Parcel 3 still burning question for developers

Serghino René and
Howard Manly

It’s back to the drawing boards for three potential developers of Parcel 3, one of the last remaining large tracts of land in Roxbury.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority sent each of the developers a letter last month explaining that none of them had met the “minimum financial requirement” and, as a result, all of them were considered to be “equally unqualified.”

The letter, signed by BRA Director Mark Maloney, further explained that the BRA has two choices: reject all of the proposals and seek new ones, or ask the three developers for revisions.

So far, the BRA has chosen the latter course. At a heated and confusing Monday night meeting, a subcommittee of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee recommended further deliberations before the committee makes its final decision on a developer.

“We talked a lot about things that needed to happen,” said Daniel Richardson, co-chair of the Oversight Committee. “We need more specifics from the BRA, but we are confident that it will happen. We’re moving ahead of schedule and we think that probably by Thanksgiving, we will have a decision.”

That could be wishful thinking. Though he BRA didn’t cite any specifics in its Aug. 15 letter, it is widely believed that at least one of the sticking points is the valuation of the land and the suggested $3 per square foot price the BRA is seeking in annual lease payments. A member of one of the development teams has already questioned those numbers.

The Banner reported last year that Thomas Welch, a development consultant, sent emails to Oversight Committee members that the BRA valuation of the Roxbury land would be about $106 million. Welch compared that price to the Fan Pier development in Boston seaport district. That price is about $115 million.

Fan Pier is roughly 20 acres; P3 is about 8. Fan Pier is surrounded by water and is located in one of the hottest real estate markets in the city. P3 is located in Roxbury directly across from Boston Police Headquarters.

“This means that P3 is five to six times as expensive as Fan Pier when it should be valued at half of Fan Pier,” Welch told the Banner. “Fan Pier reportedly has substantial infrastructure costs, but P3 will have infrastructure costs as well as ‘community benefit’ costs.”

That analysis apparently fell on deaf ears at City Hall and the BRA. The price is still $3 per square foot.

At Monday night’s meeting, Dennis Tourse, a consultant for one of the developers, said the BRA disappointed him.

“Being told that none of the proposals complied with the financial requirements is absurd and to make that statement is suspect,” Tourse said. “The people who wanted to bid on this project were told that the price was negotiable. Now we’re being told that the price isn’t negotiable and that we can only bid higher. I don’t object to submitting further data. What I do object to is that after spending all of this time, it’s an insult to be told that we didn’t comply with the requirements.”

Tourse and Walsh are part of the development team that wants to build the National Center for Afro-American Artists’ Ruggles Place. The team’s project would include one million square feet of office and retail space, a hotel, 300 units of affordable and marker rate housing and a 3,000 square-foot jazz café.

While 80 percent of the space would be used for commercial and residential spaces, museum director Edmund Barry Gaither said he plans to use the revenue generated by the development for the construction and operation to reopen an Elma Lewis Performing Arts school.

The second proposal involves the Madison Park Community Development Corporation and Trinity Financial. They proposed a 1,200-student Northeastern University dormitory, four commercial buildings, 111 units of market-rate and affordable housing and a youth center.

The Oversight Committee is scheduled to hold another hearing on Oct. 2 and it is expected to be as rancorous as previous meetings.

The third proposal, Heritage Commons, is a venture between Taylor Smith Properties, Weston Associates, Canyon Johnson Urban Funds and Community Equity Partners. Their proposal calls for 320,500 square feet for small business and major retailers, along with a hotel, office and housing space, and a home for the New England Jazz center.

Each proposal also offers an expanded location for the Whittier Street Health Center and educational opportunities for medical health careers.

The Oversight Committee is scheduled to hold another hearing on Oct. 2 and it is expected to be as rancorous as previous meetings. The committee is a body that was created to ensure that development of vacant land in Roxbury complies with the standards and goals codified in the Roxbury Master Plan, a document that community members created to guide development in Roxbury.

The BRA’s request for proposal requires that at least 60 percent of the construction jobs go to residents of the federally designated Boston Empowerment Zone, an area stretching from South Boston to Mattapan, which includes most of the city’s black population.

Committee member John Barros was diplomatic in describing Monday night’s meeting. “I thought it was a lively conversation by community members who not only care about having quality developments that bring benefits to this community, but also care about process that has to take place,” Barros said. “What I saw was the engagement and participation, so it was a picture of a people with power in this community.”