Seaport parcel should serve Southie

Remember Southie?

That’s a question people will ask in the not-too-distant future if the gentrification of South Boston continues unchecked.

The latest flare being fired comes via the up-for-grabs 12-acre Seaport parcel Boston will get as part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s plan to expand the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. As the Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter and Erin Tiernan reported, the plan includes shifting a chunk of land just south of the current BCEC to the city for an unspecified purpose. Right now the parcel is mainly parking lots and storage.

And condo worries are already being felt.

“I don’t see there being any support for high-end housing,” state Sen. Nick Collins told the Herald, noting, as some of his colleagues did, that this same land was taken from private property owners two decades ago for the convention center. “That land was not taken to subsidize the rich — it was taken to give some much-needed industries a boost.”

But that was then, and this is now, and the Seaport is a real-estate gold mine of upscale retail, restaurants and ritzy digs.

Baker’s plan and the potential impact on South Boston came as a surprise.

“The community and the delegation was blindsided by it,” said Collins. The plan does have be signed off by the Legislature, and Collins said he wants to see the data the state is working off of before he sees a bill.

“It needs to be used for a public purpose,” said at-large City Councilor Michael Flaherty of South Boston. “I can tell you one thing that the community will not support — and that is a stadium or a heliport.”

Walsh has refused to say what he wants to do with the land, saying, “We haven’t come up with a plan yet.”

He did tell the Herald, “If the city can get control back, there will be a public input process.”

But he didn’t commit to blocking more luxury high-rise condos or office towers from being built there when asked to respond to pleas from elected officials and residents. Walsh said the area needs a “great transition” to better serve as the border between Southie’s older residential area and its higher-priced Seaport district.

The problem is that older residential area, the “real Southie” if you will, has been disappearing for years. The gymnasium at the Gate of Heaven school is now an apartment building. The Cornerstone Pub at 16 W. Broadway is a gleaming tower of condos with a restaurant. St. Peter and Paul Church, also condos. The legendary Quiet Man Pub on Broadway is gone, a Starbucks in its place. The half-acre Amrheins property is under agreement for $18M, and its sister restaurant, Mul’s Diner, is moving to Amhreins’ space to serve breakfast. That iconic little chrome building is reportedly going to be a six-story mixed use structure.

These are just a few of the development projects that are changing the landscape of Southie, and pricing out the blue-collar workers who call the neighborhood home. A two bedroom, two bath condo at 9 W. Broadway is listed for $900,900, but at least you’re close to that Starbucks.

Which is why the city needs to listen to, and heed, the views and input of South Boston residents when the proposed Seaport parcel development gets to that stage. The neighborhood’s pols are on board. “Whatever is built on this land should serve the public,” state Rep. David Biele (D-South Boston) said.

Now the ball’s in Walsh’s court — will the parcel be another slice of the pie for big-bucks condo developers, or will it be something of value for the people who make Southie their home?

 

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2nk0nLr