1282 Boylston St (Fenway McDonald's)

[Mike]

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.?


Link

[ablarc]

Originally Posted by Mike

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.

Translation: "This will be a parking lot for years."

[jass]

Originally Posted by Mike

[size=4][b]
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.

]

Ehm, so why knock it down now?

Im glad its the Mcdonalds thats going, and not the BK, but as far as Mcdonalds go, this one is pretty nice. I dont think it should be demolished until theyre ready to build something new

[Justin7]

First, the map on the Herald's site is incorrect (shocking, I know). It points to the Burger King. McDonald's is a block to the East.

Originally Posted by Mike

Red Sox to swap McDonald?s for parking
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.?

I assume she means when the weather is bad, but even then, is McDonald's the only affordable place in the area to sit with a cup of coffee? If that's the case I would welcome even the smallest chance of future development.

[atlrvr]

If I had to guess, McDonalds probably has a ground lease on the site that is expiring. McDonald's probably demanded they sign a long-term renewal, and the Red Sox/Abbey Group didn't want to be tied to that. McDonald's would rather find a new location they could get a long term lease at, rather than go yearly.

[Lurker]

Originally Posted by Justin7

I assume she means when the weather is bad, but even then, is McDonald's the only affordable place in the area to sit with a cup of coffee? If that's the case I would welcome even the smallest chance of future development.

I think she meant now that the restaurant block blocked burned down, it's the only place to really sit with coffee. The paper probably took her quote out of that context. The Burger King is going to be demolished in 2-3 years for something along the lines of 1330. Earlier in the thread there are details.

[disturbanist]

Originally Posted by jass

Ehm, so why knock it down now?

Im glad its the Mcdonalds thats going, and not the BK, but as far as Mcdonalds go, this one is pretty nice. I dont think it should be demolished until theyre ready to build something new

I walked by the McDonald's this afternoon and it's all boarded up now with a sign that says "visit us in Kenmore Square." The big golden arches were sticking out of a dumpster in the parking log.

[johnpaul5]

Give me that filet o fish . Give me that fish. How would you feel if it were you in that sandwich?

[kennedy]

Fileted?

Field: Turf rocks, mixing it with softball fields doesn't. I hate those combo fields. They should minimize the sand, or use tire dust, or just no sand at all.

[tommym96]

Originally Posted by disturbanist

I walked by the McDonald's this afternoon and it's all boarded up now with a sign that says "visit us in Kenmore Square." The big golden arches were sticking out of a dumpster in the parking log.

NOOOO! I ate at that McDonald's on Sunday! Damn, I wish that wasn't closing.

[Lurker]

Since when does this forum lament the loss of chain restaurants which are constructed following a suburban typology in an urban area?

The clown got to all of you didn't he?

On this block I really wonder when the replacement hotel for the HoJo is going to get started?

[kennedy]

The BK Lounge is very urban, Lurker. Haven't you been to a Whopper Bar? The singles in there, damn, so fine.

[Lurker]

Ok kennedy, now I see that's why they market this to the unattached on the prowl there

In all seriousness, why is losing a one story suburban chain restaurant on a lot which likely see development within the next three years a detractor?

[jass]

Originally Posted by Lurker

Ok kennedy, now I see that's why they market this to the unattached on the prowl there

In all seriousness, why is losing a one story suburban chain restaurant on a lot which likely see development within the next three years a detractor?

Because an operational restaurant is better than an empty lot.

[kennedy]

Originally Posted by Lurker

Ok kennedy, now I see that's why they market this to the unattached on the prowl there

In all seriousness, why is losing a one story suburban chain restaurant on a lot which likely see development within the next three years a detractor?

Excuse me, I was being fairly sarcastic. I was more responding to the comment suggesting McD's was better than BK, which it totally is not.

Of course a develop-able lot is better than a suburban, one-story chain development.

[jass]

[found5dollar]

I LOVE thoes McDonalds in the trash pictures! Hilarious, yet spooky at the same time.

[Ron Newman]

I'm surprised they would throw that out! Wouldn't some other McD's want it?

[shiz02130]

Anybody have a pickup truck?

[Lurker]

Construction dumpster porn, great new photo thread for the General Forum.

Did you see if there was any work started in the old radio station (WEEI?) on Jeremy Remmy's new restaurant?