A modest crowd at the Elks Lodge on Pine Street last week got a sneak peek into the latest plans for Cambridge Harbor.
The renderings showed a development of town houses, green space, a hotel, high-end condominiums and other features. For those following the progress of Cambridge Waterfront Development Incorporated, this could be the best design in a long line line of designs over the years.
The drawings by Lew Oliver, a national design firm based in Georgia, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop. It is CWDI’s latest effort to preempt designs by private developers.
CWDI calls it a concept plan – a detailed layout of what its members want Cambridge Harbor to look like. But in practical terms, it’s CWDI’s effort to lock in and control the development.
And with the new plan, come some other certainties.
For one, the stakes for Cambridge Harbor are climbing. Ken Usab, an engineer working for CWDI, estimated at the meeting that the cost of infrastructure for the project will be $50-60 million. That’s twice the cost CWDI represented last year when it was seeking to have Cambridge set up a special tax district to pay for it.
Ultimately it will be up to the city council whether to set up a TIF – a tax increment financing district. Will they commit 30 years of new tax revenue to pay for it? Will they want to place that bet before there is any commercial developer committed to the project?
Last year, former City Manager Tom Carroll resigned because of his misgivings with the CH project. Chief among his concerns was that CWDI was seeking too much public subsidy to build the project before obtaining any commitment from a developer.
It was also clear at CWDI’s presentation that the group is not going to meet the September deadline city commissioner Brett Summers recommended in order to to hire a broker to find developers willing to do the project.
A noticeable change in the plans is a hefty count of residential buildings – around 150 – 160. CWDI members said this is necessary to pay back the huge debt they say is necessary for Cambridge Harbor.
CWDI referred to its latest batch of requirements and drawings as what it called “guidelines.” However CWDI is seeking actual zoning changes that would lock in what can be built on different parcels.
CWDI member Tim Crosby said the board would allow developers some deviation from its plan, such as different numbers of residential units. But he said the board would reject any developers’ plans to change any major features and locations that CWDI has mapped out.
Currently, it includes green space, a fishing pier extending 1,000 feet into the Choptank River, and two sections of what CWDI members referred to as “walkable neighborhoods” which are two clusters of town houses with possible rooftop decks.
Separate houses on Dorchester Ave are planned to match existing houses on the other side of the street. Large, high-end condo buildings along Cambridge creek would contain approximately 24 units. Near the fishing pier would be two potential sites for restaurants, which CWDI members specified would be similar to Portside or Snappers, not national franchises.
In this latest plan, storefronts have been scaled back to avoid draining business from downtown Cambrdge. CWDI presenters said. Planners said a water taxi would carry people from the CH pier to downtown.
The proposed hotel was once again promised to be announced and to lead the development’s construction. Throughout 2023 and 2024, CWDI told Cambridge and Dorchester commissioners the announcement of a deal with hotel brand would be imminent. Or just a few weeks away, or by fall, or by early the following year. It never happened.
CWDI resisted revealing the hotel development company it had been negotiating with. Only after pressure from State Rep Tom Hutchison was the hotel developer _ Pinnacle Hospitality Group _ introduced to the public at a city council session last year. Tauhid Islam, Pinnacle’s founder, offered a video rendering of a boutique hotel, but at that time said he was still trying to get a commitment from a name-brand hotel company willing to buy and build on the site.
CWDI planner Tim Crosby said the Hotel and the Fishing pier represent the first phase of the project, and estimated the hotel would be open by 2029. The residential portions would follow in subsequent phases over years.
The plan indicated a building on the design for CWDI itself – a sign of the group’s intention to be an on-going presence after Cambridge Harbor is built. Members previously suggested they would act as a management company and institute fees similar to a home owners association.
That expanded role for CWDI has not been endorsed by the city or county. Commissioners will have to decide whether they are going to allow and support a separate, quasi-governmental entity in place of the city’s own departments for managing and maintaining the property.