archBOSTON ARCHIVE

[statler]

Menino: Fenway plan favors Sox, shortchanges city

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr. and Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff | November 1, 2005

A $55 million state Senate plan to improve the neighborhood around Fenway Park is too accommodating to the Red Sox and shortchanges more critical city transportation needs, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday.

In the first sign of a split on the fast-moving effort to provide state financing for improvements in the Fenway and Longwood Medical Area neighborhoods, Menino said he wasn't happy with a proposal expected to be released today by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The Fenway improvements are part of the so-called Commonwealth Investment Act, which will be debated by the full Senate on Thursday and is expected to pass overwhelmingly.

''The city's not happy with the overall plan," Menino said after a hotel groundbreaking on the South Boston Waterfront. ''The numbers don't match up with the city's plan."

Menino's ire was aimed not only at legislators but also at Red Sox management, which has pushed for public improvements as part of an overall plan to improve and redevelop Fenway Park. ''We've been so good to them," Menino said.

A Boston Redevelopment Authority spokesman later elaborated on Menino's criticism, saying the Senate's plan is too oriented toward giving the team what it wants and not enough toward assisting the broader neighborhood with its immediate congestion problems.

A Red Sox spokesman, Doug Bailey, said the team does not consider the package ''Red Sox-centric."

''We've worked with the neighborhood all along with this project," he said, and found residents, businesses, and institutions to be supportive. ''We will need to sit down with the mayor and discuss exactly what his problems with the package are."

Massachusetts Senate leaders said a week and a half ago that they intended to approve $55 million for improvements in the Fenway Park and Longwood Medical Area, a significant increase over the $12.5 million the House proposed.

In March, the three major owners of the team presented their list of desired road and rail improvements to Menino, the Legislature's leaders, and Governor Mitt Romney, but they did not publicly ask for city or state money. Red Sox president Larry Lucchino attended a meeting about 12 days ago with Senate President Robert E. Travaglini and other senators.

The Senate's plan appears consistent with a new plan jointly developed by the Red Sox and developer John Rosenthal, who has proposed a large mixed-use development for an area near Kenmore Square and Fenway Park. (The New York Times Co., parent company of The Boston Globe, owns 17 percent of the Red Sox.)

The money is about half the amount the Legislature had pledged five years ago, when previous Red Sox owners were contemplating building a new ball park in the area. It would be earmarked largely for converting the Yawkey Way commuter rail station from a part-time to full-time stop, improving four nearby MBTA subway stops, and upgrading the traffic rotary near Landmark Center.

Romney generally supports improvements but has not said whether he likes this particular package.

BRA spokeswoman Meredith Baumann said the money should be targeted to benefit residents and employees of the Fenway and Longwood communities in general -- not so focused on improving the area right around the park.

''The legislation needs to address the entire community," she said. ''Infrastructure improvements should be made that will have impacts both in the short term and the long term."

City planners want short-term improvements along Brookline Avenue, Boylston Street, Audubon Circle, and the Landmark Center rotary, which ''are among the most congested in the city," she said. Signal improvements and establishing one-way traffic will immediately alleviate traffic problems, the city said.

Ann Dufresne, Travaglini's spokeswoman, defended the Senate's spending plan, saying, ''This has always been about helping the hospitals, the universities, the businesses, and the community move people in and out of that area more efficiently. The hospitals in that area tell us it is gridlocked, and it's even difficult to get ambulances through, let alone patients, visitors, and their families."

Menino is not the only one criticizing the Senate's Fenway spending plans.

The Conservation Law Foundation, a powerful advocacy group, said it will take the state to court if money is sunk into the Fenway betterments before other, previously promised projects that helped pave the way for the Big Dig.

Almost two weeks ago, Travaglini suggested the plan was not just for the Red Sox but for the entire Fenway-Longwood area. But Travaglini raised hackles at City Hall by suggesting that the city would have to make a financial contribution too.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com; Raphael Lewis at rlewis@globe.com.
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[statler]

The real issue with the Sox

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist | November 3, 2005

AFTER THEO, it's a whole new ballgame.

The Boston Red Sox lost general manager Theo Epstein -- and, perhaps, their political fastball.

The ball club hopes to win $55 million from the state for what they label neighborhood improvements before the legislative session ends this month. Yet even the Sox-loving mayor of Boston went public this week with concerns that the proposed taxpayer-funded improvements benefit the Sox more than their neighbors.

In an interview, Menino said he has two basic questions: ''What's the rush?" and ''Where's the plan?"

The Sox proposal, according to Menino, takes control away from the city. He also said it also skirts broad neighborhood planning issues and the specific concerns of nearby institutions such as Boston University and the hospitals in the Longwood Medical Area. ''How does it all work together?" Menino asked. ''Where do the numbers -- the $55 million -- come from?"

On Beacon Hill, the Sox present their case as part of a grand plan for the Kenmore-Fenway-Longwood area. They argue that many components were taken from various city blueprints for the area, drawn up on Menino's watch.

But the Sox agenda, as described by CEO Larry Lucchino, is mostly about the Sox. The mission, he said during a brief conversation this week, is to ''preserve, protect, and connect."

The ball club is investing about $100 million to preserve Fenway Park and enhance the Fenway experience.

But Sox owners also want to make sure the ballpark is not what they describe as ''the jewel in the junkyard."

To that end, they want to protect and grow their investment by enhancing property values around Fenway, which also increase the ballpark's value. The Sox recently signed a letter of intent with the Sage family for a joint venture to tear down the aging Howard Johnson's motor lodge on Boylston Street and replace it with a 200-room hotel and market-rate condos. The Sox are also working with developer John Rosenthal, who has proposed a large mixed-use development for an area near Kenmore Square and Fenway Park. (The New York Times Co., parent company of The Boston Globe, owns 17 percent of the Boston Red Sox.)

The ''connect" part of the Lucchino equation involves making it easier to get to the ballpark, and that is where the public money for which they are currently lobbying comes in. The ballclub wants the $55 million to convert the Yawkey Way commuter rail station from a part-time to a full-time stop, improve four nearby MBTA subway stops, and upgrade the traffic rotary near Landmark Center. The ballclub also hopes to reap game day revenue from two proposed 900-car garages that would be financed with tax-exempt bonds.

It may seem odd that the state Legislature is poised to hand over $55 million so the Boston Red Sox can essentially control development around them, even while the mayor still questions their agenda.

But then, it's not that odd, is it? Baseball is such a priority in this Athens of America that the future of the 31-year-old, now ex-Sox GM takes precedence over all other local and national matters. So, too, if the Sox wanted neighborhood improvements, that desire took precedence over other infrastructure needs -- at least up until this week.

Asked to respond to Menino's concerns, Sox spokesman Doug Bailey said, ''We believe that the Senate's package accurately reflects the leadership and directives that the mayor himself has brought to bear on these issues, and, in fact, his stewardship can be seen in much of the legislation, since the major elements come from a variety of city planning initiatives. However, we look forward to talking to him after his reelection and hearing directly from him what his concerns are and how they can be addressed."

Menino is only part of the political problem right now. The bigger problem is trustworthiness and credibility.

Sox principal owner John Henry was asked about what he labeled ''the trust issue" during yesterday's press conference to address Epstein's resignation. Henry denied there was a ''trust issue" between Epstein and Lucchino. But media accounts point to at least a perception of bad faith, leading to Epstein's decision to walk.

Lucchino is also the Red Sox point man on Beacon Hill, responsible for coordinating the lobbying effort for the $55 million proposal.

After Theo, taxpayers might legitimately wonder: If Epstein couldn't trust Sox management, why should they?

Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
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[Bowwest]

"To that end, they want to protect and grow their investment by enhancing property values around Fenway, which also increase the ballpark's value."

That's what its all about. They are business men. They only care so much about how nice the neighborhood is to the degree it affects their profits. Thats fine. The owners and the city should have a mutually beneficial relationship but the city shouldn't be making compromises that may negatively affect the area 50 years from now (like allowing the Red Sox to dictate the height of new projects).

[Ron Newman]

Improving transit stations benefits everyone, not just the Red Sox and its fans.

[statler]

Sox purchases not ?real? estate values
By Scott Van Voorhis
Friday, November 4, 2005 - Updated: 08:14 AM EST

John Henry?s Red Sox ownership group is adopting stealth real estate tactics as it quietly snaps up properties around Fenway Park, from a radio station building to a taxi cab garage.
Even as the Sox go on a property spending spree in a bid to protect antique Fenway Park from encroachment by high-rise developers, the team and its real estate advisors are structuring deals to keep secret acquisition prices, real estate records show.
Sox owners are hoping this secrecy will help keep prices from skyrocketing as the team acquires commercial property in the gritty neighborhood that surrounds the ballpark.
?They are doing as much as they can to keep the prices they are going to pay down,? said Bill Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association. ?They are obviously pretty shrewd businesssmen over there.?
The team?s corporate parent, New England Sports Ventures, is recorded in county property docments as paying only a nominal price for two recent Fenway acquisitions.
The Sox are recorded as paying a mere $1 for a defunct Latin nightclub at 1270 Boylston St., owned by Hub nightclub king Patrick Lyons. The team paid $10 for the WBCN building at 1265 Boylston St., records show. The sale prices are not believed to be true purchase prices, but rather stand-ins for meatier transactions to come later, an executive familiar with the details said.
In a third case, the Sox bought the corporation that owned a taxi cab garage, instead of directly buying the property itself, ensuring that deal does not show up in real estate records, said one source familiar with the transaction.
Typically, most sale prices, from modest condos to downtown office towers, are recorded in county registries and available for public review. Real estate professionals pore over this data, which can be used to set higher prices through the use of ?comparable? sales.
Sox owners also recently shelled out $178,727 in excise taxes due from their $700 million-plus acquisition of the franchise and its various assets, a bill that dates to 2002. The tax was related to the sale of Fenway Park.
Despite the secrecy around the team?s current property acquisitions, an executive said the deals are not an attempt to avoid paying another round of excise taxes, which would be minimal.
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[statler]

DOWNTOWN
Boston sampler

By Steve Bailey | November 4, 2005

The Red Sox lost a general manager, but they gained a hotel. Like Theo Epstein, Boston developer Steve Weiner is left on the outside looking in. Unlike Epstein, Weiner really wanted in -- and he is fuming.

Weiner is not angry at the Red Sox, but he is furious with Boston hotelier Robert Sage, a man he considered a friend. According to several executives who took part in the talks, Weiner and Sage spent nine months negotiating a deal to tear down Sage's ratty Howard Johnson's hotel adjacent to Fenway Park and replace it with a larger hotel and condominium project. The two men had partnership papers nearly complete, and Weiner had hired an architect and had developed a model of the condo units. Most importantly, at least from Weiner's point of view, the two men had shaken hands on the deal, not once but twice, these executives say.

Then about three weeks ago Sage broke the news to Weiner: The deal was off because he was making a deal with the Sox. Weiner never saw it coming. ''This came out of the blue," says a colleague. ''He was absolutely shocked."

Sage confirmed he had detailed discussions with Weiner, but said it was his longtime minority partners, the Puro family in particular, who opted to go with the Red Sox. He said there were many ''open issues" with Weiner, adding ''we never had a 100 percent deal."

''There are good losers and sometimes bad losers," Sage said. ''I have had deals where we lost. But I have never been a bad loser."

The Weiner faction, which spent about $150,000 on preconstruction costs, feels Sage used them to get a better deal with the Red Sox. Weiner, whose company, S.R. Weiner and Associates, owns the Mall at Chestnut Hill and dozens of other malls in the Northeast, declined to comment beyond saying, ''My word is my bond."

The team's voracious appetite for Fenway real estate, stoked by Sox planner Janet Marie Smith's expanding vision, has yet to be satisfied. The Red Sox recently inquired about buying the rundown Buckminster Hotel in Kenmore Square, but were rebuffed by co-owner Shlomo Salomon, industry executives say. Salomon did not return my calls. A Sox spokesman declined to comment about Sage or the Buckminster.

The Red Sox should take care that their ambitions as developers do not to get them sideways with Mayor Tom Menino. The mayor's recent objection to the state Senate's proposal for $55 million of transportation improvements for the Fenway neighborhood is more than interesting, considering how tight the mayor and the team have been up until now.
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[statler]

Another team wins a big one for the Red Sox
Ball club's lobbyists, title help get funds for Fenway

By Frank Phillips and Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff | November 29, 2005

They once traveled the halls of Beacon Hill, occupying powerful positions and brokering behind-the scenes deals. Now well-connected lobbyists, they were signed up this year by one of the state's best-known special interests: the Boston Red Sox.

With the help of their lobbying team, the Red Sox accomplished the politically difficult task of persuading legislative leaders to agree to spend as much as $55 million in public money to spruce up the area around Fenway Park and the neighboring Longwood Medical Area.

They did it by making key alliances with neighborhood and area business groups and by gaining access to top legislative leaders. They even brought the World Series trophy to an Election Day luncheon for Senate President Robert E. Travaglini shortly after last year's Sox victory.

For the Sox, the funding would protect the ownership's investment in the fabled 93-year-old ballpark that is at the heart of the team's legendary history. The money would also serve the team's emerging plans to become a major real estate developer in the vicinity of the ballpark, though the proposed spending is causing some grumbling from development watchdogs who say the team has vaulted over other transit needs. The New York Times Co., parent company of The Boston Globe, owns 17 percent of the Red Sox.

''If you are surrounded by the wrong development, it doesn't make sense to put $200 million into a ballpark," said Larry Cancro, the team's vice president for Fenway affairs.

Five years ago, lawmakers approved $100 million to complement the team's now-abandoned plans to build a new Fenway Park. When the team changed ownership, the state spending, which was to have rebuilt nearby transit stations and improved streets, was left in limbo.

But all that changed after the Sox announced they would remain at Fenway Park.

Early this year, Sox officials, including chief executive Larry Lucchino and their lobbying team, joined by representatives from neighborhood groups, began making rounds at the State House. Travaglini's office reports that the Red Sox and others pushing the plan held four meetings between early March and mid-October with Travaglini, his staff, and other senators.

The Red Sox strategy team includes William F. Kennedy, chief of staff and legal counsel to former House speaker Thomas M. Finneran. Also hired was the Karol Group, whose principals are the former House chairman of the Legislature's Transportation Committee, Stephen J. Karol, and W. Paul White, a Dorchester Democrat and former assistant majority leader in the Senate.

Cancro said the team turned to Kennedy because, as Finneran's former chief aide, he was at the center of legislative approval of the $100 million aid package for the Red Sox in 2000. He said the team hired Karol and White because their company is a leader in state transportation issues.

The Sox are also drawing on a politically wired public strategy and public relations firm, Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications. One of the firm's principals, Larry Rasky, has worked for top Democrats over the years.

But with Rasky's expertise comes baggage from a feud with Mayor Thomas M. Menino that goes back two decades and stems from a dispute over a cable television company in Charlestown when Menino was a member of the City Council. Some think it played a role in Rasky's being cut out of bidding for the public relations contract for the Boston Convention Center a decade ago.

Cancro, a veteran Red Sox official, is well known on Beacon Hill and has particularly good personal connections with Travaglini. For example, the Sox official showed up at Travaglini's Senate reelection victory party with the team's World Series trophy.

Travaglini said that his relationship with Cancro goes back 20 years and that he considers him a friend. But he said Cancro and the other lobbyists involved were not a determining factor in his decision.

''To suggest somehow that this is to give $55 million to Larry Cancro is totally off the mark," Travaglini said. ''The question is, does the project have merit?"

''I am only concerned about merit, not who's working for whom," Travaglini said. ''Lobbying doesn't weigh that heavily in my deliberations."

Travaglini said that the hospitals and educational institutions near Fenway made compelling arguments that heavy traffic congestion, particularly in the Longwood Avenue and Boylston Street intersections, is choking the area.

''We have to make these investments," he said. ''Ambulances can't get patients through to the hospitals. Just on that alone we should do it."

He added he did not ask that Cancro bring the World Series trophy to a luncheon that Travaglini throws each Election Day in East Boston.

Under the Senate's $55 million plan, the money would go to re-configure streets and rebuild mass transportation stations. A key component was a strategy to marshal strong backing from neighbors and area community associations and embrace much of their development agenda.

Cancro's influence did not carry as much weight in the House, where Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi included only $12 million in a House spending bill for the neighborhood. DiMasi is advising the Red Sox to work with the MBTA to seek more public money.

The House and Senate versions of the bill will be negotiated by lawmakers in the coming weeks.

''The Red Sox are a big economic driver in that area," said state Representative Daniel E. Bosley, House chairman of the Committee on Economic Development. ''There is some legitimacy to their concerns, regardless of whether the $55 million is a good idea." He said none of the team's State House lobbyists have talked to him.

In the weeks since the Senate plan was announced, the success that the Red Sox and their lobbying team are having on Beacon Hill has drawn criticism that the sports team, with its iconic standing in Boston, is getting special treatment while other needs are going unfunded.

Menino is rankled that state lawmakers ignored the city's planning for the Longwood area in favor of the Red Sox development plans. An environmental group says the Red Sox project is leapfrogging other long-promised transit improvements that the state pledged as part of the Big Dig project.

''People who live on the B and C line have been begging, and people on the Blue and Red lines have been clamoring," said Julia Bovey, spokeswoman for the Conservation Law Foundation.

''How come this poor guy in Jamaica Plain can't get the Arborway line restored?" she added. ''The state had a legally binding commitment on that project, and he's been jumping up and down about that for 20 years? But the Red Sox have lobbyists, so they get their project funded."

Many state officials traditionally have been reluctant to funnel money directly to a sports stadium. In 1999, when the New England Patriots were considering a move to Connecticut, the state agreed to spend $70 million on infrastructure improvements near the team's new stadium, with Robert Kraft paying back $1.4 million a year and giving an easement on his land.

In the case of the Red Sox, the team reached out to Fenway neighbors, who have in the past been at odds with the Red Sox management, to present a solid front. Community leaders say that transportation upgrades and other improvements that the team and nearby hospitals are pushing have long been on the agenda of the Fenway Park area.

''The reason why the money starts flowing is because groups like the Red Sox are actively pushing it, but it's been the desire to improve the public transportation in the area for some time," said Marc A. Laderman, who sits on the Boston Redevelopment Authority's citizens advisory committee on the future of turnpike air rights and is also a board member of the Fenway Community Development Corporation.
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[TheBostonian]

Red Sox making deals -- for property around Fenway Park

By Ken Maguire, Associated Press Writer | December 17, 2005

BOSTON --The Red Sox have been busy making deals they say will help the team for years to come.

"We just want to protect our investment," said Janet Marie Smith, the team's senior vice president of planning and development.

Sound baseball judgment. But she's not talking about signing free agents. She's referring to the team's latest real estate acquisitions.

The Red Sox, having decided they're staying long-term in Fenway Park, are gobbling up properties around the aging ballpark.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/17/red_sox_making_deals____for_property_around_fenway_park/

[Mike]

From the Globe article:

[TheBostonian]

It seems absurd to preserve a giant gasoline ad in Boston. But even worse, Citgo is now a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Mr. Menino: tear down this sign!

[BostonFaker]

Why is that worse?

Wasn't it always a Venezuela state oil company?

I hope it stays there after Citgo disappears....it's commercial art!

[Lurker]

Citgo has always been a Venezuela state oil company, but most of their refining does take place in this country. The sign may seem a little irritating now that Chavez has become a classic South American dictator....I mean Distinguished President for Life TM. But, it's still a commercial landmark and I'm sure whatever detractors that come from Citgo's political connections will be resolved when Chavez eventually gets the boot from his people.

[JohnnySic]

Lets derail important, reasonable development so we can preserve the view of a gasoline advertisement. Only in Boston.

[tocoto]

One solution is to build a 500 footer in the area and place the CITGO sign on top. That way people could see it for miles around (as well as from Fenway Park) and there could be new development in the area too.

[Lurker]

Maybe once the over pike garage is built the Citgo sign can be moved to the top level to preserve the view of the sign from Fenway park while allowing development in and around Kenmore Square.

[TheBostonian]

Citgo was acquired by the Venzuelan state oil company by 1990, according to the unsourced Wikipedia article. I just assumed it was more recent. And I do like the idea of moving the sign rather than keeping it as an excuse to restrict development.

[ckb]

The Citgo sign is an (unofficial) landmark. Would you suggest moving Fanieul Hall because it stands in the way of developing skyscrapers downtown? How about the Old City Hall? Or the Granary Burying Ground? Would it be ok to build skyscrapers above these landmarks?

The Citgo sign is one of the things that makes Boston, Boston. In fact, I'm still pretty dissapointed by the new LED version rather than the old neon version -- it still looks wrong to me in the skyline from Cambridge -- too artificial. But it would look even more wrong without it there. Not only that, its one of the things that makes Fenway Park, Fenway Park. A great part of the allure of Fenway is that if you go, you can imagine that you are partaking in an experience not too different from one 25 years ago. With some stretch in clothing styles and gender of the fans, you can imagine the experience back to 50 or 65 years ago (when the sign was first built). Its an experience that should be preserved.

Furthermore, this isn't the central downtown district, or even Back Bay. Yes, more infill development over the Pike (even, heaven forbid, parking garages that could replace parking in more palatable building locations) would be nice in this area -- the Boylston St. area under development could be very nicely knitted together with Kenmore Square. But we don't need skyscrapers here to do it.

I'd much rather see more height in Back Bay/Boylston corridor -- the Mass Ave condo tower (Boylston Sq.) ... or the South Station Tower ... or the Gateway Center (South Bay) plans ... or a landmark building in the triangular lot next to the Trilogy building ... or on Huntington Ave. in place of the Colonade Motel ...

But lets not advocate mucking about with one of the great 20th century landmarks of Boston.

[dudeursistershot]

[Rick]

bump

[Vanshnookenraggen]

First off, F the Yankees. Second, I was reading this article in the NY Times about how the Yankees wanting to build a new stadium and fix up the South Bronx but the neighborhood being vocally against the plan. I thought it would be an interesting addition to this thread to see how similar plans are being delt with in another city.

Sorry if this offends anyone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/nyregion/07bronx.html?hp

[DarkFenX]

Swinging for next-to-the-park homer
By Scott Van Voorhis/ Dealmakers
Friday, February 3, 2006 - Updated: 08:12 AM EST

Buy a condo and see a ballgame at Fenway Park.

If that sounds like a dream combination, then the Sage family, longtime Hub hoteliers, has a deal for you.

The Sages, owners of a 1950s Howard Johnson hotel next door to Fenway Park, are putting the finishing touches on a deal to redevelop their key property with an unusual partner ? Wall Street financier John Henry and his Red Sox ownership group.

That partnership agreement ? which gives the Sox a roughly equal share in the development ? is expected shortly, Bill Sage said yesterday.

Meanwhile, an agreement with Arrowstreet, a well-regarded local
architecture firm, was slated to be signed last night.

Goodbye HoJo?s, and hello sparkling new hotel and condo high-rise ? one, that, not surprisingly, will likely include a menu of tie-ins to the action at Fenway Park.

Current plans call for a mix of 275 hotel rooms ? a combination of a traditional mid-market and an extended-stay hotel ? and 170 condos. There will be stores and restaurants as well.

?I think we both have the same principles and goals,? Sage said yesterday of the pending Sox deal. ?I think they like dealing with us, and we like dealing with them.?

One idea being batted about, Bill Sage said, would be to offer hotel room packages that include tickets or access to events over at Fenway. Condo owners in turn, would be first in line for any special deals or service available for hotel guests.

While the height of the new condo and hotel complex has yet to be hammered out, some units may include a view of sorts of the inside of the park, Sage acknowledged.

Still, Sage said no one should plan on buying a condo in a bid to get a birds-eye view of the action. The tallest part of the development will be pushed back, away from the park toward Boylston Street.

?I have had some people tell us that they like just the idea of being next to the ballpark,? Sage said. ?But they shouldn?t expect (that), ?Gee, I will buy a condo and get to see all the baseball games.? It?s not going to work like that.?

Moreover, it?s doctors and medical workers at the nearby Longwood Medical District ? not starry-eyed Sox fans ? who are the primary market, Sage insisted.

But those docs had better be good Sox fans, or living next to Fenway may be more than they bargained for.

That may be getting ahead of the story. After all, the Sage family spent years batting around various development plans. Is it serious this time?

Here?s a sign: The Boston hotel family, as it draws up plans for its dream Fenway complex, has just sold and cashed in another longtime, and lucrative, holding.

Nordic Properties, an aggressive local development firm, has agreed to buy the Sages? Radisson Hotel on Memorial Drive in Cambridge.

Nordic gets a spectacular site overlooking the Charles, with plans to build condos in front of the hotel.

And the Sage family gets a cool $30 million ? real money that will likely come in handy as it pursues longtime Fenway development dreams.

File under sage planning.

Federated Department Stores may be slowly grinding toward a conclusion in its high-profile sale of the landmark Filene?s building in Downtown Crossing, real estate executives say.

There is silence surrounding the deal, a possible sign that Federated may be hashing out details of a sale agreement that will set the stage for a mega-redevelopment of the site, executives said.

A number of local players have bid, including State Street tower developer John Hynes and Celtics owner and Boston developer Robert Epstein.

[DarkFenX]

?A complete transformation of the neighborhood?
By Scott Van Voorhis
Thursday, February 9, 2006

The development boom around Fenway Park is poised to kick into high gear, with a pair of prominent builders laying plans for a third major residential high-rise near the ballfield.

Developers Steve Samuels and Bill McQuillan are putting the finishing touches on their swank new 17-story Trilogy apartment tower on Boylston Street. Meanwhile, Samuels is moving ahead with plans for 1330 Boylston ? a condo high-rise complex slated to take shape literally across the street.

Now the two developers are eyeing yet another Boylston project ? one that could be the tallest residential complex yet built near the antique ballpark.

McQuillan said he and Samuels are close to assembling a site at the corner of Brookline and Boylston for a new high-rise that could be as tall as 20-stories.

Behind the move is a groundswell of demand for new housing near Fenway, a boom driven in part by the exploding growth of major hospitals and research institutions in the nearby Longwood Medical Area.

?What we are going to see over the next six or seven years is a complete transformation of the neighborhood,? McQuillan told members of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties at a briefing yesterday morning.

Plans for the third project are preliminary, with not even the format set in stone, McQuillan cautioned.

But with a limited amount of space to work with on Boylston, a condo tower would be the likely play.

City zoning rules allow for a 20-story tower.

?When you built 10 years ago (in Boston), height was a no-no,? McQuillan said. ?I think we are having a much-needed discussion on height.?

The planning comes amid signs of strong demand for housing in the area. McQuillan said 200 people have already expressed interest in renting units at Trilogy, which is not scheduled to open until the summer.

[JoeGallows]

Is this the site where the idea of a flatiron building was tossed around?

[Mike]

[chumbolly]

20 stories plus shrimpy lot = great building. There's no room for setbacks or green space, so this one should be hard to screw up. This is a place for a building that hollers. Just please don't holler "Boston Pre-cast!" They also need to do something about public transportation in this area for it to not suck.

[quadratdackel]

[quadratdackel]

This is a month old, but interesting nonetheless. It's a good thing the Sox aren't a big home run hitting team....

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/02/08/winds_and_losses/

[statler]

^^ Are NIMBYs in other cities this creative? This is brilliant in an evil sort of way.

[BostonSkyGuy]

[BlinkieOB]

I agree. I really don't think this building will have the impact some people are saying it will. Even if it does, the team will adapt. They have already been moving a tiny bit more towards pitching and defense anyway.

[TC]

This seems like the Red Sox laying the groundwork to argue over taller development closer to the ballpark.

I think their real motive in arguing development is so no buildings get views inside the ball park.

[BostonSkyGuy]

[quadratdackel]

[PaulC]

from the 4/3/06 Boston Business Journal: