Fenway developer Samuels & Associates plans to demolish part of 401 Park Drive for a grocery store, life science building and walkways. Residents, however, have raised concerns about moving the area’s main grocer and removing above-ground parking.
The proposal totals 600,000 square feet, with a 50,000 square foot full-service grocery store and the remainder dedicated to a life science building. It would also include 2.3 acres of public space, with enhanced paths surrounding the building and the nearby MBTA Fenway station.
“When we purchased the building, it felt like a barrier. There was only one door, no connectivity to the project around the building, the neighborhood or the train station,” said Samuels Principal Abe Menzin at a June 8 public meeting.
Construction of the new building would require 1,200 workers, and developers estimate the completed structure would house 3,000 jobs through its store and scientific enterprises. The project would also include $10 million in “linkage funding,” money that goes into a city fund to pay for housing and workforce training.
The price of this upgrade is the above-ground parking and Star Market that currently service the area. While input from area residents and the project’s Community Advisory Committee during the meeting was largely supportive, some are worried that the new supermarket location could be an obstacle. “I have heard grumblings in the neighborhood. People are worried about the grocery store moving over to the site,” said area resident Mia Jean-Sicard. “The intersection from the gas station on Boylston over to the site is just a wide, wide avenue. The lights aren’t always in sync and there are right turns, it’s scary to cross that street.”
“The grocery store is the chief concern that I’ve heard above all in this project,” said District 8 City Councilor Kenzie Bok. “I think we have a fundamental problem with the crossing at Boylston Street and the crossing at Brookline Avenue.”
Project planners say they’re aware of the issue, but decisions around street crossings are in the hands of government organizations. Those hoping to avoid crossing may have to take a long way around to approach from a more accessible direction.
“The city is working with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to figure out how to create better pedestrian connectivity through there,” said Menzin. “Brookline and Boylston are DCR jurisdiction. The Boston Transportation Department has thoughts on how it might work, but we would love to figure out if there are ways to make those crossings more pedestrian-friendly.” Parking is also a perpetual concern in the Fenway, with relatively low day-to-day traffic but explosive increases during events like baseball games. The proposed renovations don’t add any parking spaces but do replace any above-ground parking lost with underground lots. The proposal’s project notification form, a broad analysis of the project’s impact submitted early in the development process, estimates parking demand to be just over 1,300 spaces. The final design would have 1,500, and Menzin said the city’s metrics may overstate demand. “We believe in our own analysis that the surveyed usage of the building, of how people get there, is much lower than the city’s analysis,” he said. “So we’re not overbuilding the parking, we’re right-sizing the amount of parking.”
