Stalled Project Gets Money, Beats Odds

"The developer of the $650 million Filene's project in Boston has done the unthinkable in this global credit crisis: borrow money.

After weeks of uncertainty about the struggling project, developer John B. Hynes III and partner Vornado Realty Trust have secured financing to proceed with construction on the 1.25 million-square-foot mixed-used site, which will include retail shops, condominiums, a hotel, and offices in the historic department store building and a new 38-story tower next to it.

The head of the company building the project, John F. Fish of Suffolk Construction Co., said he was told by the developers to ramp up construction work because the team had locked in its final pieces of funding in recent days.

'We've been given the green light to move forward, and the financing has been validated, so we're in good shape,' Fish said. His firm has even bought the structural steel for the complex."