After a walk around the different sections of the neighborhood, there’s no question – Boston’s Fenway neighborhood has had an awakening.

Along Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue, hundreds of modern apartments have already been built, and hundreds more are in the pipeline. Sleek, upscale retail stores have taken root, and restaurants to satisfy an abundance of palates have opened around the neighborhood’s historic namesake ballpark, and beyond.

In an area of the city once known for its fast food joints and surface parking lots, the memories of a windswept landscape are close to being blown away, especially in the West Fenway area of the neighborhood.

The Burger King and McDonald’s along Boylston Street have been bulldozed to make way for new residential units and retail uses; the one-story building housing the D’Angelo sandwich shop at the corner of Boylston and Brookline Avenue will soon share that same fate.

Real estate development, however, is not the only thing changing the face of the neighborhood.

Outside the Landmark Center complex, which itself could be redeveloped into new residential buildings with new retail and office space, the Muddy River is in the midst of a major facelift.

The Army Corps Of Engineers is in charge of the two-phase, $93 million Muddy River Restoration Project, which, when complete, will reopen parts of the river that have been covered and running through pipes, a process known in planning circles as “daylighting.”  

So along Park Drive between Brookline Avenue and the Riverway, where underground pipes once carried the waters of the Muddy, the river will be restored and exposed, providing water views to the potential new residences at Landmark Center.

The Other Fenway

There are many sides to the neighborhood, but the area’s most public face is arguably the busy transit hub of Kenmore Square, where visitors inevitably pass through to visit local colleges or take in a ballgame.  

Development in that part of the Fenway began Kenmore’s transformation more than a decade ago, most notably with the demolition of a strip of Commonwealth Avenue brownstones where nightclubs like the Rathskeller, an IHOP and smaller shops once reigned.

Boston University partnered with a developer to purchase the buildings. Demolition of the block began in 2001, and soon after the university began to construct the 149-room Hotel Commonwealth on the site, which many consider the turning point for the area. Before that, BU purchased what was known as the Peerless building at 660 Beacon St. in 1983, where Barnes & Noble now operates.

Now, as a continuation of the development in other areas of the Fenway, Sage Hospitality, the new owners of the Hotel Commonwealth as of December, have decided to expand the hotel, adding 96 new rooms.

Although plans are still preliminary, the owner envisions the new guest rooms, event space and parking on what is now a surface parking lot at the rear of the hotel at the corner of Newbury and Kenmore streets overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike. The new building will total 134,000 square feet and require a large project review by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. 

“We’re always excited about new development in Kenmore Square,” said Pam Beale, co-owner of Cornwall’s, at 654 Beacon St.

Beale has been at Cornwall’s for the last 30 years, and remembers how run-down the block had become before it was reinvented as the hotel.  

“The hotel stabilized the economy in Kenmore Square,” she offered. “It really set the tone. It was the impetus for new retail, the vision the community had wanted for a long time. The block that was there was pretty run down and needed a lot of work, or total redevelopment, and the community here embraced it.”

The demand for new guest rooms certainly exists, says the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In 2012, the citywide occupancy rate was 79 percent, according to information from the BRA. Through June of this year occupancy had fallen, slightly, hovering just below 78 percent. The agency is currently reviewing proposals for about 1,900 new hotel rooms, and more than 2,100 rooms are approved for construction, said Melina Schuler, BRA spokesperson.

Still Challenges

Despite what seems like a full economic comeback for Kenmore Square, the neighborhood still faces challenges. The gateway to Kenmore from the Back Bay is, in a word, crumbling. The Bowker overpass carries traffic across Commonwealth Avenue from Boylston Street to Storrow Drive along Charlesgate, crossing over the Emerald Necklace and the northern end of the Muddy River.

However, the bridge is in a state of disrepair, and has been for years. Residents and business owners walking beneath the overpass have reported seeing pieces of concrete fall from the bridge down onto the sidewalk or street below.

This has caused the state Department of Transportation to move forward with a $12 million repair of a bridge that many in the area would prefer be removed altogether. That field includes Mike Ross, the former city council president now running for mayor.

“We would rather not see more money put toward repairing the Bowker … but if it’s a safety issue it has to be done,” said Johanna Sena, who handles community relations for the councilor.

However, MassDOT, for its part, has no intention of replacing or removing the Bowker – not in the near-term, at least. The repairs, which the agency hopes are finished by the end of July 2015, are meant to extend the life of the bridge another 10 to 15 years, according to Michael Verseckes, MassDOT spokesperson.

Not far from the Bowker, a four-story building at 482 Comm. Ave. has sat abandoned and boarded up for the last 12 years. The reason is a mystery – to Ross’ office and local business owners that have attempted to purchase the property from Cambridge resident and owner Martin Weinstock.

“He’s just not willing to sell it,” said Jassi Lubana, manager of the adjacent India Quality restaurant.

Lubana said the restaurant owner has offered Weinstock $1 million to purchase the building and expand the eatery, but to no avail. While murals have been painted atop the boarded windows on the upper floors, graffiti covers the first and second floor. Lubana has also said he has seen rats running around outside behind the abandoned building.

“A lot of people that come in here to eat ask the same thing: Why is the place closed? We don’t know what to tell them,” Lubana said.     

Email: jcronin@thewarrengroup.com