Amid Development Gold Rush Around Fenway, The Sox Have Gone Missing
So have the Sox struck out in their long-standing efforts to reshape the once gritty neighborhood around Fenway Park to the fabled franchise’s liking? Or has the team’s vision suddenly changed?
That’s the question lurking behind the development gold rush taking place around Fenway Park, one that is seeing every available lot scooped up by developers with plans for new apartments, offices and shops.
The Abbey Group wants to replace a now empty lot near Fenway Park – once home to the now demolished Boylston Street McDonald’s - with a pair of office and apartment mid-rises.
It follows a steady stream of new apartment towers being rolled out in the same area by developer Steve Samuels.
During the reign of Janet Marie Smith, the ballpark preservationist who brought ailing Fenway back to life, the Sox aggressively pushed back against Samuels and other would-be tower developers looking to build near the ballpark.
The team even succeeded in moving one proposal from Lansdowne Street to another site farther away from Fenway Park.
Why? Well the team was concerned this flood of development might bring in a flood of upscale neighbors intent on putting all sorts of restrictions on the operations of the noisy ballpark next door.
Clearly Sox owner John Henry wasn’t interested in pumping hundreds of millions into the renovation of 1912 ballpark only to find the team on the wrong end of a wave of gentrification.
But in the nearly two years since Smith was squeezed out, the Sox either have quietly reversed that policy or have been incredibly inept enforcing it. I think the former is more likely.
Whatever the case, the neighborhood around Fenway Park is fast becoming one of the hottest residential zip codes around.
So do upscale apartment towers and baseball stadiums make good neighbors?
Only time will tell, but so far so good.