PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker’s vision for a blighted waterfront property has evolved dramatically since her initial proposal to redevelop the Old Reliable Fish House was unveiled in 2019.
The latest change in Barker’s plan for a luxury mixed-use complex is the addition of a public pier extending 700 feet into Provincetown Harbor, ending in a 570-foot-long floating dock and marina with up to 29 boat slips. With a total length of 1,270 feet from shoreline to tip, the new pier and marina would be similar in size to MacMillan Pier.
Barker’s earlier proposal was simply to replace the 264-foot pier that was once attached to the Old Reliable property at 227R Commercial St. and over time reduced to an irregular trail of orphaned pilings.
“The marina will allow for a reduction in traffic along Commercial Street, by utilizing boats to shuttle people from the Provincetown Ferry landing to the marina,” Barker wrote in her application for a review of the plan by the conservation commission. “It will also provide transient docking space for people visiting this section of Provincetown.”
Barker filed an application for state review of the new pier on Dec. 4. The local conservation commission was scheduled to begin its review this week.
Other components of the project remain essentially the same. They include demolition of the condemned Old Reliable Fish House structure and construction of a new building that would house 31 hotel rooms, four condominiums, a restaurant and bar, and meeting and event spaces at 227R Commercial.
Barker already has the required permits for the redevelopment of the fish house property from the planning and zoning boards and historic district commission. But an appeal filed by three abutters has kept the proposal stalled in state Land Court for the last four years.
Barker satisfied one appellant by reducing the footprint of the building a bit, and she bought out the second appellant, purchasing 227-229 Commercial St. from Scott Ravelson for $4.7 million.
In 2023, Barker unveiled her plan for the Ravelson property, which includes construction of an 18-to-20-room hotel, nine condominiums, and restaurant and retail spaces, built where the 125-year-old former five-story cold-storage building stands. The existing building, which would be demolished, now houses a warehouse, a long-closed restaurant, and nine empty apartments. Like the Old Reliable project, the new building at 227-229 Commercial would be constructed on pilings boosting its height to about 69 feet above sea level.
The “Little Red store” building at 227 Commercial would be renovated to house the Provincetown Bookshop. A small shed behind that building would be demolished and replaced with a glass conservatory accessed through the bookshop.
The Provincetown Historic District Commission issued a certificate of appropriateness for Barker’s architectural plans for 227-229 Commercial, but reviews by the planning and zoning boards have not yet been scheduled.
The third appellant is Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties, which abuts Barker’s project site. Patrick’s appeals are still pending in Land Court. This week he expressed surprise at Barker’s decision to begin the permitting process for the new pier.
Patrick and Barker have reportedly reached a settlement agreement, pending in Land Court, of Patrick’s 2019 appeal of the local zoning and planning board approvals of the project. Patrick said the settlement has been “agreed upon in principle.” An appeal related to the property line, which Patrick filed a year ago, remains unresolved.
“I would like to see us settle the dispute on the property line and then move on, rather than moving forward without settling,” he said.
Barker did not return calls for comment on the potential cost of and timeline for construction.
