Fenway Bark on W. 1 Street shut down tonight.
In an e-mail to customers, owner Jane Fulton said she'd been planning to close by month's end, in any case, as she tries to find a new location, but:
The current building has failed. The roof is letting in significant amounts of water and can not be heated adequately where leaks and roof holes are prevalent.
Fulton, who originally tried to open on E. 1 Street, writes she's despairing of finding a new location, due to the South Boston condo craze:
We tried what locations remain after so many industrial zoned areas have become sprawling condominium and apartment developments. What remains of industrial property, which is the only zoning allowing for dog care, has become outrageously expensive, three times what I pay at this location and the prior location. In the end, the math simply doesn't work because no matter how much someone earns, paying $100 a day for dog care simply isn't palatable for anyone. ...
The Department of Business Development for Boston has tried to help us find property but they ran into the same issues we did with our independent efforts and with those of realtors in the area.
We would love to carry on but simply don't see a path to allow that to happen short of buying a building and the asking price in the market well exceeds $500 psf now. The asking prices are untenable for a small business like us. We have a potential property in our sights in a less expensive part of Boston and if that comes to bear, we will be announcing it to you first. However, the commute would be 20 minutes away.