March 3, 2009 - Developer Ted Raymond - Raymond Property - Government Center Garage Site, Boston MA

Despite political and economic headwinds, Boston developer Ted Raymond is plowing ahead with his plan to build a pair of skyscrapers as part of a $2.2 billion development on the current site of the Government Center Garage.

Developer Ted Raymond has proposed two office towers, at 42 stories and 52 stories, on the site of the Government Center Garage, plus lower residential buildings near the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway

Developer presses on with plan for towers

$2.2b project faces money, land issues

Despite political and economic headwinds, Boston developer Ted Raymond is plowing ahead with his plan to build a pair of skyscrapers as part of a $2.2 billion development on the current site of the Government Center Garage.

Raymond, chairman of Raymond Property Co., filed plans with the city yesterday to demolish the hulking garage and replace it with two glass office towers, one with 42 stories on Congress Street, and the other with 52 stories, wedged into the block between New Chardon and New Sudbury streets.

The proposal also calls for a hotel, stores, restaurants, and a pair of residential buildings along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

The firm selected to design the development is Cook + Fox Architects, of New York, officials familiar with the project said.

The design was not included in plans filed yesterday, but a rendering posted on the project's website shows two sleek glass towers open to large amounts of natural light. The larger of the two towers, rivaling the 52-story Prudential Building in height, would be a shimmering three-tiered building that culminates in an angular crown.

City Hall has already voiced reservations, not least because Ray mond proposes to build the bigger tower on land he doesn't own.

Because of that, Raymond separated his plan into two development scenarios: one that includes only the property he owns, and a second one that stretches onto property occupied by a newly renovated Boston police station and an NStar facility.

Raymond must acquire that property to build the larger of the two towers, or rights to build there. He would also have to relocate or build around the police station and the NStar facility.

A representative for Raymond, Justine Griffin, said the project's planning consultant, the Cambridge firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, recommended that NStar and city parcels be included in the development.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority is convening a group of neighbors to make recommendations.

A spokeswoman said NStar has been in preliminary discussions with Raymond about its facility.

"We need to evaluate if it can be relocated or if the developer could obtain a permit to build over it," said the spokeswoman, Caroline Allen.

Raymond's gambit is made harder by the timing: A mayoral election is coming in November. Already, one opponent of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, City Councilor Michael Flaherty, is accusing city officials of going too light on Raymond's proposal.

"Why are we as a city allowing a developer to make the rules here?" Flaherty asked. "The City of Boston just invested roughly $5 million of taxpayer money in the police station. Now, we're selling it off to a bidder of the BRA's choice."

The BRA's director, John Palmieri, sharply rejected that criticism, saying the process for considering Raymond's proposal is just getting started.

"To suggest that we're not paying enough attention to good planning is nonsense," he said.

Another challenge is money. Loans for commercial development are almost nonexistent. But Griffin said Raymond has strong financial partners who would finance him once he receives city approvals, hoped for in 12 to 18 months.

His partners are the pension fund of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Lewis Trust Group, a British real estate firm.

"We will be well-positioned to capitalize on the first seeds of economic recovery in Boston," Griffin said.

Original Story - Boston Globe

Related Story - October 24, 2008

Developer Ted Raymond is proposing to build two office towers, 42 and 52 stories high, as part of a massive mixed-used complex on property now dominated by the hulking Government Center garage near Boston City Hall.

The proposal, estimated to cost $2.2 billion, would result in the demolition of the 2,300-space garage. Raymond would replace it with a row of retail stores, restaurants, and a hotel that would hide new garages with space for more than 2,000 cars.

"The thinking is oriented toward people walking along a downtown sidewalk, so it looks very much like a typical Boston streetscape," said Steve Kasnet, the chief executive of Raymond Property Co.

Raymond's proposal would extend the Financial District down Congress Street and open up a corridor whose continuity was interrupted by construction of the garage in the early 1970s.

The complex would be built in stages, with the first buildings estimated to be finished in 2014.

The two towers - one on Congress Street, the other along New Chardon - would add more than 2 million square feet of office space during the next decade. Raymond is betting that demand for office space will be on the upswing when he seeks to proceed with construction in 2010.

The proposal also includes two new residential buildings across Congress Street, along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Those structures would be 12 and 17 stories in height, consistent with the size of buildings that now border the Greenway.

Raymond has previously built Trinity Place in Copley Square and Flagship Wharf in Charlestown. His financial partners in the Government Center development are the $12 billion pension fund of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Lewis Trust Group, a British company with worldwide property interests.

The Raymond Co. does not expect to begin construction for about 18 months, when officials hope credit markets will have reopened to help finance the development of large commercial projects.

Kasnet said the firm expects to file a proposal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority within two weeks, though.

In recent months, Raymond Co. officials have been meeting with community members and have created their own website, demolishthegarage.com. Representatives of the company were to meet with neighbors last night to discuss the towers' heights, long a principal point of concern.

Bob O'Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association, said the towers could meet resistance from owners of the nearby Charles River Apartments, whose downtown views could be partially obstructed by the new structures.

But he said Raymond has been generally well received by neighbors, who want to see demolition of the Government Center garage.

"To call it the Berlin Wall disparages Berlin," O'Brien said of the massive gray structure.

Still, Raymond faces considerable obstacles. For one, he doesn't own all of the land he is proposing to use. The city owns property along New Sudbury Street that currently houses a newly renovated police station, and several other structures that would be in the way of the 52-story tower. There is also an NStar substation on the property.

John Palmieri, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said the city must also study the effects of wind and shadows on the Greenway, as well as parking and traffic. "It's a robust development, so the question is whether the city could accommodate it," he said.

Raymond's architect for the project, Chan, Krieger, Sieniewicz of Cambridge, conducted a study that showed there would be shadows from the office towers over the Greenway for no more than one hour a day. They also said the building heights would be similar to those of existing structures near the Greenway, including the Custom House and the 75 State St. tower.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a North End Democrat, and State Representative Marty Walz have raised the possibility of Raymond's setting aside space within the development for Suffolk University, which is seeking to build more student housing.

"I want to have Suffolk brought into the conversation about this site, because it is within one of the school's targeted expansion areas," said Walz, a Back Bay Democrat.

Suffolk is not currently included in the plan, but Kasnet said developers will entertain new ideas as the permitting process moves forward.

Original Story - Boston Globe