This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 1/25/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.South Boston project hit
By Richard Kindleberger, Globe Staff, 1/25/200125-story office tower would rise above a $300 million commercial-residential complex on the emerging South Boston Waterfront, under a proposal unveiled yesterday.
The Midway, as the project has been dubbed, would combine rehabiliated brick buildings with new construction in a complex of 1.75 million square feet, three-fifths the size of the Fan Pier complex planned nearby.
The developer, Alan Leventhal of Beacon Capital Partners, said it was ''an extraordinary project'' that, in terms of potential for improving the city, is probably the most exciting development undertaken by his family's real estate business in the 55 years since it was founded.
But the proposal immediately set off alarm bells among activists and residents. The objections focused on the height of the tower, the prospect of increased traffic congestion, and the amount of space earmarked for ''live-work'' lofts for artists.
''It's outrageous, out of the question,'' said Robert O'Shea, a South Boston resident and leader of a group that has reviewed plans for the convention center being built a block away. He said he worried about the proposal ''taking the Financial District and putting it in our back yard.''
Jane Deutsch, president of the Fort Point Arts Community, said she was disappointed at the 125,000 square feet proposed for artists, enough for maybe 100 units. ''It's a start,'' she said, but only ''half of what we hoped for.''
Although Leventhal said the space would exceed the 80,000 square feet rented by artists in the existing warehouses, Deutsch said the area's estimated 500 artists have a much larger need. She said developments like this proposal are driving up rents in the area and increasing pressure on the artists.
The 7.5-acre site, purchased by Beacon Capital last June, lies between the Fort Point Channel and the site of the new convention center. It is across A Street from Gillette Co.'s headquarters.
Leventhal briefed reporters on the plan in Beacon Capital's downtown offices. Also present were two officials of R.F. Walsh Co., which will oversee the project for Beacon. Because of Robert Walsh's friendship with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, some activists have voiced suspicions the project has the inside track at City Hall. Asked about that, Leventhal said only that the company had the experience and competence to handle the job.
Midway holds great promise for the city, Leventhal said. By reclaiming dingy warehouses and enlivening the area with an influx of workers and residents, he said, it would be ''creating a neighborhood from a wasteland.''
However, Deutsch, a sculptor who lives on A Street, rejected the comment as untrue and insulting. ''I think it shows a complete lack of understanding about our community,'' she said.
Mark Maloney, who as director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority will review the proposal, called it ''a great start to redo that part of town.'' But he also expressed reservations about the 25-story tower, calling it ''quite high,'' and said he would need to make sure the proposed complex meets Menino's requirement that 30 percent of new development on the South Boston Waterfront be reserved for housing.
Current zoning limits building heights to 80 feet south of Summer Street, according to Maloney. A master plan for the area proposes raising that to 150 feet, still only half the height proposed by Beacon Capital. The master plan also provides for exceptions when approved by the city and the neighborhood.
As for the housing requirement, Leventhal proposed to meet it by adding two other housing components. These were the 158,000 square feet of condominiums Beacon Capital developed last year in Fort Point Place, just north of this site, and 204,000 square feet to be built on off-site locations yet to be chosen.
Leventhal hoped the project could be started this spring with the rehab of four warehouse buildings. A 12-story building and the tower would come in a second phase, at the southern edge of the site. There would be selective demolition and construction of the two rows of warehouse buildings on both sides of Midway, now a private street. Midway would be converted to a pedestrian way. Completion is eyed for early 2004.
Objections to the plan were also heard from the Boston Harbor Association, Seaport Alliance for a Neighborhood Design and Representative John A. Hart Jr., a South Boston Democrat.
Richard Kindleberger can be reached by e-mail at kindleberger
@globe.com.
This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 1/25/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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