Mixed-Use Project in Boston Wins $21.5Mln in Tax Credits

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Chris Reidy

Developers of the massive Columbus Center project over the Massachusetts Turnpike won state and Boston city tax credits yesterday that could be worth $21.5 million, after failing in several previous attempts to get public assistance.

The Economic Assistance Coordinating Council , a public-private body that oversees government incentives for development, approved the credits, despite a warning from Massachusetts Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan that Columbus Center did not appear to qualify.

That incentive program is ``exclusively for projects that cannot be developed through the `ordinary operations of private enterprise,' " Sullivan wrote to the council Wednesday, citing the program's guidelines. ``Clearly this project was designed to be developed through the ordinary operations of private enterprise."

Winn Development plans an urban village of 1.3 million square feet over the turnpike and surrounding area, bridging the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. The project includes a 35-story tower with hotel rooms, condominiums and stores, as well as several additional condo buildings and four parks.

Costs for Columbus Center, a decade in the making, have recently ballooned to $624 million, partly because of sharply higher costs for building materials.

One dispute is whether Winn promised to build the project entirely without public funding. His critics say Winn made such a promise, something Winn denies.

During the lengthy permitting process, the issue of public aid, including tax credits, and the project's size became intertwined.

When neighborhood residents complained Columbus Center was too big, they said Winn responded that the project needed to be that big to be profitable enough to attract private investors and not need public assistance.

In these critics' view, the developer used that argument to win key permits for a large project, and then later asked for public aid without reducing the size of the project.

Winn vehemently disputes that account.

``From the get-go, public support was always built into this project," said Alan Eisner , a Winn spokesman.

Addressing some of the newly approved tax credits, Eisner said that government officials ``really stepped up to the plate and provided a meaningful and appreciated portion of the economic resources required to move this project forward."

``It's not appropriate to use taxpayer dollars to enhance a developer's profits," said state Representative Martha M. Walz , a Boston Democrat.

But Deb Shufrin , an economic assistance council member, said the incentive program's goal is to promote job creation, and Columbus Center is expected to generate many jobs.

``We disagree with the inspector general's interpretation" of the guidelines, Shufrin said.

Senior assistant inspector general Jack McCarthy said his office is limited to making recommendations. ``We can't force the council to do anything," he said.

The Globe reported in December that Winn was seeking more than $50 million total in public aid.

But the Legislature recently rejected a $4.3 million grant, and Eisner said Winn learned last month that its request for federal tax credits with a present-day value of $15 million was rejected.

Eisner noted that Columbus Center would include more than $40 million in public benefits such as parks, affordable housing, and a groundwater recovery system.

Construction is expected to begin in about 60 days, Eisner said.