For developer Don Chiofaro, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die to build something on the Boston Harbor Garage, which his firm has owned since 2007. The developer spoke before an advisory committee on waterfront development last week, acknowledging the delicate history of his fight to build ambitiously on the garage at the tail end of the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Said Chiofaro: "Our previous approach has obviously not been successful."
That previous approach included sparring publicly with Mayor Tom "Shovels" Menino, who put the kibosh on Chiofaro's mammoth two-tower Aquarium Place plans in early 2012 (rendered above) because they were too big. Now, the developer is back and noticeably more amenable to suggestions re: scope and use, according to NorthEndWaterfront: "[H]e and his team have been 'toiling the vineyards' to come up Harbor and Greenway enhancement ideas for the site that might be received with more enthusiasm."
To that end, Chiofaro is asking for feedback. What would the public like to see in lieu of the Harbor Garage? Almost assuredly, nothing that supplants it will be all that grand. But, with this approach (which includes a handy website to further feedback) and with a new mayor due in, oh, three months on the outside, something most definitely will. Might it be housing in a downtown Boston desperate for it? Or mixed-use? Will it have parking? (Ironic if it didn't.) Stay tuned, this one's never dull.
· Website: Boston Harbor Garage Redevelopment [Chiofaro]
· Chiofaro Presents New Ideas [NorthEndWaterfront]
· Mega-Waterfront Development Aquarium Place Surfaces [Curbed Boston]
· Developers to Boston Condo Buyers: Be More New York-y! [Curbed Boston]
· 1350 Boylston and the Battle for Building Boston [Curbed Boston]
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