SHADOW OF FEDERAL FUNDING DOUBT
Hub officials: Building needed for its windfall
Boston development officials lobbying for a carveout to state shadow laws for the massive Winthrop Square development are arguing the city’s $153 million windfall from the deal is needed given the threat of Trump administration budget cuts.
“This is an opportunity for us to backstop the exodus of federal money,” said Brian Golden, head of the Boston Planning & Development Agency. “We think the timing is right for this kind of deal because, I think, we all anticipate a contraction in federal money that flows to the state for these types of things, especially affordable housing.”
The city, the BPDA and preservation advocates are gearing up for a fight Monday over an exemption for the proposed 775-foot tower from two state laws governing shadows over the Boston Common and the Public Garden. The $100 million due to the city once the project’s permits are issued for the development would boost budgets for the Common and Franklin Park, as well as fund two affordable housing projects, Golden said.
Golden and Mayor Martin J. Walsh want the exemption in exchange for stronger shadow limits near Copley Square and the elimination of a “shadow bank” that future developments could have used to cast outsized shadows onto the Common and Public Garden.
Opponents say the new tower’s morning shadow — which at its largest would cover 5 acres of the Common and Public Garden and last an average of 35 minutes — is too much for the parks that are already stressed by the shade.
“We need to draw a line with this building and this proposal,” said Elizabeth Vizza, executive director of the Friends of the Public Garden.
Further, the precedent could weaken the shadow laws’ strength against future challenges, she said.
“We can’t accept that it’s a one-and-done,” Vizza said. “It provides a blueprint for the next mayor, the next developer. It’s a big deal to amend laws that have been working so well for the past two decades.”
The City Council would have to sign off on the shadow exemption before it can be sent on to the Legislature for final approval. Golden said he is eager to get that final OK before Beacon Hill goes into recess at the end of June.
Optimism for the measure is so strong, there’s no Plan B laid out in case it fails, Golden said.
“We are visualizing and expecting success,” Golden said. “If we do not get this relief, we are going to have to do some pretty serious analysis of the road ahead, and I don’t think we have a path forward clearly identified yet. We will deal with that reality if it’s hoisted upon us.”