Red Sox to swap McDonald?s for parking
By Thomas Grillo
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Boston Red Sox are about to make a trade that would pave the way for new construction near Fenway Park.
Under a deal that is expected to close in April, the team will give the McDonald?s restaurant it owns at 1282 Boylston St. to the Abbey Group. In exchange, the team gets a parking lot the developer owns on Van Ness Street across from the ballpark.
?It?s a logical division of real estate,? said Janet Marie Smith, the Red Sox architect. ?The Abbey Group owns the property next to the McDonald?s lot and we own a property next to their surface lot on Van Ness.?
Smith said she is not sure what the team will do with the parking lot.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Sox will demolish the fast-food restaurant. Mark Goldstein, Abbey Group?s vice president, said the developers hope to do a mixed-use project when the economy improves.
?We?d like to do some kind of mixed-use project with residential, office, or hotel or retail,? he said.
The Abbey Group is credited with starting the renaissance of the commercial district near Fenway. In the 1990s, it launched the Landmark Center, a $70 million rebirth of the abandoned Sears, Roebuck and Co. building into a mixed-use complex of office and retail space.
Gloria Platt, a Fenway resident since the 1960s, said she will miss McDonald?s. ?It?s been an affordable gathering place for Fenway neighbors for as long as I can remember,? she said. ?You can sit for hours sipping coffee and no one bothers you.?
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By Thomas Grillo
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Boston Red Sox are about to make a trade that would pave the way for new construction near Fenway Park.
Under a deal that is expected to close in April, the team will give the McDonald?s restaurant it owns at 1282 Boylston St. to the Abbey Group. In exchange, the team gets a parking lot the developer owns on Van Ness Street across from the ballpark.
?It?s a logical division of real estate,? said Janet Marie Smith, the Red Sox architect. ?The Abbey Group owns the property next to the McDonald?s lot and we own a property next to their surface lot on Van Ness.?
Smith said she is not sure what the team will do with the parking lot.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Sox will demolish the fast-food restaurant. Mark Goldstein, Abbey Group?s vice president, said the developers hope to do a mixed-use project when the economy improves.
?We?d like to do some kind of mixed-use project with residential, office, or hotel or retail,? he said.
The Abbey Group is credited with starting the renaissance of the commercial district near Fenway. In the 1990s, it launched the Landmark Center, a $70 million rebirth of the abandoned Sears, Roebuck and Co. building into a mixed-use complex of office and retail space.
Gloria Platt, a Fenway resident since the 1960s, said she will miss McDonald?s. ?It?s been an affordable gathering place for Fenway neighbors for as long as I can remember,? she said. ?You can sit for hours sipping coffee and no one bothers you.?
Link
