Pact to speed Navy Yard plans

The Boston Redevelopment Authority and a New York developer yesterday reached an agreement that should speed construction of housing and a marina at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

LDA Acquisition LLC and city officials have been sparring since 2000 over why nothing had been built on 12.5 acres of the base, which was decommissioned in 1974 and later given to the city.

BRA spokeswoman Susan Ellsbree said the pact will avoid potentially lengthy litigation and spur the building of condos.

"Now we have time limits and financial penalties in place," she said. "We have saved ourselves and the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits."

The community objected to LDA's proposal for a 14-story apartment building, the city claimed LDA owed it money for the land, and LDA never built anything on the land in question. LDA was the second developer to try to transform the area since the base was decommissioned.

Yesterday's pact calls for a 2.3-acre block on First Avenue, known as Parcel 4, to be 215 units of condominiums, 10 percent of which would be affordable. Construction is expected to begin this year.

The agreement, which replaces one signed in 1990, also calls for construction of research and development space, as previously proposed, on 5.6 acres known as parcels 6 and 7. That land will be transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, and LDA will be reimbursed for its past expenses.

The new agreement also calls for 60 luxury condos for Pier 5, a prominent location on the water closer to downtown. Under the agreement, a marina at piers 8 and 9, at the end of Thirteenth Street, will be expanded by 50 slips.

LDA will build out Parcel 4 in a partnership with Trammell Crow Residential. The condos there will be in the $600-per-square-foot range.

Both sides said they were happy with the outcome.

"There was an issue as to whether or not our rights had expired under the existing agreement," said John A. Brennan Jr., a Boston lawyer representing LDA. "Both parties rolled up their sleeves and decided to negotiate a new agreement."

After the 135-acre Charlestown Navy Yard was decommissioned, 105 acres were transferred to the city in 1978. Thirty acres went to the National Park Service.

Martin Oliner, managing partner of LDA, is a lawyer who lives in New York. He gained control of much of the land after the previous developer went bankrupt.

Brennan said he expected the Pier 5 residences, in a new five-story building, to get underway in about 18 months. LDA will pay the city a development rights fee of $260,000 a year until the residences are completed, within four years, under the agreement.

"That's one of the premier waterfront spots in the city," Brennan said, and it will be built in keeping with the historic guidelines of the former Navy yard. The Pier 5 condos are expected to be more expensive than those in the 215-unit building.

Brennan and city officials noted that the affordable condos to be included in the Parcel 4 development were not required under the 1990 agreement. LDA had made previous contributions of land for housing that met its obligation, he said, but would contribute about 20 more units voluntarily.

The city will retain control of a waterfront parcel on the eastern corner of the Navy yard, adjacent to three of the other LDA blocks. No use has been specified for the block, known as Parcel 5.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.