Logue: Downtown project will cost taxpayers

By Patriot Ledger staff

Plans to demolish buildings in Quincy Center for a wider downtown-revitalization project threaten to leave taxpayers temporarily on the hook for lost tax revenue, city council candidate Jennifer Logue said Wednesday.

Logue, a vocal opponent of plans to build a crosstown connector road across Hancock Street, said a review shows $16.2 million in assessed commercial property would be demolished to advance the road project and two other developments.

Logue said the city will be forced to replace the lost tax revenue either through service cuts or property-tax increases.

“People need to know, even if they don’t live in downtown Quincy, this is going to affect them,” Logue said.

The city got state approval this summer to borrow $30 million for urban-renewal projects in Quincy Center. The city’s plans call for building a public square, demolishing buildings and clearing parking structures to make way for condo and retail development, and financing other public projects meant to spur private development. The city intends to repay the loan with taxes from future development.

First, the city plans to build the long-discussed Quincy Center Concourse, which would connect Burgin Parkway to Route 3A.

To complete the projects, the city has said up to 10 buildings will have to be knocked down, displacing several businesses.

Logue, daughter of former Mayor Francis X. McCauley, has made her opposition to the downtown project the cornerstone of her campaign. A petition on her Web site (logueforcouncil.com) to stop the project had 620 signatures.

Logue vowed she would push for the city to participate instead in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Streets revitalization project. She also said she would develop a plan to lure businesses to the city.