According to published reports, Lennar is close to an agreement with Pritzker to buy the property for $130 million. A spokesperson for the city tells GlobeSt.com that Lennar did have a meeting with Pritzker, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston Redevelopment Authority director Mark Maloney to discuss the deal. She declined to confirm any other details. Calls to Lennar Corp. and to Pritzker's local representatives were not returned before deadline.

Pritzker never managed to secure the necessary financing to move the project forward and he announced a few months ago that he would be selling the property. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP's New York City and Boston-based team were retained to market the site and at the time a source involved in the deal told GlobeSt.com that the firm was expecting the property to bring in somewhere around $200 million.

The sale could have huge implications for the city's waterfront section in South Boston--an area considered the last frontier of developable land in the city. The Fan Pier project is the largest development on the South Boston waterfront and its huge expanse currently sits nearly vacant and is used largely as parking lots. The city had great hopes for the development of this area, but hotel projects, which have never been easy to finance, became even trickier with the recent downturn in the economy. Frank McCourt is also looking for a buyer for his 25 acres which sit adjacent to Fan Pier.