Barking Crab Not Being Moved for Seaport Square

$3.5 billion city neighborhood
Developer John Hynes makes Seaport Square plan official
By Scott Van Voorhis | Tuesday, June 3, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
| Real Estate

Photo by Seaport Square
A rebuilt Barking Crab will not be part of Seaport Square, a sweeping
proposal for millions of square feet of new development near South
Boston¹s waterfront.

Hub developer John Hynes, who officially filed his Seaport Square
proposal yesterday at City Hall, confirmed he has dropped his efforts
to lure the harborside seafood eatery into his project.

The proposal failed to win over the eatery¹s owners, who have opted to
stay in their rustic and colorful perch right on the waterfront.

³The Barking Crab is in a very unique location there,² said George
Regan, the restaurant¹s spokesman. ³There is only so much waterfront
in this city.²

Undaunted, Hynes said he¹s now pushing ahead with plans for what would
be the largest new development project in Boston history.

The $3.5 billion project would transform 23 acres of surface parking
lots across from the J. Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse into a new
neighborhood of 5,000 residents.

Hynes wants to start work later this year on a first phase of two
smaller residential buildings totaling 110 units, with 46,000 square
feet of shops and retail on the first two floors. There are also plans
to move and rebuild the Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel on a nearby site.

³Not since the filling of the Back Bay has Boston had an opportuntiy
to create a new neighborhood,² Hynes¹ development team claims in plans
filed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. ³Seaport Square in
South Boston will be Boston¹s first 21st century neighborhood.²

Hynes hopes to start work on the project¹s second phase in 2010.

That includes most of Seaport Square¹s 2,500 residential units, 1.4
million square feet of office and lab space, 1.25 million square feet
of retail, and a 700-room hotel.

There are also plans for a pair of schools for 2,000 students - a
public, pre-K early learning center for 200 students and a private
school for another 1,800 children.