Hospital, Developer Differ On Proposed Construction

A Boston real estate developer is at odds with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) over the acquisition of hospital-owned land near the proposed site of a new sports arena.

MGH is one of five different landowners that currently owns parcels of land on which Rosalind Gorin, a local developer with H. N Gorin & Leeder Management Company, has proposed a $2 billion private development.

Farlier this week, the MGH board of trustees informed Gorin that the land adjacent to North Station which her company wants is not for sale.

"The hospital has long considered the Nassua Street property of prime importance to the future development of MGH," said MGH spokesman Martin Bander.

The principal goal of the project is to build a new arena near Boston's North Station which, according to Gorin's attorney, former U.S. senator Paul E. Tsongas, will replace the aging Boston Garden.

Gorin's construction plans also call for 5.5 million square feet of office space, a 900-room hotel, and 5500 parking spaces.

"An arena is a money losing operation, so you need to surround it with enough development to offset the losses." Tsongas said this week

Although not surprised by MGH's response to her offer. Gorin still wants to negotiate for the MGH land because no other land of the same size in a comparable location is available, according to Tsongas.

Hospital officials, however, say that they have no desire to negotiate with Gorin and Tsongas at this time.

"They're going around telling everybody else that they're negotiating with MGH, which is just not true," said Ernest M. Heddad. MGH general council.

"We have not responded until now because we have viewed [Gorin's] proposal to be farfetched and utterly unrealistic," said Heddad.

Gorin has not obtained approval for her project from any of the five landowners whose property is part of the proposed development, according to Hedddad.

"They propose to take away [Boston Bruins' owner Jerry] Jacobs' arena and then build their own arena on Jacobs' land," said Heddad. "They only want our abutting land so that they can build 60-story buildings for private profit."

Decisions, Decisions

MGH favors an existing proposal by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority to replace the Boston Garden with a $114 million multi-purpose arena to he funded by an increase in the state's hotel-motel tax according to Heddad.

"It's an incredible scheme," said Heddad, "and it takes into account all the interested parties. It looks awfully good on paper."

But the public proposal has attracted little support from the state legislature in the past, and has little change of passage in the near future according to Tsongas.

MGH's own proposed has been in the weeks for several years and will probably include space for a parking garage, new laboratories, and administrative office space, said Hedded