Mass. convention board drops contested Southie land plan: ‘we did not handle this fairly'

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority on Thursday abandoned its lengthy attempt to pursue a big-budget development of a parcel of land in South Boston, after more than a year of drama surrounding the process of choosing a developer.

Interested developers pledged thousands of jobs, and their plans included everything from life science buildings, office spaces, grocery stores, hotels, libraries, community health centers, green space and art galleries.

But a review conducted by interim Executive Director Gloria Larson found the MCCA did not conduct a "competitive, fair and transparent" bidding process for the six-plus acres of land near the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

The valuable piece of state-owned land on D and E Streets in South Boston, which was taken by eminent domain, has been wrapped up in scandal for more than a year, starting last February when South Boston electeds stepped in to stop the authority from moving forward with development under "false pretenses."

In the time since, the authority canceled its first bidding process and issued another request for proposals from companies looking to build on the land. On Thursday, the MCCA Board canceled the second bid process as well.

"I know there was a ton of time and resources invested here. And it is incredibly frustrating and upsetting to us all," said Emme Handy, the board chair who was appointed by Gov. Maura Healey when the governor overhauled the board last summer.

Handy said the new board and Larson -- who is serving in an interim role after longtime Executive Director David Gibbons stepped down amid controversy -- are trying to "rectify issues that we had learned about, issues from the past."

"Ultimately, internally, we did not handle this fairly and therefore we need to cancel the process," Handy said.

The board voted unanimously to cancel the RFP process.

During the second RFP process, then-executive director David Gibbons teed up Cronin Development to be awarded the project. Handy stopped the board's vote, after a competing developer, Boston Global Investors, alleged the deal was pre-determined by the MCCA selection committee. Cronin Development claims the process was completely fair.

"We knew that these were exciting proposals that would change the piece of the Seaport that they represented, and that they represent a really significant investment in MWBE businesses and that was really important to everyone involved with the MCCA," Handy said Thursday. "That's why despite swirling questions about the process, we didn't outright cancel the project in the fall. Instead we asked Gloria to take the time to do this internal review."

Handy said the review showed that "internally, individuals here at MCCA made errors in the process," but did not specifically say what those errors were.