To read an article about the "flipping" of these Fort Point buildings, click here.
Banker and Tradesman
March 17, 2008Channel Residents Claim City Reneged on Housing Promise
Neighbors Insist BRA Pledged Fort Point Units; Officials Say Residential Component Still PlannedBy Thomas Grillo, Reporter
Residents of Boston's Fort Point Channel area are asking why the city has reneged on a promise to build more housing.
Lincoln Property Co. is seeking approval to combine 316-322 Summer St. into 140,000 square feet of office space with ground-floor retail. Last year, Archon/Goldman, the previous owner, abandoned plans for a $47 million residential project that would have included 87 condominiums and eight artist live/work units as the housing market fell, inventory grew and credit got tighter. Lincoln paid $17.8 million for the properties in December.
"We're very excited about this project and think it's a critical piece to the redevelopment of the South Boston Seaport," said John Miller, Lincoln's senior vice president. "These buildings have been dormant and we will bring them back to life."
But dozens of condo owners who attended a public hearing on the project last week were angry that the former warehouse and artist residences will be offices.
"I'm not so much annoyed with Lincoln, but I am annoyed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) because we have been promised more housing," said Steven Hollinger, a longtime resident and member of the Seaport Alliance for Neighborhood Design. "We've been told that to get a supermarket here, Fort Point needs 2,500 residential units south of Summer Street and 2,500 units north of Summer. That goal seems impossible now."
The city's 100 Acres Master Planning vision for the Fort Point District issued in 1999 to guide development promised "a vibrant 24-hour, mixed-use neighborhood anchored by 11 acres of new open space [and] 6 million square feet of development, with at least one-third as housing." The plan was the result of a five-year collaboration among residents, property owners and government agencies. About 1,200 units have been built if the adjacent South Boston neighborhood is included in the tally, according to the BRA.
In an interview with Banker & Tradesman, Kairos Shen, the BRA's chief planner, acknowledged that the city's vision included a substantial number of housing units. But he insisted the city never promised that construction of the residential units would happen first.
"The long-term goal remains that we want to achieve at least 33 percent residential and we want to limit the offices to about 33 percent," he said. "But the reality is there is a shift in the market and there is an immediate need for offices."
'A Kick in the Face'Hollinger, however, noted that there are five office proposals in the pipeline for Fort Point Channel compared to one residential project.
"If these buildings and empty lots become offices, there will be no place to put residences," he said. "There are a finite number of properties here. It's a kick in the face to this neighborhood."
Since 2003, fewer than 700 units have been approved in the Fort Point neighborhood including 597 at the Channel Center. Meanwhile, another 97 condos are under construction at FP3, a luxury project adjacent to the Children's Museum. That project includes a 15,000-square-foot restaurant and 3,000 square feet of retail to be rented by Boston chef Barbara Lynch for a fine-dining eatery martini bar, and casual market.
Located one block west of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and two blocks from South Station, the Fort Point Channel District has been called an emerging neighborhood and a haven for artists. Many of the development proposals incorporate new construction with adaptive reuse of the historic building with the hope of transforming an underutilized industrial site into a well-designed residential development, and furthering the creation of an all-hours neighborhood.
But residents say the dream is evaporating because the BRA favors office space over housing. Last month, The Boston Globe reported that Archon/Goldman plans to redevelop 233,000 square feet of offices at 49, 51, and 63 Melcher St., on the south side of Fort Point Channel, at an estimated cost of $50 million.
"Why can't the BRA put some of these buildings on ice until the market turns around?" wondered one resident who declined to be identified. "The BRA yields to the market when it should be planning. They could have set aside a percentage of the historic Boston Wharf for housing use only."
The South Boston waterfront, a district that includes Fort Point Channel, has 4.7 million square feet of space. The vacancy rate for the area last year was 8.6 percent, with average asking rents at $34, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. One year ago, the vacancy rate was 9.9 percent and average asking rents were $28.
Michael Edward, a senior vice president at Colliers Meredith & Grew, a commercial brokerage, noted that while the net absorption in the district last year was a modest 1,700 square feet, the new office space makes sense.
"It's not so much that there's demand in the Seaport District, but some tenants are looking for alternatives to higher rents in the Financial District, [as well as the areas including the MBTA's] South and North stations."
Your comments as a visitor to the SAND website would be appreciated and forwarded for discussion.