WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. January 7, 2008:  The Common Council has approved the design of the Cappelli Enterprises  8-story glass and granite affordable housing building to rise on 240 Main Street. A spokesman for Cappelli Enterprises confirmed Wednesday that demoltion began with interior work Tuesday, as the developer promised the Council Monday evening. The vote was 6-0-1 with Councilperson Milagros Lequona abstaining because she was not familiar with the materials proposed for the building.

Louis Cappelli told the council he was withdrawing his request for a two month extension to complete the 240 Main Street "Affordable Housing" building he has been requesting since last September (shown in background photograph). Cappelli said he and his engineers now think they can complete the 8-story project by early August, and if not, Mark Weingarten, Mr. Cappelli’s attorney said that would be an issue taken up in August. After some 45 minutes of discussion on what had been expected to be a routine resolution, the council approved the design of the building. 

Mr. Boykin, the Common Council president, suggested that Mr. Cappelli could put the affordable units he owes anywhere even second tower of the Ritz-Carlton complex, but that no Certificates of Occupancy would be issued on the remaining tower of the Ritz complex without the affordable housing units Mr. Cappelli owes in connection with the 221 Main/Ritz-Carlton project (24 units)being completed at that time.  

This issue produced considerable acrimony, with Mr. Weingarten noting that Ms. Malmud’s suggestion that Mr. Cappelli owed the units on time, “ outrageous” and a gesture of “bad faith,” considering that the Common Council had encouraged Mr. Cappelli to make a deal with the builders of the Pinnacle and have The Pinnacle build the affordable housing Mr. Cappelli agreed to build in exchange for the 221 Main project.

Mr. Cappelli said “I feel like I’m getting beat up here. And I put $1.1 Billion into the city when no one else would.”  Glen Hockley, the Councilman remembered that the council did encourage Mr. Cappelli to make the Pinnacle deal.

The Council approved the resolution 6-0-1.

 Given Mr. Cappelli’s ability to maintain a floor a week pace, it is not inconceivable that the 42-unit, 8 Story building would be finished by August. You can figure two weeks for demolition; 4 weeks for the foundation 10 weeks for the 8-stories and that takes you into early June giving the developer eight weeks to complete the building, barring bad weather.

Garage Building Tabled Until Feb 4

On the matter of the Air Rights building Cappelli proposes for the City Center Garage, the council tabled that until  the meeting of February 4. The reason for the tabling is that Cappelli Enterprises is developing a proposal that will allow the 23 units in the Air rights Building to be heated at an affordable rate which the firm intended to reveal  before the February 4 date.

In an issue that surfaced during the discussion of those two projects with Councilman Thomas Roach, Mr. Cappelli said he wanted to make sure the city understood he proposed the 42 units in the 240 Main Street building would be a mix of market rate housing and affordable housing – not all affordable units. This was going to be confirmed with the city Corporation Counsel and Mr. Cappelli’s attorneys.

"Political Amnesia" Strikes

Dennis Power, the Councilman, demanded an explanation as to why he had never received a letter dated September 21 in which Cappelli Enterprises had asked for an extension of the August 10, 2008 deadline for having the 221 Main “affordable housing” obligation completed in order that the second Ritz-Carlton complex building could be granted certificates of occupancy.

 Power said he could not remember ever receiving the letter and made quite a fuss about it. Cappelli Enterprises attorney, Mark Weingarten, said it had been sent by e-mail, fax and also to the Mayor’s Office.  After Councilman Power carried  on about this for fifteen minutes, Mayor Joseph Delfino’s Executive Officer, Paul Wood,  produced the Common Council backup material from the  October Common Council meeting in which the “missing” September 21 letter was included as item 102. Mr. Power apologized to the Mayor.

Won't Stop the Documents

Mr. Wood, when asked  by WPCNR, if developers would be asked not to send any materials to councilpersons in the future, said the Mayor’s office would entertain no such embargo and that documents would continue to be passed on to the council as they always had been. Mayor Joseph Delfino resurrected the term coined by WPCNR  in 2001 , “political amnesia” as being a malaise known to affect some councilpersons. The efforts of Cappelli Enterprises to obtain an extra two months of construction time for the 240 Main Street building have been common knowledge to the reporters covering city hall for the last four months, having been discussed at length in work sessions.

How did the Ritz-Carlton Island happen?

In yet another Cappelli Enterprises issue, the council referred out a request by Cappelli Enterprises to purchase the traffic island the company has already constructed in the middle of the new street, Renaissance Square in front of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Councilman Dennis Power asked for an explanation of how the council is considering selling something that the developer had already built upon. Mayor Delfino explained that the Ritz-Carlton had requested the granite block and it had been done to comply with the Ritz request. (Cappelli Enterprises is proposing purchasing the space taken up by the granite block for $18,240.) Mr. Hockley proposed it be leased in perpetuity, not naming a price.  Ms. Malmud proposed it be leased for a dollar. The matter will be taken up again in work session.

Soundview Fights Fenway on Paddle Tennis Courts

The public hearing on the Fenway Golf Club Paddle Tennis Courts which was met with a contingent of neighbors along Soundview Avenue in opposition to the lit tennis court proposal. Robert Goldstein spoke for the group critic ising the lights proposed for the relocation of the paddle tennis courts as deteriorating the esthetics of the neighborhood. Councilman Boykin suggested the courts simply rebuilt on their present location at the club.  The hearing was held over until February 4.

No Electronic Games Zoning Vagueness here

Finally, the council voted down a resolution that would have loosened the ordinance regulating electronic games. The House of Fun had requested the ordinance be modified to exclude electronic games for use by children under 10 when used in a facility catering to such children exclusively. The council rejected this as making the ordinance too vague.