Indycar reaches agreement with nearby condo residents in Boston

Seaport Lofts

Promoters of an IndyCar race proposed for the Seaport District have reached a deal to appease residents of a condo building on the racecourse, assuaging some of the noisiest critics of the plan to hold the first Grand Prix of Boston next Labor Day weekend.

In exchange for a mitigation package offered by the race promoters, the Seaport Lofts Condominium Association will drop its opposition to the Grand Prix, said Gary Orlacchio, a lawyer who lives in the building at 437 D St. and helped negotiate the deal for the condo association.

The association's trustees have approved the deal, Orlacchio said.

Both sides say terms of the five-year agreement are being kept confidential. In other cities, race organizers have mollified residents by paying to relocate them for the weekend to a hotel.

John Casey, chief financial officer for the Grand Prix of Boston, called the deal "fair.

"In the end the job got done," Casey said. "I'm happy to call them neighbors now."

The first Grand Prix of Boston is scheduled for next Sept. 2-4. The cars would race over an 11-turn, 2.2-mile temporary street circuit that would encircle the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Race promoters have an agreement with the city to hold the race next Labor Day, and for four years after that.

Seaport Lofts

Seaport Lofts in September sent a 14-page letter to Mayor Martin J. Walsh raising a number of complaints and issues about the race, which is scheduled to go right past their building. Residents said they were worried about parking, public safety, noise, access to their homes and disruption of their lives.

Race promoters are still negotiating with several government agencies.

Casey said Thursday night that the Grand Prix is close to completing a deal with Massport, the Department of Transportation, and the MBTA, as well as a deal with the US Postal Service, which controls land near the racecourse. They also need to complete an agreement with the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Casey said.

He said he wants to finish all the agreements by early December.

"I'm being optimistic, but we're putting all our energies toward getting everyone everything they need," he said. Boston Globe