Chiofaro is moving ahead with Greenway plans

Boston developer Donald J. Chiofaro is pressing forward with plans to build two massive towers - one 40 stories and the other 59 stories - on property now occupied by the Harbor Garage along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Chiofaro today filed a formal proposal with the city that promises to transform the garage site from "an eyesore into an icon" and improve pedestrian access to Boston Harbor. The two towers in the development would be connected by a 770-foot terra cotta "skyframe" that itself would be taller than the two towers.

The project includes 1.5 million square feet of development, including an 860,000-square-foot office tower and a more slender building containing 350 hotel rooms and 130 residential units. Those elements would sit above 70,000 square feet of retail stores and a glass-encased promenade connecting the Greenway and the harbor.

"The mix of uses will make the project a destination point linking the Financial District, the North End and the waterfront," Chiofaro states in his proposal. "The projects offers significant economic benefits as well, including an estimated $16 million in annual property tax revenue."

(Chiofaro is shown at right in a 2008 file photo taken by John Gress for The Boston Globe. Below, watch video from February of Chiofaro describing the design.)

But the plan appears to face significant opposition from Harbor Towers condominium owners who have raised a list of concerns, ranging from the preservation of residents parking spaces to the height and density of the development plan.

Another potential roadblock is a review of zoning along the Greenway being conducted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Officials have commissioned the review to prevent large-scale development from encroaching on the Greenway.
(By Casey Ross, Globe staff)