A Monster move
Owners, partners plan major redevelopment around Fenway
BOSTON — The owners of the Red Sox are moving into the real estate development business, partnering with a prominent developer in an ambitious, longterm venture that would transform the neighborhood just outside the walls of Fenway Park.
The five-acre project would feature office space, apartment buildings, retail stores, and possibly a hotel, along with public art and green space. It would be built on four sites along Jersey, Lansdowne, and Van Ness streets, as well as Brookline Avenue.
The parcels are owned by Fenway Sports Group Real Estate — a subsidiary of the Red Sox’s parent company, Fenway Sports Group — and the D’Angelo family, owners of the sports apparel company ‘47 Brand.
The D’Angelos and FSGRE are partnering with WS Development — a veteran retail developer that in recent years has shepherded the 23-acre Seaport Square complex — to steer design and construction of the project.
The codevelopers said that while extensive planning has begun, they’re still working out many details, such as cost, square footage, building heights, and the exact mix of what they intend to build. They’re also considering the prospect of one day building out over the Massachusetts Turnpike behind Lansdowne Street, which would enable more ambitious development. On Monday, they notified community leaders and elected officials from the Fenway neighborhood about the project.
The group — including SamKennedy, presidentand CEO of the Red Sox; Bobby D’Angelo, vice president of ‘47Brand; andJeremySclar, CEO ofWS Development— have discussed a partnership for more than a decade, but those talks gained momentum over the last 18 months. Even as FSG has spent $350 million to refurbish the 108-year-old ballpark over the last 18 years, it gradually purchased nearby properties in anticipation of development.
“We are not some joint venture that is just looking to maximize height or density. We want to create value, but we have to make sure we do no harm to Fenway Park and the fan experience,” Kennedy said.
Few neighborhoods in Boston have undergone as much development over the past two decades as the Fenway, with the fast-food joints and gas stations of Boylston Street giving way to office and apartment buildings, their ground floors full of vibrant restaurants that — before the just-ended baseball season with no fans in attendance — have thrived on gameday crowds and a surging student population.
Lately, a wave of life-science companies have moved in, as well, eyeing the Fenway’s proximity to Longwood Medical Area. More are coming, with work about to start on two towers above the Massachusetts Turnpike between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue, part of the massive Fenway Center project.
But the low-slung blocks immediately surrounding Fenway Park haven’t changed much.
“For 20 years, our goal has been to preserve, protect, and enhance the local and national treasure that is Fenway Park,” FSG principal owner John Henry said in a statement. (Henry also owns The Boston Globe.) “We are excited to now fully expand our focus through a partnership with WS and the D’Angelo family as we further contribute to a neighborhood that has transformed over the past two decades.”
That partnership has been decades in the making, as well.
The D’Angelos opened their store on Jersey Street in 1947 and gradually began accumulating land in the triangle between Jersey Street and Brookline Avenue, where they now own nine small parcels. When FSG — then called NewEngland Sports Ventures — bought Fenway and its 9.67 acres in 2002, a relationship naturally grew.
“They always had interest in our Jersey Street [location] because it’s good property and it’s right at their doorstep,” said Bobby D’Angelo, who said he has received several substantial offers for his real estate over the years. “This deal was the right deal. We think that everyone is prospering by it.”