Court Issues Ruling Affecting Planned Harborfront Development in Boston

A Massachusetts Superior Court Judge issued a ruling challenging plans for a 600-foot residential tower on Downtown Boston's Waterfront. Superior Court Judge Brian Davis threw out Boston's Municipal Harbor Plan that set rules for new development on 42 acres of the downtown waterfront, affecting plans for The Pinnacle at Central Wharf.

"The Court’s ruling addresses the State’s regulatory framework for waterfront projects, but is not a ruling on the merits of the Harbor Garage or any other project," said The Chiofaro Company, the project's developer, in a statement. 

The planned development located at the site of the Harbor Garage, an existing 70-foot high parking structure, would entail the construction of a 600-foot tall iconic tower by owner Don Chiofaro. The 865,000 square-foot building would serve as a mixed-use property of office, residential, and retail space.

The ruling has wide implications for future development along the entire Massachusetts coastline. With the ruling overthrowing plans put in place for coastal development, climate-resilient toolkits used by both municipalities and developers are thrown into doubt. "Using the Municipal Harbor Plan, we plan to raise the site to 2070 sea-level-rise projections and will account for a 4-foot change in elevation to meet that," said Rob Caridad, principal at The Chiofaro Company.

“Climate-ready Boston looks at the whole 40+ miles of waterfront and they’ve zoomed in on individual neighborhoods. We have taken our lead and participated in the process by incorporating these resiliency toolkits out of the downtown report,” Caridad said. “We want what we ultimately build to be compatible with what our neighbors are thinking, and compatible with the climate-ready plan. What is the role we can play? The benefit of the project is that it can be a catalyst, but it’s also important that it's integrated.”

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