Other local developers have tried to develop this area with no success, but Theran's team, who bought the site last summer for $27 million, insist that their plan is different. "Originally the project was ill-conceived," Francios Nivaud, the development and marketing consultant for Battery Wharf, tells GlobeSt.com. "Its full potential was not viewed properly."

Nivaud says that Theran's plan is better integrated, starting with his deal with Regent International Hotels to build a 185-room hotel, a health spa and restaurants on the site. Reportedly, Regents is putting seven million dollars in equity into the project. In addition, the project includes 99 condominiums, which will be serviced by the hotel.

"The hotel component makes it the center of the development," notes Nivaud. "It makes the complex a destination with a heart and a soul, not just a group of buildings." While Nivaud would not reveal the estimated cost of the project, unconfirmed reports put the costs at $200 million.