20-, 17-story buildings beside three-story buildings. We want the open spaces to have great texture.

We heard one of the developers last time we were down (at Street-Works? offices) say: ?We see granite columns. Now if granite columns aren?t Quincy, what is?? Well, that?s a dramatic oversimplification of what architecture is all about. But we want strong materials. We want strong forms.

Reach Jack Encarnacao at jencarnacao@ledger.com.
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http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x1487805361/Officials-hash-out-the-future-of-downtown-Quincy
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Good news for the sidewalk paving contractors. The rest is dreamland.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Is this a shopping center? (And if not, why is it called Galleria?)
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

It's an office building with retail on the first floor. Tear it down? Yea that's a great idea. What's going to replace it in this economy? The armchair bandit strikes again.

The 'Adams Green' is a great idea, give the Quincy T rats more space to hang out in. Joke.
 
Re: $1 billion development proposed to reshape downtown Quincy

Suffolk 83 said:
What's going to replace it in this economy? The armchair bandit strikes again.
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Guilty as charged. At the least they could remodel the first couple floors to make it more streetscape friendly.
 
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