Lawsuit puts approved 750-unit Morrissey Boulevard towers in limbo

A plan for two high-rise towers with about 750 homes on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, approved by the city's planning board in 2025, is now tied up in court. The developer, Copper Mill Development, sued the site's owners in Boston Land Court and Suffolk Superior Court, the Dorchester Reporter reported on Oct. 20.

The site is the former WLVI-TV Channel 56 headquarters at 35-75 Morrissey Boulevard. For neighbors, the stakes include a planned public park, roadway work and community money promised as part of the approval.

What the lawsuit alleges

According to the Reporter, Copper Mill alleges that the owners, Chicago-based POB Capital and Virginia-based Pactolus, agreed in 2024 to sell the land for $67.5 million, with a June 30, 2026 closing if Copper Mill finished permitting. Copper Mill alleges that after it won approvals in 2025, the owners proposed a joint venture as a pretext to take back the land, then canceled the deal in late June when the joint venture's funding did not come through. The complaint alleges five counts of fraud and deceptive business practices, the Reporter said.

These are allegations in a lawsuit, and no court has ruled on them. Neither POB Capital nor Pactolus had responded to the Reporter's request for comment.

Copper Mill has filed a lis pendens, a public notice on the property that litigation is pending, and is asking the court to restore the original sale and give it a year to finance and close, the Reporter said. Its chief executive told the paper the company is still committed and expects to break ground in 2027 after finding a new partner.

What was approved

The Reporter said the first phase includes 750 housing units in two high-rises, a 23,900-square-foot community park and roadway improvements. Detailed plans were filed in March 2025 and the Boston Planning and Development Agency board approved the project in August 2025.

The community money

The Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association negotiated a $750,000 contribution from the project, the Reporter said. After about three years of disagreement over how to distribute it, the association and the city agreed in September to send $400,000 to the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club and $350,000 to the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation. The association told the paper the lawsuit is a setback but does not affect that agreement.

What our records show

The City Council has one vote on the record tied to this site. On May 13 it voted 12-0, with City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata not present, to let the city accept $250,000 in 35-75 Morrissey Boulevard mitigation funds from the planning agency (docket 0972). The order says the money goes through the agency's community benefits fund to the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion for its Commercial Acquisition Assistance Program, which helps small businesses buy commercial property.

The council does not vote on whether large private projects are approved; that is the planning board's job under the city's Article 80 review. The site is in District 3, represented by City Councilor John FitzGerald.

What's next

A Land Court hearing is set for Oct. 27, and the two cases are likely to be combined in Suffolk Superior Court, the Reporter said. The Boston Policy Notes weekly round-up also summarized the case this week.