State IG Rips BRA Over Red Sox Land Deals

BOSTON—While the poor brand of baseball the Boston Red Sox played this past year drew the ire of many die-hard fans at Fenway, real estate deals on property outside the storied ballpark between the ball club and the Boston Redevelopment Agency were the subject of a highly critical report by the Commonwealth’s Inspector General.

Massachusetts Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha in a 19-page report ripped the Red Sox and the BRA for transactions in 2013 involving the closing of Yawkey Way adjacent to Fenway Park for concession sales during events and the transfer of air and subterranean rights on Lansdowne Street. The Inspector General found that the BRA did not due diligence in the deals. He also was critical of the process BRA followed that included the taking of a city easement from the City of Boston over Yawkey Way and the transfer of air rights in that easement to the Red Sox.