I can honestly say that the BRA does not know what they are doing.
http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1277045&srvc=business&position=2
Next-generation Greenway
Proposals would alter look, feel
By Thomas Grillo
Thursday, August 26, 2010 - Updated 11 hours ago
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E-mail Print (0) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!Editor?s note: As the economy improves, Boston developers have their sights set on massive new projects. In this series, the Herald examines plans for the city?s New Frontiers.
It?s been a long, expensive trip from freeway to Greenway, but Hub developers and residents are looking forward to reaping the benefits of putting the Central Artery underground.
Built in the 1950s as the nation?s love affair with the automobile was accelerating, the Central Artery was the dream of traffic planners to build an elevated highway through the city.
But the dream quickly soured. After more than 20,000 residents were displaced and 1,000 buildings demolished to build the city?s other Green Monster, it quickly became one of the nation?s most congested highways.
Today, the Artery is just a bad memory and the road was reborn beneath the city after taxpayers spent billions on the 3.5-mile Big Dig tunnel. In the aftermath of the the nation?s most expensive highway project, more than 10 acres of green space has been created where the highway once stood along a 1.5-mile stretch, now known as the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority recently issued development guidelines for the Greenway from the North End to Chinatown that allow construction heights from 55 feet at the Bulfinch Triangle to 600 feet in the Financial District.
?Creation of the Greenway changed the face of the city,? said Ronald Druker, who owns buildings on Kingston Street near Chinatown. ?But successful open spaces need edges. If you look at Rockefeller Center, Central Park and Piazza San Marco (in Venice), all of the world?s great urban spaces have buildings at the edges.?
Kairos Shen, the city?s chief planner, said the linear park will encourage up to three million square feet of office, residential and retail development.
?All of these critical parcels define Boston?s DNA and the city?s image and ... will impact the character of the downtown?s future,? he said.
The city identified 19 parcels of land on the Greenway as key to this New Frontier, including several where proposals have already been floated, such as the Government Center Garage, the Boston Harbor Garage, the Hook lobster site, several vacant lots near the TD Garden and the Dainty Dot building near Chinatown.
Perhaps the most controversial project proposed for the Greenway is Donald Chiofaro?s $1 billion development that would replace the seven-story Harbor Garage with a 40-story office tower and a 59-story residential building with retail shops, a 350-room hotel and condos. But the plan has faced harsh criticism from Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who insists the project is too tall and would destroy views of the harbor from downtown.
The Greenway guidelines limit the height of any project at the garage site to 200 feet, or about 20 stories. Chiofaro says a building at that height is not economically viable. This fall, he plans to offer a compromise to keep a $1 billion waterfront project afloat with a shorter building. Still, it?s unclear whether a building of any size can get city approval given the ongoing conflict between Menino and Chiofaro.
Developer Ori Ron purchased the Dainty Dot building on Kingston Street in 2006 for $9 million with plans to convert the former manufacturing plant into 200 luxury condominiums. But given the glut of high-end downtown condos that are going unsold, Ron said he plans to do a mix of condos and apartments in the 26-story building. He expects to break ground next summer.
?The Greenway is a challenging location, but it presents lots of opportunities,? he said. ?We believe our project will activate the edges of the Greenway without interfering with it.?
The Raymond Property Co. filed a $2.3 billion plan in early 2009 to demolish the 11-story Government Center Garage and replace it with two skyscrapers. But the project stalled over a series of disagreements with City Hall and neighborhood residents. Raymond was replaced by Thomas O?Brien, who once ran the BRA. O?Brien has been trying to lease the office space above the garage and recently landed a state agency. A source said O?Brien plans to scale back the project. O?Brien did not return a call seeking comment.
The Hook lobster location at Atlantic and Northern avenues has a height limit of 175 feet, which could make it difficult to get anything built on the tiny parcel. The Beal Co. has an option to purchase the site and has had discussions with the BRA about construction of offices or residential use, sources said.
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation selected Boston-based Trinity Financial to build a supermarket and up to 275 units of luxury housing on Canal Street along the Greenway. Construction on the 12-story, $150 million project could begin next summer.
Robert A. Brown, a principal at CBT, a Boston-based architectural firm, said many of the parcels are so small that developers won?t be able to build the simple square boxes that are efficient but don?t offer unusual designs. ?Because these are not square sites, very beautiful buildings could be created,? he said. ?All of sudden you have the fabulous Greenway sitting there vs. the back end of the Green Monster.?
