Pity those poor developers. Having paid premium prices - that is, way too much - for choice spots on our spectacular new Greenway they now find themselves trying to build to the sky to satisfy their investors' requirements for fat returns.
Developer Ori Ron is under growing pressure to rethink his 27-story-and-shrinking tower on the site of the historic Dainty Dot building on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway near Chinatown. International Place developer Don Chiofaro, a man for whom size always matters, is said to be considering as much as 60 stories at his newly acquired garage next to the New England Aquarium. But the most over-the-top example of this build-'em-high Greenway madness comes from Ted Raymond, who is looking for some way to justify the silly $243 million he and his pension fund investors paid for the huge eyesore of a garage at One Congress St.
Raymond is a man not to be outdone. According to several executives and planners who have been briefed on his preliminary plans, Raymond is talking about not one tower, not two, not three, but as many as four towers where the garage now stands and on an adjacent city-owned block. The main tower is projected to be as high as 800 feet, another tower as large as 600 feet, and two other smaller towers would be between 200 and 250 feet, said one of those executives.
While the plan is still preliminary and the drawings Raymond has been shopping are considered "conceptual," he is considering a mixed-use project of residential, office, and retail that would total more than 3 million square feet - or nearly three Prudential Towers, executives say. Parking would likely expand beyond the current 2,300 spaces.
The good news is nearly everyone who has seen Raymond's trial balloon says it is way too much. Even the mayor, who has rarely seen a big building he doesn't like, is rolling his eyes this time. "He was told this was way too big," said one city official after Raymond met recently with Paul McCann, the Boston Redevelopment Authority's longtime go-to guy. Raymond is to meet with the BRA's new director, John Palmieri, on Jan. 7.
Among other things, Raymond has explored moving the proposed YMCA from its spot on the Greenway to a prominent location in his adjacent development as a way of creating leverage for taller towers. John Ferrell, chief executive of the YMCA of Greater Boston, said he has met twice with Raymond and is "willing to listen," but is going ahead with his current plan on the Greenway. "We don't see it as an active option for us at this point," Ferrell said.
Those involved in the project say the BRA's McCann has suggested Raymond consider buying the adjacent block owned by the city that includes the New Chardon Street police station. If that were to happen, Raymond could expand his current vision to four towers, said one executive. Raymond is considering using the two smaller towers for elderly housing, this executive said. A hotel is also in the mix.
Yesterday, Raymond agreed to meet with me on his project, and then backed out. In a statement, spokeswoman Justine Griffin called discussion of the development "premature and speculative. . . . Only early discussions have been held and preliminary guidance sought from the BRA." Raymond's projects have included Trinity Place in Copley Square and Flagship Wharf in the Charlestown Navy Yard; his Turner Hill Golf Club in Ipswich was an artistic success and a financial bust.
All this talk of height and density on the Greenway is being driven less by demand than by the high prices developers paid for these parcels. Take a walk along the Greenway and you will be pleasantly surprised how well it is coming out, starting with the incredible new North End park. After spending $15 billion to get here, the last thing we need is local developers building Manhattan-scale towers to satisfy the needs of institutional investors in Washington, London, and elsewhere.
The mayor inadvertently opened a Pandora's box when he proposed a 1,000-foot tower in the Financial District. But just because some developers were foolish enough to overpay, doesn't mean we need to be foolish enough to overbuild. The measure of success should not be how much we build, but how well we build it.
Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.
