SEAPORT’S RISING TIDE
Development is booming but some seek public space
Massport’s lucrative real estate ventures on Boston’s waterfront may have served as a “catalyst” for a building boom throughout the city over the past decade, but some say the rapid growth has created a Seaport neighborhood bereft of open space and public access.
“I think Massport is missing the boat on developing a Seaport that really meets its potential and that includes understanding that a mix of uses is necessary to create a vibrant waterfront,” Fort Point resident of 30 years Steve Hollinger said.
The Massachusetts Port Authority controls 460 acres of developable land in South Boston, Charlestown and East Boston and the authority’s leases with commercial real estate developers have played a major role in the transformation of the Seaport from auto yards and marine industries to a major tech industry hub.
Ex-Massport Chief Thomas Glynn, who ran the authority from 2012 until he retired in 2018, said Massport’s deals with developers still reeling from the 2008 market crash helped to usher in a new era in prosperity.
“They’ve been a catalyst for public-private partnerships,” Glynn said. “They helped the private sector to come in and address a market need.”
Hollinger criticized the lack of follow-through by developers on open space and public amenity commitments — something City Councilor Michelle Wu has also pointed out in her bid to abolish the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
An 18-story tower planned for the 401 Congress St. that initially promised to spend $25.9 million to create 100,000 square feet of public space at the site, including a 60,000-square-foot “cultural center,” will be before the BPDA board for approval this spring. But documents filed by developer Boston Global Investors include a scaled-back version of that two-year-old promise and make no mention of any indoor public space. Massport and the developer did not respond to Herald requests for comment.
“The BPDA could be playing hardball with Massport but they don’t, the same way the city was claiming it didn’t have leverage over the MBTA a few years ago until the City Council did something,” Hollinger said.
Massport properties are technically exempt from the local planning process, though the projects have all moved through the Article 80 review process anyway.
Since the Big Dig opened up access to the Seaport area, Massport has engaged in 16 commercial redevelopment projects with private developers bringing almost 900 new apartments and hotel rooms, dozens of new restaurants and millions of square feet of new retail and office space to the neighborhood.
Real estate has been big business for the authority since its inception in 1956 and is seen as an important revenue-generating tool to help fund the city’s blue-collar maritime industry, spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan said. As its real estate ventures have grown, critics are calling for more help from Massport to solve transportation issues, as the Herald reported Monday.
Massport envisions a new MBTA Silver Line Station alongside one of its last parcels in the Seaport.