Shoshanna Utchenik
ticklethewire.com
Are sour grapes delaying construction of the FBI’s new $150 million regional headquarters in Chelsea, Massachusetts?
Slated to begin construction late last year (never happened) bid-winning developer Emerald Corporate Center LLC, a division of ACS Development Corp. is facing a lawsuit from losing-bidder Boston Harbor Development Partners, an arm of Pappas Enterprises in South Boston, the Boston Business Journal reports.
Pappas’ attorney argued that Emerald Corporate Center’s site for the FBI headquarters in Chelsea “failed to meet the minimum requirements of the bid and were ineligible for the award”… meaning the Pappas’ bid and MassPort parcel on Fargo Street in Boston should be reconsidered for the lucrative project.
Naturally Boston Mayor Thomas Menino thinks it would be better to keep the FBI HQ in town, while local Chelsea officials are still advocating the move. “It’s not a good decision to put the building in Chelsea,” Menino told the Boston Business Journal. “It makes more sense to put the FBI near the other law enforcement agencies like the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the federal courthouse.”
On the other side, Patricia Simboli said her company ACS has a signed legally binding lease with the federal government, with no escape clause. “We will be constructing the FBI building and Pappas is unhappy about that,” she said.
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