July 30, 2007
By David Liscio/ The Daily Item

A $9-billion-dollar Ohio real estate company has walked away from a deal to purchase and develop a dozen acres of Lynn waterfront known as the Beacon Chevrolet site.

James Cowdell, executive director of the Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corp. (EDIC) confirmed the negotiations between property owner John Granese of Lynn and Cleveland-based Forrest City Enterprises have ceased.

According to Cowdell, the negotiations included a 90-day period of due diligence, during which both parties can research the specifics more thoroughly before making any final decisions. “Forrest City reached the 90 days and asked for more time, but they couldn’t come to any agreement on that,” he said. “Forrest City has walked away, so the property is back on the market.”

Since the deal was scrapped, the EDIC has again stepped in to help Granese market the valuable acreage abutting Lynn Harbor, which comprises a vital piece of the Lynn Waterfront Master Plan.

“We’ve had three parties contact the city to express interest and to get a copy of the master plan,” said Cowdell, noting that those inquires were received within the past two weeks and after the deal fell apart.

The site, named so because it was once home to a Chevrolet dealership, has been the focus of development plans along the northern stretch of the Lynnway near Lynn Heritage State Park and Seaport Marina. Granese was among a group of four businessmen, including Lynn residents Michael T. Miles and John O’Brien, and Thomas Costin Jr. of Nahant, who for more than a decade planned to construct condominiums or townhouses. He later bought out their interests and has continued alone in his efforts to develop the land.

On Aug. 7, local development officials and Sasaki Associates, the city’s primary consulting firm for the harborfront project, will present the latest version of the Lynn Waterfront Master Plan to the City Council’s Economic Subcommittee. Presuming the subcommittee embraces the concept, it will be unveiled before the entire City Council on Aug. 14 for likely endorsement.

“We’re going to keep working with Mr. Granese to develop the Beacon site, but we’re also putting together the other pieces on the waterfront,” said Cowdell, referring to the construction of a boardwalk extending from the Nahant traffic circle to the Gen. Edwards Bridge, and the relocation of electrical transmission towers that currently impede development on the approximately 40-acre South Harbor site near the drawbridge.

Plans are under way with the Massachusetts Electric Co. to move those power lines across the Lynnway and along a road owned by GE.

“There’s a lot going on down there,” said Cowdell, explaining that the master plan will act as a blueprint for future development of under-utilized parcels on 210 acres of land between Heritage State Park and the Gen. Edwards Bridge.

The “gateway” component of the Waterfront Master Plan seeks to link the downtown business district and Central Square with the ocean. It leans heavily on the creation of a pedestrian walkway from the park next to the Lynn Museum on lower Washington Street to North Shore Community College and across the footbridge over the Lynnway to Seaport Marina, according to Community Development Director Hal McGaughey.

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