Boston Harbor Project Gets Environmental Go-Ahead

BOSTON—In what is seen as a significant step toward construction of the Pritzker family’s Fan Pier project, a 3.3-million-sf, mixed-use complex on the Boston waterfront, the Hyatt Hotel’s draft environmental impact report was approved this week by state environmental affairs secretary John Durand. Obstacles remain, however.

The Conservation Law Foundation, a local environmental group, is threatening action on the ruling, charging that the project would create traffic nightmares in the burgeoning Seaport District and does not meet the spirit of Chapter 91, a regulation that mandates public access and other provisions for commercial waterfront development. CLF senior attorney Stephanie Pollak notes that Fan Pier’s own studies show that the project creates a windier, less-pleasant environment than one fully compliant with Chapter 91.