With the administration of Mayor Marty Walsh focusing so heavily on the future on development, it’s not surprising that hot shot Boston builder Don Chiofaro has returned to headlines in a big way. It was only a matter of time before he pitched an aesthetically spectacular replacement for his hunk of concrete on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Like we noted in our run-down of former Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s most noted adversaries …
Chiofaro – well known as the chief force behind the exquisite One International Place and a former Harvard football teammate of actor Tommy Lee Jones – wants to build a mixed-use oasis on Boston Harbor where a parking garage now stands, and Menino, more or less inexplicably, has refused him permission … Chiofaro has been silent lately, but you can expect that to change the moment that Menino leaves office.
Courtesy of Chiofaro Cos.
With Menino out of the way, Chiofaro showed off his $1 billion proposal at a community meeting on Wednesday. There’s still a long way to go – he needs approval by the city, for one – but here’s a rough breakdown of the plans (courtesy of Boston Business Journal) …
- A 600-foot tower with 120 condos
- Up to 300 hotel rooms
- A 500-foot professional building with 700,000 square feet of office space
- 35,000 square feet of retail
- In excess of 27,000 square feet of open space
- A 70-foot space between the towers with an all-season open space with a retractable roof
- A skating rink (winter) and a farmer’s market (summer)
It all seems reasonable enough, if not downright exciting since the last time we checked, there won’t be any displacement on Atlantic Ave. At the same time, though, Chiofaro should consider updating the mural at the Palm restaurant inside One International. As I reported from a candidate forum there last year …
In traditional Palm fashion, the wall features a sprawling skyline mural with cartoon images of exceedingly important patrons. Prominent among the painted visages of regulars is Chiofaro himself, rappelling off the roof of One International Place like King Kong. Well beneath him – perched on top of a structure that appears to be a hybrid of the Boston Harbor Hotel and the nearby concrete garage that Hizzoner blocked Chiofaro from developing – are illustrations of Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick, the former flashing a peculiar and menacing grimace … I highly doubt that the Palm mural was intentionally drawn to spite the mayor. Still, the message in it remains that in Downtown Crossing, businesspeople are King Kong, while the rest of us—elected pols included – are merely funny-looking mortals.
Chiofaro is a man of strong conviction. He’s been fighting for this project since at least 2008, and may now have more juice than ever before. To prove it, he should call his muralist, and have them re-touch the caricature skyline to include “Harbor Square,” as the proposed public space is being called. While he’s at it, in the event this all flies, Chiofaro should ask for Mayor Walsh to be depicted hanging tough off the tallest tower with him. Or better yet, from the new 600-foot beast he’s proposing to build down the street.
FURTHER READING
MAYOR MARTY’S MAGICAL MUNICIPAL LISTENING TOUR
A VERY SPECIAL DIG TRIBUTE TO MAYOR MENINO
HIZZONNAROO: THE NEW #BOSMAYOR EBOOK BY DIG NEWS EDITOR CHRIS FARAONE
