East Boston, Ma – Mayor Menino, Governor Deval Patrick, US Congressman Michael Capuano, and other officials recently attended a ceremonial groundbreaking for Portside at Pier One, a long-delayed residential construction project on the East Boston waterfront.
But amid the official ceremony was speculation of whether Menino would soon declare his intention to run for re-election, perhaps as early as Tuesday’s state of the city address.
Menino declared the revitalization of the East Boston waterfront a priority for his administration in his annual speech before the Boston Chamber of Commerce in November 2011, specifically citing stalled development projects such as Portside as opportunities to spur growth.
On Monday (Feb. 28) , Menino spoke of the neighborhood’s unparalleled views across Boston Harbor to the downtown skyline and said soon people would be able to look across the harbor from downtown and see East Boston fulfilling its potential.
“East Boston has shown lots of patience,” the mayor said. “Now we’re going to show East Boston progress.”
He expressed hope that the resuming of construction on the Portside project — which began in 2006 but soon stalled as the economy began a dramatic downturn — would spur action on four other waterfront projects proposed in the last decade but sidelined by a lack of financing.
“This will send a sign, a message out to those other projects: you better get going, because we’re on your tail,” Menino said.
Construction began in December on a $67 million luxury apartment complex, the first of seven buildings planned for the Portside project, which will be built on 26 acres of land just outside Maverick Square, between land set aside for a planned phase two of Piers Park and the site of the another proposed residential project called Clippership Wharf.
The land is owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority, which has granted a 95-year lease to New Jersey-based developer Roseland, a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation.
Work on the first building is expected to create 200 full-time construction jobs under contractor Cranshaw Construction of Newton Lower Falls.