Here’s a Boston story worth following in the burbs
Here’s a Boston story worth following in the burbs
The most important thing you need to know this morning is that tickets for next Monday’s big all-you-can-eat tasting event, Spring Seasonings: A Taste of Our Towns are running low.
That should not be surprising considering that we'll be celebrating our local dining scene with this amazing lineup of restaurants, caterers and beverage purveyors:
- Abbott’s Frozen Custard
- Alta Strada
- Auburndale Wines & Spirits
- Bar ’Cino
- Baker’s Best Catering / The Gordon Companies
- Baramor
- Better Life Food
- Bianca Woodfire Kitchen & Bar
- Bin Ends Wine
- Blue Ribbon BBQ
- Bocca Bella Cafe
- Cabot’s Ice Cream & Restaurant
- Cha Yen Thai Cookery
- Da LaPosta
- Dunn-Gaherins Food & Spirits
- Fiorella’s Cucina
- French Press Bakery & Cafe
- Fuji at Newton
- House of Tandoor
- Legal Sea Foods
- Link Cafe at Sheraton Needham
- MIDA
- Moldova Restaurant
- NaisLee Catering
- Needham Wines & Spirits
- Oak n’ Barrel
- O’Hara’s
- Olespana
- Paddy’s Pub
- Papa Razzi
- Playa Bowls
- Rail Stop Restaurant & Bar
- Ritcey East
- Riverbend Restaurant at the Newton Marriott
- Sensational Foods LLC
- Smith & Wollensky
- Shiraz Persian Cuisine
- Sycamore
- The Biltmore
- The Capital Grille
- Thistle & Leek
Our event runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Newton Marriott, which should be plenty of time for most folks to join us for dinner after enjoying Monday afternoon's eclipse (between about 2 and 4:30 p.m. locally).
Proceeds support the chamber's advocacy and programming, including initiatives to nurture our local dining scene.
Here’s a Boston story worth watching in the burbs
Should office building owners in our suburban communities be sending Boston Mayor Michelle Wu a thank you-note?
Just as downtown office building owners are struggling with high vacancy rates (and remote job postings are reportedly on the rise again), Wu wants Beacon Hill to grant her permission to hike property tax rates on commercial properties beyond the already existing tax shift.
How could that not make our suburban properties more competitive?
Yes, office vacancies are challenging for landlords here too. Still, all other things being equal, I suspect most folks would agree it’s already better to own office space in the 'burbs right now.
However writing in Contrarian Boston, Scott Van Voorhis warns about the possibly of Wu’s idea gaining traction elsewhere.
“In fact, Adam Chapdelaine, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, is holding out Wu’s proposal as a potential template for suburbs and cities looking to head off ‘crushing property tax increases for homeowners,’” Van Voorhis writes.
Linden Square building goes on the market
Linden Square building goes on the market
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A prominent building that abuts Linden Square that is in walking distance of the Wellesley Square MBTACommuter Rail station just went on the market.
And it could be rezoned as soon as this week to allow for housing by right under the MBTA Communities Law.
The three-story 22,700 SF property at 151-159 Linden Street sold for $160,000 in 1974. Fifty years later, it could fetch upwards of $10 million, suggests Joe Clements at the Real Reporter.
And it could be rezoned as soon as this week to allow for housing by right under the MBTA Communities Law.
The three-story 22,700 SF property at 151-159 Linden Street sold for $160,000 in 1974. Fifty years later, it could fetch upwards of $10 million, suggests Joe Clements at the Real Reporter.
The circa-1918’s building was owned William P. Cullen, who passed away last November. It currently has eight tenants, including Takara Japanese Restaurant, with all but one approaching expiration near-term, several this year, Clements reports.
One thing that might hold it back from redevelopment is limited parking. It’s presently served now by a narrow parking strip adjacent to the train tracks that’s also on the market.
But 151-159 Linden Street (listed by 128 CRE) could become attractive as a by-right, mixed use, or multifamily property. And that could become easier this week, or next, since it's included in Wellesley proposed MBTA Compliance Plan, now before Wellesley Town Meeting.
Watertown Square ready for its closeup
Watertown Square ready for its closeup
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Regular readers of this newsletter know I’ve been impressed with the way Watertown city officials have been thoughtfully building consensus for reimagining Watertown Square.
We’ll find out Thursday if those high hopes were justified.
We’ll find out Thursday if those high hopes were justified.
That’s when the Watertown Square Area Plan streetscape proposal, as well as the parameters for how City Manager George Proakis and his team hope to comply with the MBTA Communities Law, will be shared at a 6:30 p.m. community meeting at 66 Galen Street (and streamed on WCAV-TV).
It won't be the final meeting, or step, in the process Proakis told the city council last week, reports Charlie Breitrose at Watertown News.
“But at the end of the day, in order to complete a plan, I need to put one option on the table. In order to have a zoning discussion with the council, I need to put one option in front of the council to which you can amend that one option. It is my hope we move forward in that direction and I think it is important for anybody who is interested in this process to engage at that April 4th meeting or following up in the community."
- The MBTA will host a virtual meeting focused on plans to improve the Newtonville commuter rail station, April 10, 6 p.m. RSVP
- Realtor and Needham mega-volunteer Bill Dermody is running for state representative seat being vacated this year by Rep. Denise Garlick. The 13th Norfolk District includes Needham, Dover and two precincts in Medfield.
- The Retailers Association of Massachusetts is conducting a survey for the Healey/Driscoll Administration to determine interest from retailers in possibly hiring newly arriving migrants with work permits.
- Sweet Dream – a chocolates shop -- just opened on Union Street in Newton Centre. (All over Newton)
- Growing beyond our footprint: The James Pub & Provisions in Needham is opening a second location in Essex this spring. And Newton Highlands-based chocolate shop Cacao is opening a second location in the South End.
- The BETA: Commercial Building Pilot offers commercial building owners a unique opportunity to receive a custom electrification and decarbonization plan along with implementation resources.
- Jennifer Martin is Newton's new Director of Transportation Planning.
- More than one-third of homes nationwide were purchased with cash in February as mortgage rates remain high, according to a new report from the real estate company Redfin
Sloe gin fizzles: Drinks to-go are gone
Over the weekend the state’s pandemic-era provision allowing restaurants to offer to-go drinks expired.
With House and Senate leaders divided over the practice, it’s uncertain if, or when, the practice might resume.
Newton’s outdoor dining season begins
Newton’s outdoor dining season begins
Newton's outdoor dining season officially opened yesterday (April 1). Fourteen restaurants will be paying to use street parklets. Another 29 will provide outdoor dining on sidewalks. Still others will have offer outdoor seating on their own patios or properties, according to the city.
As of Sunday, Newton’s winter parking ban also ended.
The League of Women Voters of Needham has compiled an online resource for the the town's April 9 municipal election.
Want to know if town meeting member candidates share your priorities? (Such as, perhaps, housing?) The League asked them here.
Want to know how the three candidates running for two select board seats say they'll help small businesses, or feel about narrowing Great Plain Ave.? Watch the video from the chamber’s business-focused debate here.
Watertown school offering a chance to ‘hear and feel’ the eclipse
Watertown school offering a chance to ‘hear and feel’ the eclipse
Finally today, while eclipse watchers will look to the skies Monday afternoon, Watertown’s Perkins School for the Blind is playing a role helping those who are blind or visually impaired hear and feel the celestial event, the Associated Press reports.
They’ll be broadcasting via Zoom the sounds emitted from a small device called a LightSound box that translates changing light into sounds.
“When the sun is bright, there will be high, delicate flute notes. As the moon begins to cover the sun, the mid-range notes are those of a clarinet. Darkness is rendered by a low clicking sound,” AP reports.
That’s what you need to know today, unless you need to know why you may be sneezing for 13 more days this year
That’s what you need to know today, unless you need to know why you may be sneezing for 13 more days this year
There will (probably) be no newsletter this Friday. Hope to see you at Spring Seasonings on Monday.
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President & CEO
617.244.1688
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