A well-known Chicago firm is planning to host much more than a tea party at Boston Harbor. When its plans come to fruition, Boston will be celebrating the creation of a whole new waterfront neighborhood.
Chicago’s Pritzker family, owners of Hyatt Hotels, will be a party to shaping the future of historic Boston Harbor, the site of that famous Tea Party in 1773 that played a role in shaping a new nation.
“This will be the biggest private project in Boston’s history,” said Kyle Warwick, principal of Spaulding & Slye Colliers, a Boston real estate company that is a partner with the Pritzker family and local development manager.
Called Fan Pier, the $1.2 billion mixed-use project is proposed for 21 acres on the South Boston Waterfront.
Just around the bend in Fort Point Channel is the replica of a ship from the Boston Tea Party, recalling pre-Revolutionary War days.
But Fan Pier is all about the future. Now a street-level parking lot for 1,600 cars, it will be recycled over 10 years with a 23-story, 650-room hotel, the Grand Hyatt; more than 1.2 million square feet of office space; 134,420 square feet of retail space; three condominium structures (15 to 20 stories) with 300 units; a 22-story rental building with 300 apartments; three smaller structures for cultural or civic use; and two underground parking facilities.
Though more than 3 million square feet of new building space will be developed, more than 50 percent of Fan Pier will be open space, including two waterfront parks and a 6-acre marina with public access to transportation and recreation.
Much as the Chicago River has been transformed from a 19th Century industrial waterway into a prime place for new residential developments, Boston has rediscovered its harbor. Once lined with shipyards, fisheries, foundries and refineries, the harbor began to change as industrial uses declined.
“The spectacular waterfront site gives us the opportunity to build a mixed-use project in a new Boston neighborhood,” said Richard Schulze, vice chairman of Hyatt Development Corp., which owns and is developing the land.
The site was acquired 10 years ago in a lawsuit settlement, according to Schulze.
Warwick indicated that Fan Pier has received final approval from both the city and state, but still has one more regulatory hurdle to cross.
“The Chapter 91 waterways regulation goes back to Colonial days. It says the public has the right to fish and navigate in certain waters. It affects us because we want to build on former tidal lands that have been filled,” Warwick explained.
He expects Chapter 91 approval in four to six months. After that, he said the start of construction will be determined by the economic climate and capital markets.
“Fan Pier will bring life to the water’s edge on a former brownfield industrial site,” Warwick said. “It will be a dream come true for the mayor.”
Like Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley, Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino favors real estate development. “Our favorite bird is the crane,” Menino said.
He added: “The South Boston Waterfront is to become even more energized by turning parking lots into condos, a hotel and offices.”
The mayor made those comments during the fall meeting of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a non-profit real estate research group.
“In the last quarter of the 20th Century, over $22 billion of public funds have been invested in Boston’s inner harbor and the five neighborhoods that surround it,” ULI said in a statement in October. “This public investment has served as a catalyst to a wide array of private development.”
The revival of Boston Harbor started in the 1980s with condo construction along the waterfront. New developments were required to be built 12 feet back from the water to allow for a harbor walk. Already, harbor walks line 31 miles of the 43-mile harbor.
The South Boston Waterfront, where Fan Pier is located, is one of the last sections to be redeveloped.
Fan Pier will benefit from improved access from downtown when the “Big Dig” is scheduled to be completed, in 2004. The Big Dig, expected to cost $14.5 billion, is the largest and most technologically challenging highway project in U.S. history. It was launched in 1987 to reduce traffic congestion through the heart of Boston by knocking down an elevated roadway (known as “the highway in the sky”) and sinking it underground.
Easier said than done. Many skeptical Bostonians wonder whether the controversial project ever will be completed because it is such a gold mine for construction companies.
However, Michael Lewis, project director of the Big Dig, maintains it has been on schedule since 1995 and will meet the 2004 deadline.
The reclaimed land — where the elevated highway now stands — is a 2-mile-long strip one block wide. “We’ll create 200 acres for parks and green space,” said Lewis.
“Boston no longer will be cut off from its waterfront,” Karen Alschuler, principal at SMWM in San Francisco, said at the ULI meeting. “This will heal the scars of the old highway and open up new views to the water.”
Warwick agrees that completion of the Big Dig will mean better public access to Fan Pier. The Boston Redevelopment Authority is studying possible ferry routes from Fan Pier to other points along the harbor.
The 6-acre Fan Pier Cove Marina will have a water transportation center with a public transit dock, a touch-and-go dock, a dinghy dock, recreational boat slips and charter/excursion ship docking. Berths may be used by whale-watching, charter fishing and excursion vessels.
A harbor walk will line the cove, as well as 1,700 feet along the watefront. Lookout Point will provide panoramic views of the harbor and the Boston skyline.
The Fan Pier Park beside the harbor will include floating docks, a recreation and food service pavilion and picnic areas. A separate 2-acre public green will provide a direct link to the Silver Line public transit station.
Additional land has been set aside for other public spaces, including the new home of the Institute of Contemporary Art, the first major new arts facility in Boston in more than 50 years; a Children’s Museum; and a children’s aquarium sponsored by the New England Aquarium and the Island Alliance.
Besides the Hyatt hotel and four residential structures, three office buildings from 15 to 20 stories will be constructed at Fan Pier and will offer more than 1.2 million square feet of space.
The heights of the buildings will start with the lowest near the water and be staggered higher.
Two underground garages will hold parking for 2,285 cars and there will be 40 on-street spaces.
Real estate taxes on the property are $250,000. When the project is completed, real estate taxes are estimated to rise to $15 million to $20 million a year.
Among other Boston Harbor developments:
– Long Wharf, the city-owned facility, has been improved to serve the growing fleet of commuter boats connecting the inner harbor and coastal towns. More than 1.2 million people a year commute to downtown by water. Another 750,000 non-commuting passengers use water transit.
– Waterfront Park, located adjacent to Long Wharf, is being redesigned for better views of the harbor.
– New England Aquarium on Central Wharf has a new west wing and plans a new east wing in 2005. New docking for excursion and commuter boats also are being added.
– The Charlestown Navy Yard, built on the landing place of the British army before the Battle of Bunker Hill, has attracted more than $470 million in private investment since the Navy left in 1974. The yard has 1,250 housing units, a third for low- and moderate-income residents.
– Tudor Wharf is planned for a 168-unit, extended-stay hotel in a five- to seven-story building.
– Clippership Wharf, a mixed-use development in East Boston, is planned for 400 condominiums and ground-floor commercial space. Also in East Boston is Pier One, a 400-unit rental project.
Major changes continue to transform the historic harbor that gained initial fame because of a tea party.
