When it got the final O.K. from the city a year ago this month, the new tower atop Copley Place seemed like a miracle: a tall tower in Boston despite vociferous local opposition. Now, of course, there are a lot more towers going up around town; but, through it all, Copley Place's 47 stories and 318 condos, plus 115,000 square feet of additional retail at the existing base, stood out as one of the bolder spires proposed in Boston in a long time. Now it may not happen: the developer, mega-mall builder Simon Property Group, says it has suspended the development. It didn't give a reason, just that it wanted to reevaluate the project. Per Casey Ross in The Globe:
Simon declined to say whether its inability to proceed is due to design or financial problems, or both. It refused to say whether it intends to significantly change the project. "We're fully committed to a residential option at Copley and looking forward to continuing our work with the City of Boston and all public groups," said Morris, the spokesman. Even local pols don't know Simon's reasons for the cessation despite the fact that the site sits on state-owned land (Simon says, "Sit tight!"). The tower triumphed last fall despite opponents so concerned about the shadows and congestion it might create (and what they said was a dearth of affordable housing) that they staged an Occupy the Mayor's Office on the evening of the Boston Redevelopment Authority's vote. The BRA voted for Simon and the Copley Place tower took its place amongst the city's building boom. Now what? If it's a financing problem, that could be a sign of bad news for every other big project attempting to move forward. If it's something else...
· 47-Story Copley Place Condo and Retail Tower Put on Hold [The Globe]
· Boston's Tallest Condo Tower O.K.'d Despite 'Occupy' [Curbed Boston]
· Boston's Tallest Condo Tower Gets More Affordable Housing [Curbed Boston]
· Our Updated New Development Heatmap: Then There Were 50 [Curbed Boston]