Billion Dollar Tower - Another Boston Boondoggle?
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Boston is not know for projects coming in on time and on budget. So when the mayor, Tommy Merino proposes building a 1,000 foot tower on the site of a rundown parking garage, you really have to wonder if this is a smart business move or a boondoggle public works project that will double or triple its initial projected costs.
When you think of Boston public works construction, you think of things like the big dig that came in way over budget and many years behind schedule. For an ego project by a sitting mayor you know that this is ripe for corruption.
This isn’t going to be done with a wing and a prayer,” Stratouly said. “It will take substantial equity.”
The estimate comes as City Hall prepares to release today a formal call for proposals from developers eager to take on Menino’s challenge. The so-called request for proposals will spell out what kind of tower Boston officials are looking for on a key Financial District site now covered by a run-down, city-owned parking garage.
The document, eagerly awaited, will spell out the height, square footage and architectural expectations developers will need in drawing up their proposals.
City Hall is likely to seek a variety of uses that would include office, residential and retail, real estate executives say. However, developers interested in the site are already calculating the construction cost of building a skyscraper that could dwarf even the Hancock and the Pru.
Stratouly calculates that a 1,000 foot tower would likely contain 2 million to 3 million square feet of space, given typical tower floor-plate sizes. With downtown high-rise construction costs as high as $500 a square foot, that adds up to anywhere from $1 billion to $1.5 billion, he said via BostonHerald.com
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Comment by Robert Coté on 31 May 2006:
Hmmmmm. Anuone else get a sense of deja vu? We are talking about a public agency building a 1000 foot office building in a major Northeast city. Would they call it World Trade Tower II or would that be WTC III? Perhaps they can get the signature tenant to be Target Corp so they can put the appropriate logo on top without violating copyrights.