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- Gillette sues city over new housing
- Firm cites its use of A Street route
- By Anthony Flint, Globe Staff, 08/25/99
- (c) 1999 The Boston Globe
In yet another example of tensions on the changing South Boston waterfront, Gillette Co. has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that a proposed residential complex near its sprawling manufacturing complex on A Street would be too close for comfort.
- Gillette officials say the renovation of a vacant warehouse for 118 units of housing would conflict with the use of A Street for trucks entering and exiting its 1.5 million-square-foot headquarters. The company is appealing a Boston Zoning Board of Appeal ruling this month allowing residential use in an area that has long been set aside for industrial uses.
- As part of its master plan for the waterfront, the city wants to create a SoHo-style residential district off A Street, in the historic Fort Point district. City officials say new units are badly needed to relieve a housing crunch, and that residential and industrial uses can peacefully co-exist.
- ''This is in the master plan. We had no knowledge of their objections. All they needed to do was pick up the phone, and instead we've got a lawsuit that will delay this project,'' said Thomas N. O'Brien, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
- The residential units have been proposed by Beacon Capital, and would include 12 units of low-cost housing.
- Gillette filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court late Friday and notified city officials by letter.
- The standoff is the latest evidence of growing pains on the South Boston waterfront, as new development bumps up against maritime and industrial functions that have existed there for decades. Not far from A Street, about 80 businesses on the site of the proposed $700 million convention center are being forced to relocate. Also, a lobster company had to be moved to make way for the BankBoston Pavillion, the summer music tent that went up this summer off Northern Avenue.
- The Gillette controversy is distinct, however, because the company is one of the city's biggest and most prized manufacturing employers. The facility, on the banks of the Fort Point Channel, employs 3,000 people.
- ''Introducing a residential community in the middle of an industrial zone lacks common sense,'' said Eric Kraus, vice president of corporate communications for Gillette. ''A Street is a major trucking route essential to our business. We utilize that street 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is an industrial area.''
O'Brien said a modest residential community would not conflict with Gillette's operations, pointing out that a new entrance to the South Boston haul road was being built to accommodate Gillette trucks going north or to the airport. In addition, he said, there is already a building being used for residential and artist work space, at 249 A St., which is between Gillette and the warehouse that is slated for renovation by Beacon Capital.
O'Brien predicted that the Gillette lawsuit would have trouble because the company may not even be a legal abutter, as the Beacon Capital building is separated from the Gillette plant by that building and two others.
The master plan for the South Boston Waterfront calls for the creation of the Wormwood residential district, centered on an old smokestack between A and B streets. The city also envisions a park and pedestrian mall running from the west side of the new convention center to Fort Point Channel - through the new residential district and just north of the Gillette plant.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has always been deferential to Gillette, because it is one of the few remaining manufacturing employers in the city. But city officials expressed frustration with the lawsuit and the opposition to the BRA's grand plans. They note that South Boston political leaders, including Council President James M. Kelly, supported the creation of housing in the area.
O'Brien said he was surprised by the lawsuit and that no one from Gillette came to the ZBA meeting on the variance for Beacon Capital's proposal. But Kraus said company representatives were at the Aug. 3 meeting and made their opposition known. ''We were disappointed the board chose to disregard our testimony,'' he said.
No one at Beacon Capital was available for comment.
The company has had a rough time with the proposal from the beginning, having just completed negotiations with South Boston leaders on how many affordable units would be included in the project. Kelly and others wanted preference for South Boston residents, and sought to minimize the number of units that would be made available to Fort Point district artists.
This story ran on page B01 of the Boston Globe on 08/25/99. © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
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