Fenway Infill and Small Developments

vanshnookenraggen said:
And on a side note, it is always nice to see a full stadium rather than rows of empty seats. When it is so small it fills up much faster than a new one that can hold 80,000 people.
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Notably, the Cleveland Indians built a new (neo-traditional) park with many fewer seats than their previous stadium.
 
Why they didn't move? Fenway Park will never be moved. Ever. They can modernize (like they're doing) and expand the seating (like they're doing), but never, EVER will Fenway Park move! It is the most perfect park in the world!

It's great that they want to redevelop the area around Fenway Park, because it will bring them more money, and lower ticket prices (in theory). And some of the buildings surrounding Fenway are downright sketchy. Do they own that building on Yawkey with all the shops? If I were them, I would make sure I did, then do what the Orioles did at Camden Yards-build condos on the top floors. And update it, a little.
 
Hmm...condos with views into the park = reduced demand? Same with increased parking difficulties? I can't imagine there would ever be an impact on Red Sox fan demand. Boston baseball fans are eclipsed in their devotional rabidity only by English soccer hooligans.
 
From the June Fenway News:

New Owners for Key Boylston Parcels

The Boston Red Sox continue their drive to become the Fenway's largest land owner, this time revealing the purchase of the parking lot behind 1249-55 Boylston (across from Gate B at the corner of Ipswich and Van Ness). At the same time that the Sox bought the parking lot, Steve Samuels--developer of the Trilogy building and 1330 Boylston--bought the two buildings in front, whose best-known tenants included New England College of Optometry facility (which moved in January) and the Tower Records displaced from Newbury Street.
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Including the Ho-Jo, these deals effectively put three quarters of that block in play for new development, all within a couple hundred feet of the right field line.

A "My Maps" google maps link, my first one ever (whoopee!):
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...44,-71.096177&spn=0.004028,0.006491&z=17&om=1
 
The BRA said:
New Life Sciences Office/Research Building Approved for Fenway/LMA Area

The BRA Board also approved plans for Longwood Research Center at 121 Brookline Avenue in Fenway and adjacent to the Longwood Medical & Academic Area. The project will consist of a new, state-of-the-art office and research facility, which further addresses the city?s growth as a hub for biomedical and pharmaceutical research and development. The developer proposes to construct a six-story building to house office and laboratory uses, totaling approximately 117,000 gross square feet of gross floor area with approximately 90 parking spaces and approximately 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Currently, the project site contains a small retail use consisting of a one and two-story brick and masonry building and a parking lot for 64 vehicles.
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Interesting. I hope the area retains some of its edginess and isn't swallowed by the bland glass walls of the LMA entirely. Isn't the site where the Pheonix's offices are?
 
czsz said:
Interesting. I hope the area retains some of its edginess and isn't swallowed by the bland glass walls of the LMA entirely. Isn't the site where the Pheonix's offices are?
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We should be so lucky. This stretch of Brookline Ave -- from Kenmore to Boylston St. -- has all the edginess of a Rust Belt ghost town. I think the LMA, on the other hand, is one of, if not the most vibrant, architecturally rich and alive sections of Boston.
 
I agree ^.

I would take the bland glass wallks over the "edginess" of those parking lots any day of the week.
 
The LMA is as vibrant as any industry ghetto. It's slightly better than the 9-5 financial district only because hospitals are open late by nature. Most of it is dispensible architecturally. On the other hand, it took decades to gain the weathered effect present on these Brookline Ave. buildings and, blocks from Fenway Park and Lansdowne Street, there's got to be a more creative way to redevelop them than reproducing LMA's glass curtain walls (and in-patient dependent streetlife).
 
czsz said:
Interesting. I hope the area retains some of its edginess and isn't swallowed by the bland glass walls of the LMA entirely. Isn't the site where the Pheonix's offices are?
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yes, unless they've moved.

i'm guessing the edginess has about a decade to go at least, but i agree. (other than the massive parking lots between there and the pike--that can go away any time...)
 
We may be waist deep in the 'big' Muddy

Project would restore river's flow
December 2, 2007

Not every public meeting is festive. But on Thursday, anyone interested in the Muddy River, which flows - slowly - between Brookline and Boston, is invited for sandwiches and jazz from Berklee College of Music students accompanying the speeches.
more stories like this

The main purpose of the meeting is to convey to area residents the pleasures of and progress along the Muddy River, the waterway that forms part of Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace.

In the next 18 months or so, work will commence on a part of the Muddy that hasn't been seen for at least 50 years. At Thursday's meeting, Michael Keegan of the US Army Corps of Engineers, which is designing and overseeing the project, will outline these plans.

The work includes excavating culverts near the former Sears building, now the Landmark Center, and letting the river run between grassy banks and pedestrian paths similar to what is upstream on the Riverway. It will also simplify traffic on the nearby rotary, said Hugh Mattison, administrator of the committee holding the meeting. But he noted that when construction begins, probably during the baseball season, traffic will initially get worse.

Mattison's group, the Muddy River Restoration Project Maintenance and Management Oversight Committee, has spent decades attending and organizing meetings to apply pressure and to negotiate for the river's cleanup and flood management and for the restoration of its historic landscape.

The river has flooded three times since 1996, according to the committee's website. The first flood, in October 1996, reached Kenmore station, closing the T at that point; muddy waters also damaged stations and cultural institutions along the Fenway.

The meeting will feature Richard Sullivan Jr., commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The DCR, Brookline, and Boston, in addition to the Corps of Engineers, are all involved in the restoration and maintenance of the river and its surrounding parkland.

The meeting is scheduled to take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Landmark Center atrium, second floor, 401 Park Drive, the Fenway. The atrium is wheelchair-accessible and is served by the MBTA's Fenway station, on the Green Line's D line. Details at muddyrivermmoc.org or 617-739-6806.

ANDREAE DOWNS
? Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma.../12/02/we_may_be_waist_deep_in_the_big_muddy/
 
Below is a link that shows a rendering of what was proposed for the air rights over the mass pike by Fenway Park. I believe the rendering is from 2003 or earlier.

Notice the timeline; it states winter 2003: construction begins. What construction?? Was there a plan in place back in 2003 that was dropped by the Red Sox or Fenway developer?

http://cache.boston.com/advertisers/bigdig/popup_airrts.gif
 
Hmm. Don't know if the BRA-approved project announced last December was with the new owner or whether this is a new development.

BOSTON-A local developer has closed on 121 Brookline Ave. here with plans to build a six-story life sciences building on the site. An affiliate of Boylston Properties paid $8.7 million for the asset from 121 Brookline Ave. LLC.

Boylston Properties founder William McQuillan did not return phone calls from GlobeSt.com regarding the acquisition by BAM Lab LLC, but his firm has indicated a desire to begin construction in early 2008 on what is being called the Longwood Research Center. A few blocks down from Fenway Park, 121 Brookline Ave. is also close to the city?s Longwood Medical Area, one of the country?s top areas for biotechnology and medical research.

McQuillan?s experience of development in the Longwood Medical Area dates back to the late 1980s. Besides the Longwood Galleria, Boylston Properties also did a joint venture multifamily project, Trilogy, just a few blocks from 121 Brookline Ave. Headed by McQuillan and Mark Deschenes, Boylston Properties is based at the nearby Prudential Center complex in Boston?s Back Bay.

BAM Lab LLC has retained Richards Barry Joyce & Partners as exclusive leasing agent for the 121 Brookline Ave. project, with veteran life sciences broker and RBJ president Robert Richards Jr. overseeing that effort with VP Chris McCauley. Richards was unavailable to discuss the venture or to provide a timetable for construction, although sources say the ownership is waiting to land a lead tenant before breaking ground. King Stubbins is architect for the Longwood Research Center, while John Moriarity & Associates has been tapped as contractor.

The Longwood Research Center is advancing at a time when laboratory space is especially tight in Boston, posting a 1% vacancy rate for 2.6 million sf, according to a report released yesterday by Colliers Meredith & Grew. ?Availability of lab space in the [Longwood Medical Area] is virtually non-existent,? the report indicates, although the review also notes that there is considerable space in the planning stages or about to become available as a result of relocations.

The 1% vacancy, for example, does not reflect 702,000 sf that will come on line later this quarter at the Center for Life Sciences at 3 Blackfan Circle. The facility was acquired last year by BioMed Realty Trust 82% preleased, leaving approximately 126,000 sf still to be filled. Meanwhile, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center?s move into the BioMed asset will free up 225,000 sf from multiple locations in the area. BioMed rival Also, Alexandria Real Estate has recently joined National Development and Charles River Realty Investors in pursuing a nine-story, 350,000-sf project at the corner of Brookline and Longwood avenues.
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Source: Fenway Commercial Asset Trades for $9 Million - By Joe Clements, GlobeSt.com
 
Office Addition Planned for Landmark Garage

May 3rd, 2008
by Shayndi Raice Sigali
The Boston Courant

The Abbey Group plans to build a seven-story office addition atop the Landmark Center Garage, raising concern among Audubon Circle residents about the project's impact on their neighborhood.

The four-story garage is located at the corner of Brookline Avenue and Fullerton Street. Sources familiar with the project say the company is planning to add 270,000 square feet of office space with no addition parking.

Jack Creighton, president of the Audubon Circle Neighborhood Association (ACNA), said his group does not usually support projects that exceed seven stories (you may roll your eyes now). Creighton said the ACNA board of directors is also concerned about an increase in traffic on roads around the garage like Miner and Beacon Streets.

Additionally, Matt Watkins, a spokesperson for the Abbey Group, said that the design is still in the planning stages and the company will not file with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), the city's planning agency, until it has vetted the design with the community.

"It's important to stress that we're in the conceptual early design stage at this point," Watkins said. "We have had some discussions with abutters and community groups to elicit feedback but it is premature to speculate on specifics of the design. Currently, we are preparing to present our concept to community groups in advance of filing plans, and we're hopeful that in the upcoming months we'll have a design plan to officially present to the city."

Jessica Shumaker, a spokesperson for the BRA, said the company signaled to her agency that it would be ready to file this summer.

Creighton, who has met with Abbey Group representatives about the project, said the company seemed open to listening to community input.

"They understand that we might be concerned about the massing overlooking Audubon Circle," he said. "They also indicated that they are receptive to our concerns that it not become a thoroughfare between Beacon and Brookline and that Miner not become a thoroughfare."

Abbey Group representatives will be presenting their plans to the ACNA at the group's next board meeting on Tuesday, May 20.

"We will be listening intently and with great interest," Creighton said.
 
Does this mean the Courant is now online? The Courant is the best source for news on Boston development.
 
No, I typed it all in. And I agree with you on its content.. every time I pick one up there's at least a couple articles dealing with new developments.
 
kz1000ps said:
No, I typed it all in. And I agree with you on its content.. every time I pick one up there's at least a couple articles dealing with new developments.
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Jeez. My cheap inkjet all-in-one comes with software that turns a scanned document into a text file.
 
Thanks kz1000ps, i've been out of the city so I haven't been able to catch up with the Courant. They keep telling me it will be online soon. When it is it will be a great site for people interested in the Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill and Fenway areas.
 
Fenway Park zone eyed
City wants stronger development review
By Scott Van Voorhis
Tuesday, May 13, 2008


City Hall wants to protect Fenway Park from being overwhelmed by new development.

But some longtime property owners and neighbors of the Boston Red Sox are less than thrilled with plans for a special ballpark protection zone.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority wants additional powers to review the design of projects proposed for the streets around the 1912-built stadium. It?s a proposal that comes amid longstanding concerns raised by Red Sox executives about the wave of development reshaping the neighborhood around Fenway.

But other neighborhood property owners, including the owners of the Twins Enterprise souvenir shops across from Fenway, are rallying against the plan. Owned by the D?Angelo family, the shops have been a neighborhood fixture for 50 years.

Anita D?Angelo, in a letter to city development officials, said her family is concerned the proposal could impose new restrictions that would drive down property values.

?The proposed amendments do not seem to benefit any property owners in the area except the owners of Fenway Park,? D?Angelo writes.

The proposed zone extends 260 feet from the sidewalk outside the ballpark and adjacent buildings in the Fenway complex.

The Sage family, which owns the Howard Johnson?s hotel next to the ballpark, also took aim at the proposal. The Sages have explored building a new hotel and housing.

?We are living through a severe economic crisis,? writes Mitchell Muroff, general counsel for Sage Hotel Corp. ?Developers should not be faced with subjective obstacles that could potentially thwart the economic vitality of our projects.?

City officials, while defending the proposal, are also now considering changes to it as well.

The new Fenway Park Protection Overlay District would give the BRA the authority to review the design of projects under 20,000 square feet - powers it current uses on larger projects, said Randi Lathrop, a top BRA official in charge of the proposal.

Children?s Hospital, which owns property near Fenway, supports the district, as does ballpark preservation group Save Fenway Park!

The Sox say they are also supportive of the effort.

?We were encouraged by it and felt it was an appropriate recognition of Fenway?s presence there,? said Janet Marie Smith, the team?s architecture and development chief.


Link
 
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