While an environmental organization and would-be neighbors are planning a legal fight, developer Don Chiofaro is planning to push ahead with plans for a 600-foot waterfront skyscraper where he currently owns the Boston Harbor Garage.
Massachusetts approved the Downtown Waterfront District Municipal Harbor Plan that would permit Chiofaro to move forward with his long-stalled skyscraper, but the Conservation Law Foundation and residents of the Harbor Towers condominium complex next to his garage have both said they would fight the zoning with legal challenges against the approved plan. Both groups said the new zoning didn’t provide enough public benefit and would enable more towers at the edge of Boston Harbor, the Boston Globe reports. The developer responded by highlighting the public spaces that would come with his project.
The Chiofaro Co. released images to the paper that zero in on open space it would develop that would connect the waterfront and New England Aquarium with the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
“We have an unbelievable opportunity at Central Wharf,” Chiofaro told the Globe. “There’s only one way to unlock that opportunity, and that’s to take the garage down.”
The developer has tried for years to build a tower on the site of the Boston Harbor Garage, but he faced opposition from neighbors and the late Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The state zoning approval was a step forward for the project, but the lawsuits against the Municipal Harbor Plan could delay construction.
The CLF did a similar measure against developer Jon Cronin’s condo proposal at 150 Seaport Blvd. that was viewed as obstructionist by city and state leaders as well as South Boston residents. The organization eventually reached a $13M settlement with Cronin.
Despite the opposition, Chiofaro said he will still attempt to get Boston Planning & Development Agency approval for the project this summer.
CORRECTION: JUNE 29, 1 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly explained the Conservation Law Fund’s legal challenge against the Municipal Harbor Plan. This story has been updated.
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