Development Likely to Have Revere Beach Gleaming Anew
Development Likely to Have Revere Beach Gleaming Anew
Boston Globe, August 30, 2007 By Thomas C. Palmer
With new upscale condominiums being built and plans for a $500 million hotel, office, residential, and retail development in the works, Revere Beach may be ready for a comeback more than a half century after its glory days.
Since the early 1950s, Revere has tried in vain to restore life to its historic beachfront, the first in the nation officially reserved for public use. But that’s about to change — groundbreaking is scheduled next year on a project to develop about 10 acres adjacent to the Wonderland MBTA station. Plans for the development, called Waterfront Square at Revere Beach, include a 13-story hotel, 902 condominiums, and nearly 200,000 square feet of office, restaurant and retail space. It should begin just as a $9 million upgrade of the beach and Revere Beach Parkway is being completed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“We look at our beach as sort of a hidden jewel,” said Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino.
Eurovest Development Inc. of Boston won a two-year competition to develop a half-mile stretch of land, comprising three large properties that have been neglected since the late 1950s, despite numerous unsuccessful attempts to develop the land.
In the 1890s, the renowned planner Charles Eliot laid out the Revere Beach Reservation, which was declared a national historic landmark in 2003. Eurovest plans to restore public uses to the reservation property, including a wide boardwalk from Route 1A to the beach, and waterfront parks.
In its prime, during the first half of the 20th century, Revere Beach boasted grand hotels, roller coasters, taverns, cafes, and cottages, as well as three miles of sand and surf. But recreational habits changed after World War II, the crowds vanished, and the area became known for its run-down houses, closed businesses and abandoned buildings. Eventually, blocks of urban history were cleared to make way for renewal that never materialized.
Even before the ambitious project starts, there have been signs of improvement in Revere. Five hotels, with 800 rooms, have opened in the last dozen years, said Paul H. Rupp, a city planner 25 years ago who is now a principal of Community Reinvestment Associates, a consulting firm. “They’re doing very, very well,” he said. Rupp is consulting with the city on developing the site.
The St. George condominiums, in a large pink building on the north end of the beach, were built in the early 1980s along with a few other complexes, but nothing substantial had been added until recently. Eurovest is also developing the Atlantica, 82 condo units north of the redevelopment site. Joseph R. DiGangi, Eurovest’s managing director, says he has sold all but 20, priced at $275,000 to $560,000. Another residential project was recently completed, and one is about to break ground.
Bob Upton, a real estate agent with Century 21 North Shore, said Revere Beach has a rare set of draws. A couple he worked with recently, he said, wanted a large condo on a beach that was close to public transit, near a big city and an airport — and priced at under $500,000. Revere Beach had everything they wanted, Upton said. He recently sold the couple a two-bedroom unit on the seventh floor of the St. George for $435,000.
Upton, who was born in Revere in 1951, said he has waited most of his life for the area’s rejuvenation.
“Revere Beach has always been a place to meet,” said Upton, who designed a poster using postcards of some of the famous rides from the old Revere Beach amusement park: The Cyclone, Oriental Ride, The Thunderbolt, the Jack Rabbit. “Every day at Revere Beach, more memories are being made,” he said.
Jerome Rappaport Sr., developer of Charles River Park in Boston’s old West End, recalls proposing a sweeping development for 250 acres of Revere Beach in the early 1960s, before the “honky-tonk” had been razed. He planned more than 5,000 apartments, including piers extending into the ocean, plus hotels, open space with ocean views, and parking for 10,000 cars. But opposition to the plan forced Rappaport to give up. In addition, Rappaport said, he “became convinced that Revere was just a difficult city to maneuver in,”
Ambrosino said the current development plans are proof the city has changed. With at least $30 million in expected public funding, Waterfront Square appears to be moving forward. New agreements have been struck between the landowners, following legislation in the 1970s that was intended to jump-start such improvements. Eurovest will buy some of the land, and lease other portions from the MBTA through the city.
The city, the state, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and the local Department of Planning and Community Development chose DiGangi’s company over two more experienced developers. “All of us determined Joe had the best vision for the site,” Ambrosino said.
The first phase of the development includes the hotel, with luxury condominiums on the top eight of 13 floors, an office building, and a four-acre park with parking for 300 cars underneath. Nine residential buildings, the highest 13 floors, are planned in later phases, through 2016, north of Wonderland Station as far as Revere Street.
Waterfront Square will be across busy Route 1A from Wonderland Park, which has been talked about as a potential site for casino gambling. Charles Sarkis, owner of the dog-racing track, likes the idea of a new neighbor. “This was the missing piece for Revere and Wonderland,” he said in an e-mail.
Ambrosino stood on a ramp at the MBTA station recently, looking over the track’s vast parking space. “We joke about casinos at Wonderland, but this development will fit well with whatever goes there,” he said.