Boston City Hall

For Sale!!! SELL ORH!!!! Small portion of the story:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday unveiled a stunning plan to sell Boston’s City Hall and City Hall Plaza and move the seat of city government to the fast-growing South Boston waterfront. Boston’s new city headquarters could be ready to open for business in four to five years, Menino told business leaders at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
Under Menino’s plan, the new City Hall, pegged at a cost of about $300 million, would open up on the Drydock Four site now occupied by the Bank of America Pavilion just off Northern Avenue. Menino said he already is thinking about the design of Boston’s new waterfront City Hall, which would offer sweeping views of Boston Harbor. Still, the mayor’s dreams of a new waterfront headquarters face significant hurdles. One major drawback of the South Boston site is accessibility and the relative dearth of public transportation lines.

City Hall Plaza sits atop the Government Center subway hub, where the Blue and Green lines converge. By contrast, the proposed site of the new City Hall, in the city-owned Boston Marine Industrial Complex, is served by the fledgling Silver Line bus. But city officials say they already are sketching out new transportation possibilities, including water- taxi service to the new government complex. ......
Menino said he expects the bidding to start at $300 million - and go up from there. He would not rule out the possibility the land could fetch as much as $500 million. Developers suggest it may be worth less than that but acknowledge the site is valuable.