Have you ever been to Pier 6, the seaside Charlestown restaurant with roof deck vistas of Boston Harbor and the city skyline? Have you ever noticed the blatantly vacant pier, fenced off from the world, sitting right next to it? Given the recent revelation that the Boston Redevelopment Authority owns acres upon acres of prime Boston real estate and doesn’t generate a single cent of revenue from them, I asked myself if this is a similar case.
Turns out, it is.
The pier in question is known to the BRA and City of Boston as Eighth Street and has been owned by the former for years. Coming in at 158,461-square-feet in size, roughly 3.6 acres, the Eighth Street pier falls in line with similar lane parcels owned by the BRA that sit idly by as the rest of Boston undergoes a development renaissance, as does the 24,000-square-feet of unused office space at Fish Pier owned by MassPort.
A BRA spokesperson confirmed with BostInno that the pier is designated for residential development and was even tapped for such by a developer “years ago,” but the BRA ultimately “de-designated it over concerns they couldn’t move forward with the project.”
The BRA did not provide the name of the developer or organization, how long ago this designation and de-designation took place or why the BRA saw fit to renege on the prospective project.
According to the City of Boston’s online property assessor’s report, the Eight Street pier’s Fiscal Year 2014 land valuation is $1,584,600. The report also notes that estimated Fiscal Year 2015 preliminary total tax is $0.0.
Mayor Marty Walsh recently made good on a promise to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of the BRA to assess how it operates and how it can continue to do so while following his theme of governmental transparency. The findings concluded, among other troubling structural leadership and digital organizational issues, that the BRA is sitting on top of a bevy of lucrative properties throughout the city, including the Boston Marine Industrial Park in the Seaport and a number of parking lots spanning from the South End to Charlestown.
Ironically enough, the BRA makes most of its money through its property investments and it’s unclear why at this time there’s been so much disconnect pertaining to these specific locations.
The BRA did not provide any information on how it plans to move forward with the pier at Eighth Street in Charlestown, though, it’s quite possible that a third party has some involvement.
The pier sits strategically, though perhaps inconveniently, in front of a massive condominium complex known as Flagship Wharf. Complete with 201 luxury residences, a 516-car parking garage and 34,000-square-feet of commercial space, Flagship Wharf’s immaculate views are obstructed by nothing, as no structure sits upon the Eighth Street pier.
And remember, the Eighth Street pier is designated for residential use. If I were a resident at Flagship Wharf, the last thing I would want is another building staring back at me as I peer out my spotless windows.
BostInno reached out to Thayer & Associates, Inc., the managing agent of Flagship Wharf, to see if they’ve had any involvement in the lack of development on the pier. Nobody was immediately available to comment.
Screenshot via Google Maps
