Lennar Shows Renewed Interest in Fan Pier Sale

A spokesman for Miami-based Lennar reportedly said that the homebuilder is currently assessing its options for the property. Officials from Lennar did not return calls to the company's headquarters yesterday. Lennar has reportedly sat back down at the negotiating table with the Pritzkers but an offer of about $110 million has been rejected.

Real estate insiders claim the high cost of public amenities which were agreed to when the project was first approved, including the construction of a marina, has put up a roadblock in the property's quick sale. The land also requires a sizable up-front investment to put in streets, utilities and underground parking before construction on the mixed-use project can even begin.

An advisor to the Pritzkers, Spaulding & Slye Colliers, a locally based real estate management, development and brokerage firm, is reportedly interested in developing the site, but a company official would only say Monday that the firm remains committed to representing Hyatt in the land sale. The property, the largest development on the South Boston waterfront, is largely vacant although construction has started on the Institute of Contemporary Art under a permitting agreement with the landowners.

Nicholas Pritzker, who heads up the Hyatt hotel chain, spent nearly three years getting permits to construct a $1.2-billion hotel, office and residential complex, but never secured financing for the project. In November, a joint venture between New England Development, Boston Properties and the Related Cos. terminated its purchase agreement with Hyatt Development Corp and forfeited its $2.5-million deposit. Two months earlier in September, Lennar Corp., which offered a reported $125 million for the site, reportedly missed its down payment deadline.

The project is fully permitted for the construction of approximately nine buildings containing three million sf, including 1.1 million sf of multifamily units, 1.2 million sf of office space, 140,000 sf of ground-floor retail and commercial space as well as a 500- to 600-room hotel. Plans also call for 2,285 sf of underground parking and 107,000 sf of civic and cultural space.