"Sees No Reason to Compromise"

Banker & Tradesman
Tower Opponents Refuse to Back Down
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter


A week after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino called for a compromise over a proposed office tower at the Prudential Center, one neighborhood group says it won’t bend.

Boston Properties’ controversial plan for a $115 million high-rise at 888 Boylston St. has pitted the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay against the developer. NABB has organized its opposition among members of the Prudential Project Advisory Committee (PruPAC). The 41-member panel was founded to advise City Hall on development projects at the Pru.

The project, to be built between the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention, has been in the works for years. In 2002, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approved the office building at 11 stories. But the 287,000-square-foot high-rise never broke ground. Today, the developer is seeking approval for a 19-story skyscraper.

Elliott Laffer, PruPAC’s vice chairman and NABB’s representative on the committee, said he sees no reason to compromise. “Eleven stories are what’s in the guidelines and 11 stories are what Boston Properties said they would build six years ago,” he said. “I haven’t seen any reason to change it.”

Jacquelin Yessian, NABB’s chairwoman, declined to comment on Menino’s offer for a truce. But in an op-ed column in The Boston Courant last year, she wrote that while the 11-story building called for in the master plan would be an asset to the Pru, “we strongly oppose any building that would exceed this height.”

While Yessian has rejected requests for interviews, she has galvanized the support of other neighborhoods to fight any additional height for the tower. She has coordinated private meetings to convince neighborhood associations represented on PruPAC to join NABB in their opposition.

But Steven Wolf, a PruPAC member representing the Fenway Community Development Corp., a nonprofit affordable housing developer, defended those gatherings, noting that PruPAC business was not transacted at the two sessions.

“It’s hard for me to believe that the developers are not sitting down and talking privately about this project,” he said. “These sessions were intended as educational to build better connections between neighborhoods. I guess I can understand how this would be perceived as something nefarious, but nothing has gone on that anyone can object to.”


‘It’s Not Helpful’


NABB’s efforts appear to be working. Kathleen Emrich, a PruPAC member who represents the Ellis Neighborhood Association, said while the Boylston Street building will not directly impact her South End neighborhood, she is supporting NABB’s opposition to an additional 9 stories.

“We have to stick together,” she said. “This doesn’t directly affect our neighborhood, but we want to be supportive of the Back Bay where it will have the most impacts. There could come a time when a building does impact us and we would seek the support of other neighborhoods.”

Nancy Restuccia, a PruPAC member who represents the St. Botolph Neighborhood Association, said while she is not opposed to 19 stories, she too wants to be supportive of NABB’s position.

Still, Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association and a PruPAC member, said the recent meetings organized by NABB that excluded nonresidential members are contrary to the group’s mission.

“The point of PruPAC is to work together to reach consensus,” she said. “It’s not helpful to have NABB organize resident groups to try to get everyone to walk in lockstep. How would the residential groups respond if the business community did that?”

Wolf explained that neighborhood resistance to Boston Properties for increased height to 888 Boylston St. comes from concerns about the Mandarin Hotel. The 14-story, mixed-use development is scheduled to open this summer next to Lord & Taylor on lower Boylston Street.

“People feel they got burned last time around,” Wolf said. “Lots of people are saying the Mandarin ended up being too big in relation to the street. It was technically approved at 150 feet, but mechanicals on the roof can add another 20 feet. I don’t know if anyone actually checked the height to see if they are in compliance.”

Jessica Shumaker, a BRA spokeswoman, noted that the Mandarin was approved by the city following a “lengthy public review process and support from PruPAC.”

Michael A. Cantalupa, senior vice president of Boston Properties, said he would not comment on Menino’s suggestion until he had a chance to speak with the mayor. But in public meetings last fall, he said a lower height would not work given rising construction costs.

Walter Salvi, the PruPAC representative of NSTAR, an electric and gas utility company based at the Prudential Center, said a compromise on height makes sense. “NABB has a very specific point of view on keeping the height at 11 stories and I respect their opinion,” he said. “But if alliances are being formed among neighborhood on PruPAC, it takes ‘not in my backyard’ to a new level. That said, from a political standpoint, the mayor is seeking a compromise so everyone walks away a winner.”

Anthony Gordon, the PruPAC member who represents the Boylston Street Association, a group of merchants along the retail district, said while he supports 19 stories, a compromise is likely.

“A tall tower is good for business and won’t have any detrimental effects on the neighborhood because the building is set back,” he said. “If Boston Properties hadn’t taken over the Pru, it would still be in chaos and we would not have the revitalized mall. The Pru is in good hands and I believe they’re capable of finishing off the center in front of Boylston Street.”