City sold hundreds of lots at big discount

South End businessman Kevin McCrea brought up the land deals during the first mayoral debate Wednesday night, and a Globe review of property records and interviews with city officials yesterday found that the city, during Menino’s 16 years in office, has sold more than 600 lots at steeply discounted prices.

Some were sold to developers who pledged to build affordable or mixed-income housing. Others were made available to anyone who would buy them and pledge limited construction on the sites. Many were sold only to homeowners who owned property next door to the lots.

In some cases the city has sold lots to people for next to nothing as part of first-time home buyer programs. One of those buyers, Brendilee Wagner, bought a 7,000-square-foot plot in June on Dorchester’s Tremlett Street for $1,000, even though the property was assessed at more than $100,000.

Among other beneficiaries of the land sales was Menino’s close friend and political adviser Edward Jesser, who bought a 1,460-square-foot parcel next to his home in West Roxbury from the city for $500 in 1997. It was assessed at six times that value at the time. Another property, which McCrea highlighted during the debate, went to James Rourke, who works for the city’s development agency. He and his Hyde Park neighbor got a 10,000-square-foot property for $5,000 in June. It was assessed at $99,400.

McCrea said yesterday that he supports getting such land back on the tax rolls, generating property taxes the city wouldn’t otherwise have collected. But he called for a more open process, and he argues that the city is handing taxpayers a raw deal by giving these properties away so cheaply.

“No one at City Hall is looking at what’s going on and the giveaway of property and money to connected insiders,’’ McCrea said.

The Menino administration staunchly defended its discounted land sales yesterday, saying the benefits for taxpayers are many. Besides the additional property taxes, city officials said, Boston saves money because it no longer needs to maintain the lots. In the case of affordable housing, the land discounts allow developers to build discounted housing that lets families without significant means remain in the city.

Sandra Duran, deputy director for real estate management and sales at the Department of Neighborhood Development, acknowledged that price is not always a concern for the city, but she said that was not the point.

“Our mission is to dispose of the property,’’ she said.

The mayor yesterday disputed McCrea’s assertion that connected insiders get special deals and said he signed off on the land sales because nobody wanted the lots. He said Jesser got land that had sat vacant for years.

“Have you seen that lot?’’ Menino asked. “It’s a terrible lot. Nobody’s going to build on that.’’

But it is unclear whether that is always the case. The property, and 641 others sold since 1993 as part of the abutters program called Yard Sales, were sold after limited notification of their availability. Only landowners within 100 feet of the parcels were told they were for sale. Those homeowners were invited to submit bids, and the city decided who got them.

“It’s not a competitive process,’’ Duran said.

The property deeds in the abutters program restrict what buyers can do with the land. They are prohibited from making income from whatever they build, and they cannot sell it without the city’s permission. They are allowed to build additions to their homes on the plots, which would increase their property values.

Rourke and his neighbor got their parcel as part of a different initiative created by the Menino administration earlier this year. Lots sold under that program - typically parcels assessed at values higher than $25,000 - are advertised citywide before they are sold, city officials said. And deeds for those properties are more restrictive of construction on the lots. They allow owners to build fencing, garden sheds, or other small structures. They also allow them to pave the properties and use them for parking, although owners are not allowed to collect parking income.

The city owns more than 1,500 vacant lots, and more are continually added to that - mostly through foreclosures, land-taking, or other types of seizures. City officials say a real estate committee composed of employees from various departments decides which lots should be routed to which programs for sale. In some cases, including Rourke’s, however, residents themselves notify City Hall that they want to buy a certain tract. The request is then routed to an appropriate program.

Duran said the committee has not met for more than a year. But she said the department is conducting a review of how it disposes of unused property.

Evelyn Friedman, the mayor’s Cabinet chief of housing, said the administration treads carefully with city-owned property disposal. To whom it is sold and for what uses can be contentious issues, Friedman said.

“Neighborhoods can really have a lot of emotion around a particular lot,’’ she said.

Another allegation McCrea leveled during the debate was that Menino doled out multi-million dollar tax breaks unfairly to developers. He cited in particular a break given to the developers of One Beacon, a 1-million-square-foot office tower.

A review of that abatement yesterday found the benefit was given to the developer in 1969, long before Menino took office. The Menino administration did approve its continuance, however, after multiple sales during his tenure.

“The city agreed to a 40-year term, and I don’t think we ever had the unilateral right to renegotiate, and the term was honored,’’ said John F. Palmieri, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

In addition, city officials said, in exchange for not paying taxes, One Beacon pays 23 percent of its gross income to the city. Last year, city officials said, that amount was more than $7 million. They could not say whether that amount is more or less than One Beacon would pay the city if it were simply paying taxes and not receiving the abatement.

Michael Levenson of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.