For developers, a bad economy may not be so bad in some ways
What are these guys thinking?
That was my first reaction when I read of Ted Raymond’s $2.2 billion twin tower proposal near Government Center and Don Chiofaro’s equally ambitious plan to build this own pair of highrises next to the new Greenway.
Both plans would dynamite ugly, monolothic parking garages. But both are hopelessly ambitious at a time you can’t get a loan to build a Rt. 128 office building, let along some new, multibillion-dollar development in downtown Boston.
It’s funny how as the economy goes from bad to worse, the proposals for new projects become ever grander.
Yet there may be a method behind all this seeming madness.
Neither project is gonig to get built in the next year or two. In fact, we are probably looking at years here.
But if you want to extract concessions from harried, cash-strapped city officials, what better time to push the limits when it comes to plans for a new skyrise complex.
In fact, it is well-developed, time-tested strategy, according to one local real estate executive I chatted with recently.
When times are flush and the docket of the Boston Redevelopment Authority is brimming with new proposals, city officials tend to feel like there’s an embarrasment of riches. If you won’t play by our rules, well fine, there’s another developer with big plans ready to take your place.
But when the chips are down, well that’s the time to really push and get all you can get, apparently.