Regulation, Financial Turmoil Stalls South Boston Development

By Joshua Schubert

SOUTH BOSTON – A new center for tourism highlighted by large-scale development projects and a proximity to the harbor is planned for South Boston. Timothy Brown, community liaison for City Councilor Bill Linehan, envisions “an entire new neighborhood on the waterfront.”

But there is little evidence of the grand revitalization effort.

There has been “no movement in almost a year,” said Jack Schoaf, a local restaurant owner whose Northern Avenue location overlooks the waterfront and the former site of Jimmy’s Harborside restaurant.

Jimmy’s, a local landmark and one of the first restaurants to open in South Boston, closed for renovations more than two years ago. The plan was to reopen the seafood establishment as part of a larger redevelopment of the pier.

The owner of Jimmy’s obtained the permits this summer. However, “there doesn’t seem, at the moment, to be anything moving forward,” said Vivien Li of the Boston Harbor Association.

The environmental permits initially contributed to the delay, Li said. “Requirements for development on the waterfront are more stringent than inland,” said Li, explaining that the law evolved from the English concept of public access to the seaside.

“Everyone’s concerned about the instability in the market right now,” Li said.

“The [price of] construction materials have gone up exponentially,” she said, and people are “waiting for the right time in the market.”

The largest of the South Boston development projects, Gale International’s Seaport Square, is at an earlier stage in the development process.

Gale International filed their environmental forms with the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office in June, said Janet Logan, Gale International’s marketing director.

“The permitting process is unpredictable with regard to timeframe,” Logan said. “[W]e hope to have the entire 23-acre site approved for development by 2009,” she said.

“The first phase of construction is expected to begin in late 2009 and the target date for project completion is 2015-2016,” Logan said.

The first phase consists of three buildings, said Li, who does not expect construction to begin until 2010.

As for the construction in South Boston as a whole, Li estimates the completion of development to be “15-20 years out.”
The sites are “all in different stages,” said Li, but the turmoil in the financial market “will continue to be a barrier to seeing construction go forward.”

“But I’m optimistic,” she said, “it just helps to create a vibrancy” every time a new local attraction opens for business.