"Developer says Fenway Center needs tax breaks" by Casey Ross | Globe Staff, October 31, 2013
The developer of Boston’s ambitious Fenway Center development is seeking $7.8 million in city tax breaks to proceed with construction, saying the $500 million mega-project could fall apart without urgent public assistance.
Such is the state of fa$cist AmeriKa these days. Costs are $ocialized; profits are kept private.
John Rosenthal said the project’s ability to generate sufficient returns has been undermined by construction costs that have risen 20 percent since the project was approved by the city four years ago.
Oh, it IS ABOUT making PROFITS! TAXPAYERS mu$t GUARANTEE a DECENT RETURN to BU$INE$$!
That's not capitalism. In capitalism the developer a$$umes the ri$k.
“We are shovel ready, we’re financed, and we’re standing on third base,” he said. “We simply need a tax agreement to finally bring Fenway Center home and build this city’s first major air rights project in more than three decades.”
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Rosenthal said the money would fill a gap in funding needed to satisfy his primary financial backer, Bentall Kennedy Group, a major real estate investment firm that wants a 6 percent return on the project.
UN-F***ING-BELIEVABLE!!
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The project has obtained the support of neighbors and many public officials because of its potential to transform a gritty pocket of the city near Fenway Park.
Related: Building Boston Up
And then it gets torn down.
Though it was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 2009, the project was delayed by a soft economy and then became entangled in a lawsuit with an abutting property owner who objected to its size and layout. Rosenthal prevailed in that suit last year, but then lease negotiations with the state dragged on longer than expected.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation approved revised lease terms with Rosenthal, who has committed to pay rent to the state for 99 years.
But by the time the deal was finalized, the project’s construction costs had risen by $48 million. Rosenthal said that increase threw off the expected return of Bentall Kennedy, requiring tax assistance to get the firm to commit money for construction.
All to guarantee a return!
One real estate specialist said building costs have risen significantly in recent years as increasing development activity in Boston and elsewhere created more demand for labor and materials.
Then why is the job market still s***ty and unemployment still moving up?
“Prices have gone up, and they’re only going to rise more as the economy strengthens,” said Greg Vasil of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board....
Executives with Bentall Kennedy, whose investment clients include the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and Delta Airlines, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Related: Boston Blight
WTF is a pension system doing investing in real estate projects?
Also see: The California "Crisis"
There really is not one but you are made to think there is.
The company has backed several large office projects in Boston and its suburbs. It funded a major renovation of the former Verizon building in downtown Boston, which was recently leased by Brown Brothers Harriman.
Related: Stoking Up a Post About Brown Brothers Harriman
Rosenthal said he still is hopeful a tax agreement can be reached to move the project forward.
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You might have mi$$ed this story because of the other Fenway event.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Intel Tax Deal Was Dumb Idea
Will Massachusetts ever learn?
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
With Red Sox victory, a lesson in hope
I guess the fix was in because the parallels are being made to that horrific scripted and staged false flag known as the Marathon bombings. Patriots win in 2001, aided and abetted by the tuck rule call and now 12 years later.... ???
Washington, D.C., pledges allegiance to the Red Sox Nation
I'm so glad $ports are biparti$an (as the Globe takes a poke at Liz Warren? Who gives a f*** who you like as a sports team when it comes to running the country. What an in$ult to readers)!
Red Sox rally expected to be a rollicking time
"Terrorists" won't be spoiling the party?
World Series gear flies off the shelves
The great question in the sports world (one that went unmentioned and unasked) is whether the World Series MVP was on performance-enhancing drugs since he was implicated in an earlier report. Don't let cheating, dishonesty, and unfairne$$ spoil the party though!
Also see: Letters | Strong finish for Sox
One guy has it right; Red Sox fans are arrogant assholes.
