The Boston Red Sox are seeking a restaurateur to lease the team’s space at 1265 Boylston St.
Days after the Boston Red Sox selected a nightclub czar to open a pub under the bleachers at Fenway Park, the team is seeking a restaurateur to fill its space at the former WBCN-FM site.
“It’s a really cool building,” Sam Hawkey, the Dartmouth Co. broker handling the deal for the ball club, said of 1265 Boylston St. “There aren’t many spaces around with 14-foot ceilings that have the potential of a gorgeous facade and sidewalk seating.”
But at least one commercial broker said that renting the Boylston Street space for a restaurant will be challenging in the gritty section of Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. In addition, he said the 8,000-square-foot vacancy comes at a time when many eateries are struggling to fill seats.
“That’s a large space and I don’t see it working unless you can get some type of destination location that offers quality food and service or a magnificent sports bar,” said Jules Cavadi, a longtime commercial broker. “But anyone who fits that description doesn’t want to be near Fenway Park with its rowdy sports crowd that has proved time and time again to exhibit bad behavior. Any new restaurant wants the professional clientele of downtown, North Station, the Financial District or Faneuil Hall.”
The Red Sox bought the single-story facility from Hemisphere Broadcasting Co. in 2005 for an undisclosed price. Documents from the Suffolk Registry of Deeds reveal that the team set up a limited liability corporation and paid $1 for the brick building to keep confidential the price they paid for the parcel.
The area, located at Ipswich Street on a stretch of Boylston Street that reaches Brookline Avenue, is in the midst of a transition. Last year, Samuels & Assoc. and Boylston Properties replaced a block of shabby retailers at 1375 Boylston St. with Trilogy, a $200 million mixed-use development. The project on 2.2 acres includes 576 apartments and 43,000 square feet of retail including West Elm, the furniture retailer, as an anchor.
Last fall, Samuels & Assoc. broke ground for the Back Bay Fens at 1330 Boylston St., a project with a mix of office, retail and residential space. The development includes 215 homes, 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and the $55 million new home of Fenway Community Health Center.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said at that time, “This project is the latest piece of the puzzle in realizing Boylston Street’s true potential.” But much of the street remains filled with fast-food restaurants, a pornographic retailer and gas stations that turn into parking lots on game days.
In May, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved a 2,500-capacity music hall at 15 Lansdowne St. The Lyons Group, the owner and developer, plans to demolish the nightclubs to make way for a 35,000-square-foot theater. The facility will feature a ground floor, a small mezzanine and a large balcony level, resulting in a better and less-crowded experience for concertgoers, according to the developer.
Steven Samuels, president and chief executive officer of Samuels & Assoc., did not return a call seeking comment.
‘Enormous Potential’
Janet Marie Smith, senior vice president of planning and development for the Red Sox, acknowledged that the area still has problems.
“We never had any fantasy that Fenway would be Newbury Street,” she said. “I realize there are limitations about what it could be. But it can be something that’s more open and inviting and complementary to the neighborhood.”
Smith said she imagines the new restaurant could install sidewalk seating and patio doors that open onto Boylston. In addition, she said the block windows at the rear of the building could be replaced with clear glass that will offer “fabulous” views of Fenway Park.
“That setup is working nicely for the Baseball Tavern across the street,” she noted.
Still, William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association, said he doubts that an upscale open-air restaurant will work in the shadow of Fenway Park.
“I can’t imagine a Sonsie going in there or anything like that,” said Richardson, referring to the Newbury Street establishment that offers international cuisine and boasts French doors that translate to an open-sidewalk café. “The street is still a bit shabby. But if someone can make a restaurant work there, more power to them.”
Cavadi said if the site were a premier location, Patrick Lyons would have leased the space. Lyons owns dozens of eateries, including Game On! around the corner on Lansdowne Street. Two weeks ago, Banker & Tradesman reported that Lyons has signed an agreement to build a 3,000-square-foot restaurant under the bleachers in center field in an area formerly occupied by the batting cages.
While Hawkey, the Dartmouth Co. broker, said that section of Boylston Street may not be the city’s most beautiful boulevard, the space could provide an opportunity for an enterprising restaurateur.
“That building has enormous potential,” Hawkey said. “It will take a little bit of imagination because it has a fortress like brick façade. But with folding glass doors, it could be a gorgeous spot. There are restaurants out there that are wiling to look at that block between Fenway Park and Back Bay in one direction and [properties such as] Trilogy and Landmark Center in the other.”
The biggest challenge, he said, is getting a liquor license. Typically, when restaurant deals are signed, the tenant is responsible for securing the license.
Smith said the building, which once housed a new-car showroom like the Sox-owned Gino building, is worth preserving.
“Our focus has always been not just the preservation of Fenway Park but to protect the scale of the neighborhood and the buildings that were erected in that era,” she said.
Still, Cavadi remains unconvinced. “Why didn’t Pat Lyons get it? If he’s not interested in doing it then there’s something wrong,” he said.
In an interview with Banker & Tradesman, Lyons said he was aware of the site’s availability but chose not to lease the space.
“We have a lot of projects on our plate right now. That’s the principal reason why we didn’t do anything there,” he said.
