The topics under discussion are the area's 150-foot height limit for new buildings, the BRA's interest in additional housing for the city and the hope that Beacon will be able to work with local artists living in the Fort Point section. There is growing concern that they will get pushed of the area.

Beacon purchased the 14 buildings in the Fort Point Channel area from the Boston Wharf Co. this past June for $44.9 million. The low price--about $54 per sf--was attributed to the extensive repairs the property required. With an additional one million sf, the price per sf would come down to $24. The property backs up to the Boston Convention Center, which is under construction. Beacon did not return calls by press time but company officials said in a statement that Sasaki Assoc., Bruner Cott and CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares are working on different parts of the redevelopment.

Many of the projects for the development of the Seaport District, which is currently a mixture of warehouses, industrial uses and parking lots, have gotten caught up in a political quagmire as a debate over the potential impact of these developments is waged. Most controversial among these projects is Chicago-based developer Nicholas Pritzker's 3.3 million sf Fan Pier project, which has effectively come to a halt since the state's environmental secretary demanded changes to it.