Amid cutbacks, mayor fast-tracks three Back Bay developments

by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun

When Governor Deval Patrick announced cutbacks last week, Mayor Thomas M. Menino followed suit with his own belt-tightening announcements, including a hiring freeze and a cutback on capital improvement projects.
Menino also announced plans to fast-track three Back Bay developments, which he hoped would bring in more money to the local economy.
In a move he hasn’t made since September 11, 2001, the mayor pushed the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to finish up development projects in the city. In response, the BRA immediately identified five projects that could enrich the local economy by $1.9 billion and bring in thousands of jobs. The projects include three in the Back Bay: the 19-story 888 Boylston Street office tower near the Hynes Convention Center; a 30-story residential tower on Exeter Street; and the Hayward Place, a 14-story mixed-use building with 19,000 square feet of retail space and underground parking.
“It was in response to the governor’s state fiscal plan,” said BRA spokesperson Jessica Shumaker. “We rely on the state for a number of things.”
Shumaker said, “The BRA will look at ways to see which projects can get their approvals in a quicker time frame. Nothing has been immediately determined.”
She said the Hayward Place project has already received BRA approval, and that the Exeter and Boylston projects are well along in the process. “We will try to get board approval quickly,” she added.
And other projects that aren’t on the fast track?
“These were just the five that immediately came to mind. It doesn’t mean that other projects won’t be identified and looked at,” said Shumaker.
State Representative Marty Walz, who also is actively involved with these development projects, was startled when she heard about the express approvals.
“I’m not sure what they are saying,” said Walz, who points out that these projects also depend on community support. Since PruPAC (Prudential Project Advisory Committee) is reviewing Back Bay proposals and are slated to take a vote Nov. 10, that may mean PruPAC may not approve them, said Walz.
“The outcome of that vote is entirely uncertain. The project is tentatively [set] for approval in December. Those meetings are already scheduled, and I don’t know if there’s anything to expedite.”
While Walz said the BRA is correct that, on its end, the BRA is well along in the process, she worries whether the PruPAC recommendations will be ignored in trying to expedite the projects.
The Copley Tower project in particular is a long way away from being approved by PruPAC, said Walz “There is significant work to be done by the CAC. It could be sped up, but the CAC [Citizens Advisory Committee] is already meeting every other week … that’s a pretty aggressive schedule.
“The BRA can ignore that recommendation if it likes, but I’d be surprised if this could move much faster than it could be moving,” said Walz. “They may need to look at other things that can be sped up, or other projects that are languishing, but these three buildings are not languishing.”
Menino also speculated that the city may have to postpone such capital improvement projects as maintenance and repairs of playgrounds, parks, sidewalks, streets, and schools, and also cut back on community policing and firefighter training.
"This is the beginning, as I look at it. What it's going to mean is we're going to have to work smarter and more efficiently," Menino said. So far, that doesn’t mean layoffs.
On Wednesday, Governor Patrick announced more than $1 billion in state budget cuts, of which the city is expected to be directly affected by only $5 million of those cuts.
The Next PruPAC meeting is Monday, November 10, at 6 p.m. at the Hynes Convention Center in Room 102 to discuss 888 Boylston/Exeter Street Residences DPIR submission.