An artist’s conception of the redevelopment of the area along Jersey Street in Boston outside Fenway Park. (Image courtesy WS Development)
By Julian Guilarte
World Baseball Network
The Boston Red Sox and real estate developer WS Development took a step forward in their Fenway Corners project, which is a $1.6 Billion renovation to the areas surrounding Fenway Park.
The project was approved by the Boston Planning and Development Agency board, Front Office Sports reported.
Fenway Park is the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, and the first game was played there in 1912. This project would be a significant change to an historic area of Boston. WS Development is a Newton, Massachusetts-based real estate developer with projects in eight different states, including 10 within the city of Boston.
“We are so grateful to the many community members and organizations who have worked so hard to shape this project over the past three years,” a spokesperson for WS Development said. “We hope that the project’s commitments to affordable housing, historic preservation, transportation improvements, and public spaces will all help to realize the community’s vision for the Fenway neighborhood in the years to come.”
“This aspirational vision is deeply rooted in timeless and beautiful architecture, spaces for many local retailers and restauranteurs, and the opportunity for the surrounding neighborhood to envelop historic Fenway Park with a diverse array of uses and places.”
The Fenway Corners proposal was created by Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox. The project will create eight new buildings with more than two million square feet of new space, including storefronts, residential units, officers, street upgrades, and new space for pedestrians and the public.
The buildings will range from two to 19 stories, and there will be 200 new homes created in five acres of space. Some of these buildings will be placed behind the Green Monster.
Part of this plan will entail changing the look of Jersey Street outside the west area of Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox team store is currently located there and would change to be more retail offerings.
The north area of Fenway Park where the legendary pub Cask N’ Flagon is located will also be converted into more retail space, and it will turn Lansdowne Street into a one-way street towards Ipswich Street beyond Gate C of the ballpark. This will alter the views behind the Green Monster.
The Fenway Corners project will also create 1,740 new parking spaces. The renovations will take place on the development blocks located south of the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The extension of Richard B. Ross Way from Van Ness Street to Brookline Avenue will also be included in this project, per the Boston Planning and Development Agency. These renovations will be made with the intent of making transportation around the areas of Fenway Park easier.
In 2022, the areas around Fenway Park had another transformation with the addition of the MGM Music Hall. A popular bar called Baseball Tavern was closed in 2022, but will reopen at some point in the 1252-1270 block of Boylston Street.
This project is expected to take five to eight years to complete and still needs to receive permits and other approvals.