Sweeney: Don't get your hopes up about Frontage Road property

On Thursday at 4 p.m., the Boston City Council is expected to take up a request from the Walsh Administration that, if approved, would deem the Boston Public Works lot on Frontage Road as surplus to the city’s requirements. That would free up 18 acres of land abutting the northbound side of Interstate 93, and the city would then go through the bidding process to see who will buy and subsequently build on the property.

Will it be affordable housing? Will it be a strip mall? Or will it be nothing at all, a sort of reverse land reclamation?

For legions of Revolution followers, the hope for them is that club investor/operator Robert Kraft and Kraft Sports Group will get involved, win the bid, and that within the next couple of years, a soccer-specific stadium — a cozy home for their club, with a grass surface not spoiled by ugly gridiron markings — rises from it.

And while that would be a wonderful thing — the goals of the club would be finally realized, after 12 years of searching; Revolution fans who can’t otherwise get to Gillette (see also: the MBTA’s refusal to set up rail service to Foxborough for Revs matches while the Patriots receive service on eight Sundays a year) would be able to watch their club in person — there is one teensy tiny fact that you have to keep in mind as Wednesday turns into Thursday.

There’s no guarantee — as far as we know — that the Revolution are actually looking at this parcel, given their history of uber-secretive dealings about their business; when BostonSportsJournal.com asked for an update earlier this month, the club had no comment. For reference, see what happened with the Bayside Expo site at UMass-Boston: the Revs tried to do things behind closed doors, without public input (#NIMBY), and the legislative delegation threw a monkey wrench into those discussions.

Boston councilor at large Michelle Wu, who heads the committee looking into Mayor Marty Walsh’s request, is looking for a great deal of input before the council makes its decision. In Wednesday’s edition of The Boston Globe, Wu is quoted as saying that Frontage Road is “the largest piece of city-owned land up for redevelopment, potentially for a long time. Rather than just take a vote and move on, we should hear more from the public and gather more [information]. Public land should be used for the greatest public good. We haven’t seen any analysis yet of what the greatest good would be.”

According to the article, Wu has invited input over the parcel. Hopefully, Revolution brass, including both Robert and Jonathan Kraft, as well as team president Brian Bilello, get involved. We know there will be environmental activists included, as well as advocacy for lesser traffic: any development there will potentially bring traffic.

What will happen at Thursday’s meeting is anyone’s guess. We don’t know how the individual councilors are leaning; we know that Walsh would love to have the Revs within Boston proper, and looking at Wu’s comments, it’s looking like this is the club’s last chance to get into the city via Boston-owned property.

All I can say is don’t hold your breath. If you don’t get your hopes up, you can’t be disappointed when the end result doesn’t go your way.

We’ve been burned before. Let’s not let ourselves be burned again.