Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

Lawyers, lawyers, lawyers.

Waltham’s Crosspoint Associates, majority owner of 10 adjacent Thomson Place and Farnsworth Street buildings until last month, sued BGI in September, claiming it had an easement through Block J, where the hotel is to be built as part of BGI’s $3.5 billion, 23-acre Seaport Square development.

“What they didn’t factor into this frivolous claim was the same easement ran through Block H, which is where the chapel (park and office building) is going,” BGI CEO John Hynes said.

A judge dismissed the case in November, but Crosspoint is appealing. A Suffolk Superior Court hearing is set for next week.

Construction of the 5,000-square-foot chapel, 1-acre park and four-story office building was set to start last December, while the 300-room Yotel hotel was to start this month. All projects remain on hold pending the appeal.
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http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2015/05/suit_halts_seaport_square
 
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Parcels H, J, and L2 will break ground sometime this summer.
 
Early this morning, I was happy to see that this parcel was getting developed. Then I came back to see this.

Excuse me for a moment, I have something in my eye.
 
The pedestrian spaces in the SBW should really be greatly improved in the next couple years based on the projects currently going up/in final design phases: Seaport Square park, Harborwalk park by Fan Pier, pedestrian area between Parcel A and Barking Crab, outdoor pedestrian-only retail space between Parcel B and C, and now this guy at L2 should mean that the pedestrian-only arcade between L1 and L2 gets under way shortly. I think that that collective activation of small, car-free spaces alone will really improve the entire feel of the neighborhood.
 
Suit halts Seaport Square
Easement claim has BGI project in limbo
By Donna Goodison, Boston Herald

A lawsuit is holding up construction of a chapel, office building, park and hotel in South Boston’s Seaport District, according to Boston Global Investors, the projects’ developer.

Waltham’s Crosspoint Associates, majority owner of 10 adjacent Thomson Place and Farnsworth Street buildings until last month, sued BGI in September, claiming it had an easement through Block J, where the hotel is to be built as part of BGI’s $3.5 billion, 23-acre Seaport Square development.

“What they didn’t factor into this frivolous claim was the same easement ran through Block H, which is where the chapel (park and office building) is going,” BGI CEO John Hynes said.

A judge dismissed the case in November, but Crosspoint is appealing. A Suffolk Superior Court hearing is set for next week.

Construction of the 5,000-square-foot chapel, 1-acre park and four-story office building was set to start last December, while the 300-room Yotel hotel was to start this month. All projects remain on hold pending the appeal.

“Right now, there’s a cloud over the title, which is basically holding us hostage,” Hynes said. “Until the title is cleaned up, we can’t close our construction financing or get our equity commitment secured.”

Crosspoint did not respond to Herald inquiries.

The easement dates to 1979, when Penn Central Railroad granted it to Boston Wharf Co. Penn Central owned Block J, and Boston Wharf owned the Thomson Place and Farnsworth Street buildings. The MBTA took Block J by eminent domain in 1998 to build the Silver Line. Under a pact with then-owner McCourt-Broderick LP, it agreed to “acquire and extinguish” the easement and pay $340,000 in damages, court documents state.

BGI bought Block J in 2011 from the MBTA, which “irrevocably and unconditionally terminated, released and extinguished the easement” in 2014. “When we bought the property, the title insurance we got with (it) said the easement was extinguished,” Hynes said.

BGI is hoping for relief from Invesco Advisers, new majority owner of the Thomson Place and Farnsworth Street buildings under a $183.5 million deal with Crosspoint that closed in April.

“We have some optimism that these guys are going to do the right thing and walk away from this,” Hynes said.

Invesco cited its policy not to comment on “potential legal matters.”
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That roof deck is gonna have some tasty views of downtown skyline...seems like it will be a great place to get some drinks when the weather is nice.
 
I think that Parcel A, though a little boring, does take some cues from its surroundings. The windows are somewhat Courthouse-esque, as is the whole glass-on-the-harborside, stone-on-the-streetside feel. The step-down towards Barking Crab is a good move too. I had never noticed that the building is not a perfect box either: there is, in fact, a gradual diagonal on the ground floor glass on the building's bridge side:

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Also...this look like a space with some potential for attractiveness and activity:

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CSTH said:
Also...this look like a space with some potential for attractiveness and activity:

18169662631_bd2eabfcde_h.jpg
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Definitely agreed! I walked by this yesterday and the Barking Crab had their patio extended in the "alley". Felt bustling. This will be even better once the hotel opens.

On a more negative note, the closure of the Old Northern Ave bridge is really hurting the area. It is almost painful to see this structure be completely defunct.
 
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