Time was the twin-tiered project known as Aquarium Place seemed like a real possibility on the Boston waterfront: a set of towers, one as high as 625 feet, with 750,000 square feet of office space as well as luxury apartments, a five-start hotel and retail; the towers would replace the Boston Harbor Garage and be exclamation points on Boston's building renaissance. The only thing standing in the way of Aquarium Place was Mayor Menino; and that, of course, was more than enough to finally quash it in early 2012 (too big for the Greenway's edge, Hizzoner declared), even after developer Don Chiofaro slashed its scale by nearly 25 percent.
The project may yet get built. That's because Menino is, of course, abdicating at the end of the year, and several of his successors have pledged a second look at Chiofaro's Aquarium Place. Indeed, the mayoral hopefuls have pledged a more transparent development-review process in general, one that might see the mayor-mandated power of the hegemonic Boston Redevelopment Authority diluted significantly in favor of more transparent land-use reviews. It would be serendipitous if Chiofaro's project were among the first reviewed in a post-BRA Boston. He famously sparred with Menino, who he accused of secretly "pulling the strings" on the ultimately negative approval process for Aquarium Place. Stay tuned.
· Mayoral Hopefuls Open to Don Chiofaro's Waterfront Project [Herald]
· Big-Time Downtown Project Aquarium Place Dead by the Water [Curbed Boston]
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