FortPointGuy
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Let's start with facts.
Fallon didn't put a museum on Fan Pier. The Pritzker family, prior owners of Fan Pier, provided land for ICA as a component of State Chapter 91 obligations for filled tidelands, once Boston Harbor and now private property. I'd guess the current owner of Fan Pier (not Fallon as far as I know) paid for the land at a price that already factored the ICA land. The ICA was negotiated as a component of the large project, not in lieu of other components.
And no, I don't agree that the elements you mentioned in terms of parks, etc. come close to meeting the standard this 21-acre parcel merits considering area public investment.
Same goes for Seaport Square. The Innovation Center is a 10-year lease for the BRA, negotiated in the context of a 23-acre approval. Again, any waterfront worth its salt would consider long-term elements including civic spaces (interior and exterior) as well as a host of land uses necessary for activation of the USA's finest waterfront.
I'll add that the burden is not on Fallon (or Fan Pier owner) or Seaport Square owner to explain what gets approved and why. It is a responsibility of our planning department to recognize the value of Boston land and set the standard accordingly.
(1) Stand corrected on Pritzker/Fallon but the point is that the obligated developer obliged and we ended up with the ICA. Fallon is developing Fan Pier. He may have limited partners, but Fallon is in control.
(2) If you look at the SS master plan, the IC was always slated to be a park. The city required the IC.
(3) If waterfront parks, the ICA, a marina, an outdoor music venue, the BSA, the very many dock slips that are in FPC and on the Waterfront that weren't 3 years ago are not sufficient or appropriate public land uses (never mind the plethora of places to eat and have a drink) for an area that is going to become incredibly dense when finished (Fan Pier alone has 5 buildings to go), what kind of civic spaces have the BRA and the developers neglected and in whose footsteps Boston should Boston be following?