Image courtesy of Utile Architecture & Planning

Development of a 28-story apartment tower in the Fenway is back in play with the pending acquisition of a high-profile site by the neighborhood’s most active residential developer.

Boston-based Samuels & Associates is the high bidder for the 2 Charlesgate West site, a spokesperson confirmed.

At a Sept. 16 auction, Samuels outbid a lender that scheduled the foreclosure of the nearly half-acre parcel just eight months after the original developer received its final approval from Boston officials. The high bid in the Paul E. Saperstein Co.-run auction was $28 million.

The approved plans call for 400 apartments approved under Boston’s now-defunct compact living pilot.

The Boston Planning Department allowed the pilot to expire in 2024, but not before developers completed projects such as 525Linc in Allston and 7Ink in South End.

A report by Tufts University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning concluded that most of the units that have been built under the program have skewed toward high-end rentals, in contrast with the pilot’s goal of increasing affordability.

Lender Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies foreclosed on the $30 million mortgage for the estimated $300 million project at 2 Charlesgate. The approved plans include a 285,000 square-foot building replacing the 56,000 square-foot office building on the site.

Samuels did not respond to inquiries about whether it will move forward with the approved plan or propose changes.

The previous developer, Morro USA, presented designs that include furnished apartments, 14,000 square feet of common area amenity space including a lounge, coworking space, gym, communal kitchen and roof decks.