Red Sox Courting Restaurateurs for Three Sites Near Fenway Park

BOSTON-The Boston Red Sox are making a pitch to put three restaurants in the Fenway Park area in the next three years as the franchise moves forward with plans to turn the ballpark neighborhood into a year-round destination spot.

Janet Marie Smith, the team's architecture and development chief, tells GlobeSt.com that the ball club has been in talks with neighborhood restaurateurs to see if they are willing to relocate to two Sox-owned properties along Lansdowne Street and a third along Ipswich Street. But, the team's still months, possibly years, away from realizing that plan, she adds.

"The [Boston Redevelopment Authority] has long wanted Lansdowne Street to morph into something that has a day-long life and be more restaurant and family based," Smith says, noting the proposed restaurants would breath new life into the area now known for its rowdy nightclubs and gritty streetscape.

Plans for the restaurants call for one to be located underneath the Lansdowne Street bleachers where the Sox currently keep its sound system and batting cage. Smith says if permits are approved by the city that work on that eatery could begin as early as October after the baseball season ends. The two other establishments would be located in the Lansdowne Street garage and Town Taxi along Ipswich Street. If the city approves, all three properties would be converted into 5,000-sf restaurants with outdoor cafe seating, she says.

The Sox also are looking to cut a land-swap deal with the Abby Group to exchange a parcel along Boylston Street, which currently houses a McDonald's, for a large parking lot next door to Fenway Park near Yawkey Way, Smith says. If those negotiations are successful, the Sox could use the parking lot land for 30,000 sf of new offices and employee parking.