Fenway Center developers get extension to finalize lease
State officials are giving developers behind the longstalled Fenway Center project a three-month extension to finalize their state lease, a move the project planners say puts construction — and a $21 million payment to the state — on track for the fall.
The two sides were staring down a deadline today to finalize negotiations on a crucial MassDOT lease, but they agreed to extend it to September, according to developer John Rosenthal. He said he intends to begin construction that month on the two-phase project, which includes five buildings built above and alongside the Mass Pike and a total $590 million price tag.
“We’re marching to the finish line,” Rosenthal told the Herald. “It’s a $230 million project (in phase one). They’re significant, multimillion-dollar plans, so they take time. The delay had more to do with the appraisal of the property. It took longer than expected.”
Stephanie Pollack, the state’s transportation secretary, said officials agreed to extend the deadline because developers had “been meeting milestones and getting things done,” and that she expects MassDOT to see construction plans as early as today.
“We’ve seen a lot of progress in recent months and we’re very optimistic,” she told the Herald.
The state has already given Rosenthal a 99-year-lease on the air rights above the Mass Pike, and he’s agreed to cut the state a $21 million upfront payment when the two sides close on the lease.
Pollack said officials initially budgeted the payment for this fiscal year, but cautioned that officials have “long since” shuffled it into next year’s budget cycle.
The project — which also includes Portland, Ore.based Gerding Edlen as a partner — has been in the works for 15 years amid repeated delays and dead ends. But it has scored support from the city, including more than $4 million in property tax breaks and approval from the Boston Planning & Development Agency.