Building Boston by Joseph Itri

I want to report on several new projects slated for the South Boston Waterfront. The first is the St. Regis Residences at 150 Seaport Avenue. St. Regis will be a $260-million project that will be completed by 2020. Cronin Development will build the 22-story luxury condominium tower on the old footprint of the Whiskey Priest and Atlantic Beer Garden restaurants. There will be 144 condos that will feature outdoor spaces, floor to ceiling glass walls, spas, and a swimming pool. This is a great work opportunity for our skilled tradesmen and women.

Glaziers from Hub Glass unload bent lites at the
Prudential Mall.

The next is an 18-story tower being built by Boston Global Investors at Parcel A2. For the first time, Massport pushed for “Public Realm” improvements to be included in this project. The project will have 600,000 square feet on a 1.1-acre footprint, next to the Silver Line entrance. BGI paid Massport $120 million for a 99- year lease and will spend $425 million for construction. 525,000 square feet will encompass office space and for the balance, there will be a Grand Hall with eateries and non-profit space. Construction will begin in 2020 and is slated for completion in 2022.

I am also happy to report we signed a new glazing company. After several meetings and many phone conversations, Skyline Glass & Glazing became a signatory contractor. Owner and Operator John Maguire and his wife Cherie came in and signed on the dotted line. Skyline will operate out of South Easton, which is great to have another South Shore/South Coast location. Skyline will probably operate with about six glaziers, but John feels they could tackle those small to midsize jobs that a lot of larger glass companies are not bidding because they’re so busy. I want to thank Organizer Bryan O’Sullivan and Director of Organizing Justin Desmond for their help and input as well as Collections Officer Heather Palmucci from the Funds Office. She is always a big help by allaying new contractors fears about remittances, etc. A true team effort.

Planned 18-story tower at Parcel A2 at the Waterfront.

I also want to talk about my recent surgery. First, I want to thank everyone for the phone calls and text messages to check on me. I’m doing great and I’m ecstatic to be back to work. I also want to talk about our DC 35 Insurance. When you go through something like this, it dawns on you that the hospital bills are coming. I received a large envelope in the mail with about 15 bills and I was amazed at how little my co-pays were. I must pay some money but nothing like our non-union counterparts would pay. I’ve also spoken to reps from other trades and I’ll tell you what, our insurance is the best out there.

Between our wages, pension, annuity and health plans, we are in tremendous shape. When we’re organizing we tend to push wages and the pension as selling points but by becoming a member and qualifying for our Health & Welfare, a member can save thousands of dollars when misfortune strikes. I just wanted to point that out and say how grateful I am to have the DC 35 safety net.

Remember: Nobody wins unless everybody wins!