The St Regis Residences (former Whiskey Priest site) | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

As I read the Commonwealth's language in the Lewis Wharf decision, Whiskey Priest's proposed project may be in deep trouble.

In their ruling, state officials said the developers could incorporate the old pilings into the building plan only if they remained above the high tide mark “during the full tidal cycle.”
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...e-officials/UnmR0GkRXqbW2ecSOlGxyO/story.html

By my reading, if water covers a piling during a part of the tidal cycle, then you cannot construct a new building on top of those pilings (or new replacement pilings).

Lewis Wharf is within the zone that Congress explicitly excluded from being part of the navigable waters of the United States. Thus, the state is the ultimate authority/arbiter. The magenta zone does not extend east of the Fort Point Channel.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

Cronin's been a solid performer in Boston.

Martin and Brian want it - and it has huge support on the Board.

It's approved - and the revenue's been added to the future playbook.

A few inches ain't gonna stop this.

So, they'll make a few calls and get it worked out.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

This is the relevant language as it applies to Whiskey Priest.

(a) new pile-supported structures for nonwater-dependent use shall not extend beyond the footprint of existing, previously authorized pile-supported structures or pile fields, except where no further seaward projection occurs and the area of open water lost due to such extension is replaced, on at least a 1:1 square foot basis, through the removal of existing, previously authorized fill or pile-supported structures or pile fields elsewhere on the project site; as provided in 310 CMR 9.34(2)(b)1., the Department shall waive the on-site replacement requirement if the project conforms to a municipal harbor plan which, as determined by the Secretary in the approval of said plan, specifies alternative replacement requirements which ensure that no net loss of open water will occur for nonwater-dependent purposes, in order to maintain or improve the overall capacity of the state's waterways to accommodate public use in the exercise of water-related rights, as appropriate for the harbor in question;
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As I read the provisions, these would not apply to Hook, and certainly not to the HT Garage.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

stellarfun said:
This is the relevant language as it applies to Whiskey Priest.



As I read the provisions, these would not apply to Hook, and certainly not to the HT Garage.
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Stellarfun -- If we can't rip those Regulations out by their roots at least we should be able to burn them down to the mud-line

I once read an essay which chronicled how all the "Byzantine Orthodox Jewish Dietary Laws" detailing how close separate refrigerators for meat and cheese could be located all had their origin in some Medieval Talmudic Scholars who wrote volumes of interpretation of a single Biblical admonition "Do not seethe the kid in its mothers milk"

In the same vain we have Chapter 91 which distinguishes between abandoned pilings sticking-out above the mud-line based on the number density of a particular species of barnacle or something similar
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

whighlander, putting aside your Libertarian bent, the regulations are easily addressed. What Hook did was to propose a project that continued a water-dependent maritime use (I believe the lobster pound continues.) What Cronin has proposed is a Harborwalk that also serves as a terrace for his watering hole. Watering holes are not water-dependent.

A half-clever developer and a somewhat competent lawyer could come up with a solution.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

"Watering holes are not water-dependent."

Really?? ;)
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

stellarfun said:
Watering holes are not water-dependent.
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Do you really believe that a jury would find that an establishment like Legal Harborside is not water dependent?
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

JeffDowntown said:
Do you really believe that a jury would find that an establishment like Legal Harborside is not water dependent?
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Issues such as these never get to juries. Juries are triers of fact. The facts are not in dispute. The issue is the application of a law or regulation. If the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs rules against Cronin, I believe his avenue of appeal in Massachusetts would be to Superior Court, where the judge would rule without a jury trial. From there, its up the appellate ladder to the Supreme Judicial Court.

The Lewis Wharf proposal was 'cleaner', because the Federal government (Corp of Engineers) has no say. The CoE does have a say with regard to the Whiskey Priest project as currently proposed.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

stellarfun said:
This is the relevant language as it applies to Whiskey Priest.

As I read the provisions, these would not apply to Hook, and certainly not to the HT Garage.
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Yeah, but the building itself wouldn't be on the piers in this case. Only the Harborwalk extension would be, and that may count as a "water-dependent use".

In any case, the Globe article explicitly says the ruling wouldn't apply to 150 Seaport.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

There is plenty of room in 310 CMR 9.12 for the Secretary to find that a restaurant terrace on the Harborwalk is an accessory to a water dependent use, and is perfectly allowable.

The specific language is "restaurants and retail facilities primarily serving patrons of the water-dependent use on the site", Certainly a HarborWalk restaurant terrace could be pitched as primarily serving patrons of the HarborWalk, an allowed water dependent use. Lots of wiggle room here.

310 CMR 9.12 is pretty specific, but certainly allows some flexibility of interpretation, depending on who wants what project to happen.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

JeffDowntown said:
There is plenty of room in 310 CMR 9.12 for the Secretary to find that a restaurant terrace on the Harborwalk is an accessory to a water dependent use, and is perfectly allowable.

The specific language is "restaurants and retail facilities primarily serving patrons of the water-dependent use on the site", Certainly a HarborWalk restaurant terrace could be pitched as primarily serving patrons of the HarborWalk, an allowed water dependent use. Lots of wiggle room here.

310 CMR 9.12 is pretty specific, but certainly allows some flexibility of interpretation, depending on who wants what project to happen.
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JeffDowntown -- these kinds of muddling is all done on purpose -- it creates more work for lawyers -- who do you think makes up the vast majority of the membership of the Great and General Court [aka the Massachusetts Legislature]

As Winston Churchill once observed the US was not founded by pilgrims fleeing persecution and seeking religious freedom -- it was founded by lawyers fleeing their just persecution
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

Is there any word on whether they're all set with the sale of that small piece of land in front of the bar?
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

What's the latest on this? I thought originally demo was supposed to begin in late 2016?
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

Just knock them down already. Look there is never going to be a park there as long as its privately owned. The project is an improvement to what currently sits there.
 
Re: Whiskey Priest/Atlantic Beer Garden Redevelopment | 150 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

odurandina said:
big fight coming....... (yawn).

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/01/12/seaport/T6kbOTmpc4Vj5kxnuaJuSM/story.html
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The article states: "In late December, Beaton ruled the $260 million project met the rules governing open space along the harbor thanks to its 10-foot-wide Harborwalk and public first-floor lobby. But given the scale of the project, Shelley wrote, more public benefits should be required."

These people don't seem to be satisfied unless they've eked out every possible concession from a developer until, in this case, the design gets VE'd down from one of the most exciting looking projects in the Seaport to a sterile, bland box. In the name of public benefits, they are destroying the potential architectural benefit the public reaps from great design.
 
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