Boston Properties just got an early Christmas gift.
The Menino administration is set to announce that they have reached an agreement with Boston Properties and Delaware North Cos. to allow construction of a 45-story residential tower near North Station and provide a lucrative tax break to support the $1 billion development, the Boston Business Journal has learned.
Harry Collings, the former executive secretary of the Boston Redevelopment Authority who now serves as a consultant to Boston Properties, has called members of the Boston Garden Impact Advisory Group, a 13-member panel appointed by City Hall to advise the administration on the project, to say the city will announce on Monday that they will approve the developer's proposed 600-foot height as well as what's known as a 121A agreement that will save the company millions in taxes. The project is set to be on the BRA board agenda on Dec. 19, the last meeting under Mayor Thomas Menino's watch before he leaves office in January.
While the advisory group has been supportive of the 1.7-million-square-foot mixed-use development that will include a 20-story hotel, a 25-story office tower and a 600-foot residential building with 500 units and up to 376,000 square feet of retail space, some members insisted the apartment building was too tall by 200 feet or 15 stories.
Last month, the IAG members who opposed the taller tower were encouraged when Menino urged Boston Properties to lower the height of its proposed 45-story tower, insisting the developer consider neighborhood concerns about setting a precedent with a skyscraper at the TD Garden.
“There has to be a compromise someplace in this development,” Menino told the Boston Business Journal in November. “I have faith in Boston Properties to work with the community. They have been excellent in other developments in the city and they will work on this one. I believe there will be a compromise.”
But since those comments, Menino, the BRA’s director Peter Meade and a BRA spokeswoman have declined to comment. Bryan Koop, senior vice president of Boston Properties, has not returned calls and emails seeking comment.
James Zahka, a West End resident and member of the IAG, said he’s angry and frustrated by the mayor’s decision.
“The mayor blinked,” he said. “I understand the developers threatened that they would not do the project without the tax breaks and the added height. It’s a sham. City Hall involved the IAG members to say they listened to the neighborhood. But in reality they didn’t make a single change based on our recommendations. It was a waste of our time.”
