Good morning,

If you’re a retailer, restaurateur, service business or anyone who depends on a lot of credit card transactions, you know how much rising swipe fees eat into your bottom line.

A state commission weighing legislation to rein in those costs is holding a hearing on Beacon Hill today. Written testimony will be accepted until July 31.

The Retailers Association of Massachusetts (RAM) has more information.

Next possible step for Watertown Square unveiled

Watertown’s ambitious plan to transform Watertown Square is moving forward on multiple fronts.

Several multi-family housing projects are in the pipeline or underway, thanks to new zoning. Consulting teams are helping reconfigure the streetscape. A landscape architect team will be selected to incorporate many open spaces.  And U.S. Rep.

Katherine Clark, just secured a $500,000 grant to help with costs.

Last night, City Manager George Proakis presented yet another element: a potential public-private partnership to develop a parking garage with ground-floor retail, market-rate housing and public space built on parking lots and adjacent parcels behind Main Street.

The garage itself could add up to 100 parking spaces (the overall plan already adds street parking), something Proakis stressed is essential for restaurants and retailers to succeed (and we agree). Incremental tax revenue from the new housing would help support the garage and public space.

Proakis repeatedly stressed that nothing’s been decided. As with earlier Watertown

Square efforts, there will be oodles of public engagement, starting with a May open house.

But then, in a twist, Proakis ended his presentation, suggesting the city may already have a partner for the effort:  Hg80 Real Estate, a firm Proakis got to know when he worked in Somerville and its principals developed Assembly Row.

He said Hg80 has been in talks with the city and with property owners whose parcels would need to be acquired to make a residential project possible. That could squelch competition, but also make it feasible.

This project would be a demonstration project for future revitalization efforts under the city council’s authority, potentially sparking a much larger transformation.

Wellesley beats almost everywhere in low electric bills

Massachusetts has the third-highest electricity bills in the continental U.S..

But in Wellesley, electric rates are lower than in all but five municipalities.

How low? The average electric utility bill in Wellesley in 2025 for 500 kWh of usage was $74.78 per month, compared to $180.35 for a National Grid customer.

That’s because the town is one of 52 communities that operate their own municipal light plants, as the Globe’s Sabrina Shankman explains.

Senate pushes tax break to spur housing

The state Senate is leaning into an idea first proposed last year by a task force assembled by Gov. Maura Healey to bolster housing: giving developers a sales-tax exemption on construction materials.

It would apply to multifamily projects in communities with median incomes at or below 120% of the state average, or projects where at least 15% of units are incomerestricted, reports the Globe’s Jon Chesto. The proposal caps the tax break at $35 million annually.

Housing Committee co-chair Sen. Julian Cyr says it’s one of several steps lawmakers hope will spur more housing construction.

Tuesday grab bag

• We understand some Outlook users are experiencing trouble registering for chamber events through our Mailchimp emails.  If you need assistance, call 617-244-5300, email info@charlesriverchamber.com, or visit our website to register.
•  Harvard Street — between Washington Street in Brookline Village and the Allston border  — is headed for a summer of construction, with some advocates saying the repaving plan doesn’t go far enough to make the street meaningfully safer. (Brookline.News)
• Last call: The deadline for our high school senior scholarship program is Thursday.
• To celebrate the first-ever national Local News Day — Thursday, April 9 — Fig City News will hold open air office hours, 5-7 p.m at Newton Centre Plaza.
• Speaking of supporting local journalism, a Cape Cod nonprofit just purchased a condo for local reporters
• You’re invited: Tutor, a very cool Watertown-based robotics company, is celebrating the opening of its new headquarters: a 35,000 SF facility at Riverworks, 480 Pleasant St., on April 23, 6 to 9 p.m. RSVP
• The Brookline Immigrant Advancement Committee hosts a Bystander
• Training Workshop facilitated by MIRA, Apr. 23, 6 p.m. at the Brookline Village Library. The training covers tools and strategies for safely responding to immigration enforcement, including recognizing ICE operations, safe support practices, and community resources.
• It’s nice to know what’s good on WERS , which birds Doug Banks is seeing and five things once again, even if only weekly.
•  Green Needham has surveyed select and planning board candidates about environmental issues.
• The Wellesley Select Board is meeting in executive session today to “conduct strategy with respect to potential litigation regarding 40 Oakland Street” i.e the MassBay parking lot.
•  We’re hiring! We’re looking for someone who is super friendly, welcoming and well-organized to join our chamber team in our member services department.

Four Boston biotechs moving to Watertown

Employees from four Boston biotechs will soon be joining other scientists fueling up each morning at the Revival Café in Watertown.

Ampersand Biomedicines, Abiologics, ProFound Therapeutics and Repertoire Immune Medicines are all building out suites at 99 Coolidge, according to Sam Ghilardi of Watertown Bio.

They’re all backed by Flagship Pioneering — a start-up incubator that has spun out more than 80 biotech companies, including Moderna — and focus not just on one specific disease, but on treatments aimed at a range of ailments.

Together, these new lease-ups will push the building past 50% occupancy for the first time since 2023.

Watch this 10-minute video to learn more about Watertown’s biotech sector.

Ten restaurants our members can’t wait to try

Finally, with Spring Seasoning on Monday, here are the final results of our poll asking members which of our 40+ participating restaurants you’re most looking forward to trying next week

• Nzuko (Watertown)
• black & blue Steak and Crab (Wellesley) 
• Ritcey East (Watertown)
• NAYA (Watertown)
• Tistle & Leek (Newton)
• La Morra (Brookline)
• Sensational Foods (Watertown)
• Bar 'Cino (Watertown)
• Truly's / Truly's Next Door (Wellesley)
• Alta Strada (Wellesley)

Of course, you’ll be able to sample not just those ten, but 40+ of our region’s top kitchens on Monday, including Capital Grille’s Kona-crusted steak and a Cabot’s ice cream sundae, while catching up with the people who make our community tick.

You’ll leave full, connected and knowing you helped support the businesses and advocacy that keep our region strong. 

Get your tickets soon.

That’s what you need to know for today, unless you need to know that the next time you have jury duty, you’ll — finally — also have WiFi.

Max Woolf will be here on Friday

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

Looking for an earlier edition? Archive here

 Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.