Well, it was about what you’d expect.
The owner of the Alexandra Hotel was in to see the South End Landmarks Commission, last night.
He needed to appear before the board in order to get new approvals for his plans to renovate the building. The old designs were drawn up in 2002 and had expired.
I know, right?
But, wait, this meeting wasn’t for the board to approve the plans they’ve already approved. It was a preliminary review of the plans.
But, the owner’s architect had actually made some changes to the pre-approved designs.
So, basically, this means there’s now another barrier to actually building anything at the site.
The owner is going to go back and make more drawings of changes he is proposing to the exterior and interior of the building, which is at the corner of Washington Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
The commission is going to refresh its memory about what was approved and not approved five years ago (several of the commission’s members weren’t on the board five years ago).
Then, they’ll get back together, sometime soon.
The owner says he needs to schedule meetings with others, in the meantime. With the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, local residents.
See what’s happening there? It’s subtle, sneaky.
Because those meetings will take time to set up, to prepare for, to hold, to review.
Meaning, the owner will be able to delay, again, doing anything on the site.
A cynic would say it’s all planned. A cynic would say that the owner is doing this all on purpose. Because now the owner gets to say, “I would LOVE to start building on this site … but I can’t!!!! The city hasn’t approved my plans! Oh, the bureaucracy!”
A cynic would point this out in the meeting. A cynic would shout, “You are all being made complicit in this! He’s using this as a delaying tactic. These plans were agreed to in 2002. He could have started building in 2002. In 2003. In 2004. In 2005. In 2006. In 2007.”
Yeah, that’s what a cynic would do.
Or, an absolutely crazy person, who was then escorted from the building.
Well, I tried.
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Updated: 1st Q 2018
