Indian Restaurant Opening At Former Golden Garden Location on Concord Ave

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Photo: The location of the new Indian restaurant in Belmont.

His name is Sukhsimran Gill but you can call him Rusty. And if all goes to plan, you’ll be calling Rusty the owner of  Belmont’s latest restaurant to be called Spice Delight.

Gill is prepared to turn the location of a now-closed Chinese restaurant on Concord Avenue into a mid- to upscaled Indian eatery by mid-November after winning approval of a Special Permit for a change in ownership from the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday, Oct. 1. 

“We’re hoping to bring some nice Indian food your community,” Gill told the board.

Gill is the owner of Gill Pizza of Londonderry, NH, a wholesale pizza company that services a large number of school districts (including Belmont … New Hampshire) and businesses in the Granite State and Massachusetts. But the New Hampshire resident has also had a hand in the retail end of the food industry for the past 15 years, owning both Indian and Italian restaurants. 

His last restaurant, Zaika Taste of India, was doing swimmingly at the Meadow Glen Mall in Medford. Then last year Wegmans Food Market arrived and took over 120,000 square feet of mall space, resulting in his business and all the other eateries being kicked out of the revamped development. Rusty had been seeking another site since.

And Gill and his partner who lives in Everett believed they found what they were looking for at the cubby corner locale that was home of the closed Golden Garden restaurant at 63 Concord Ave. They soon signed a lease until 2023 with two five year options. 

The menu will primarily be northern Indian cuisine – chaat, tandoor, and curries such as tikka masala and korma will be familiar to many – and will be prepared by a chef Gill has employed at numerous locations for 15 years.

“He is excellent,” said Gill.

The storefront, which has 44 seats, will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, and noon to 10 p.m. on weekends. He believes the business will be half takeout and the other half sitdown service. The restaurant does not have a liquor license but Gill said they will soon approach the town for a beer and wine restaurant licence 

Questions were asked about parking; Belmont’s zoning code requires one spot for every two seats. But the parking – all on- street – is grandfathered. 

 

Christmas Cappuccinos? Starbucks Looking At Late November Opening at Bradford

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Photo: Design for the new Starbucks in the Bradford development. 

Belmont will soon have a third Starbucks Cafe in the Town of Homes as the Zoning Board of Appeals approved unanimously a special permit allowing the Seattle-based coffee mega-chain to run a “fast food” restaurant at The Bradford, the retail/housing/parking development under construction in the heart of Cushing Square.

Plans submitted to the town shows a narrow 2,500 square foot cafe/store located on the left side of the two-story Winslow Building which is being built approximately on the site of the former Starbucks’ location on Trapelo Road. The store will have two entrances, in the front and rear, with 42 interior and 12 seasonal outdoor seats located in the back. The cafe will seek to operate most days from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., employing four to six workers per shift. There will be 22 parking spaces – including two handicap spaces – dedicated to the store located between the Winslow and the main Pomona buildings.

The cafe is the first business to commit to The Bradford – previously known as Cushing Village – which has close to 38,000 square feet dedicated to retail. The project, which includes underground parking and 112 apartments, is being developed by Toll Brothers Apartment Living, which rescued the proposal after the original developer, Smith Legacy Partners, failed in its efforts to secure the necessary funding.

Danial Brennan, a consultant, assisting Starbucks in securing municipal permits in New England, said the current schedule is for construction of the cafe to begin Sept. 15 with an anticipated completion date “hopefully at the end of November.” 

“But [the dates] are always estimates,” said Brennan.

Unlike other fast-casual restaurants and quick stop retail operations that came before the Zoning Board of Appeals – a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts on Pleasant Street comes to mind – there was no resident opposition or comment concerning Starbucks, which operates approximately 28,000 stores around the globe.

Zoning Chair Nicholas Iannuzzi noted the last well-known “fast food” restaurant to come before the board, for a Subway franchise in Belmont Center, required four meetings before it received a “special” to operate.

“God bless America. God bless Starbucks,” he said.

New Retail/Residential Project On Trapelo Could Spur Waverley Sq Redevelopment

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Photo: The location on Trapelo Road of new development in Waverley Square.

A pair of mixed-use developments slated for the heart of Waverley Square could hearken the beginning of a major renovation to Belmont’s business center, according to the longtime resident leading the

Developer Joe DeStefano is proposing two nearly identical projects with ground floor retail and two floors of residential units, mostly studio apartments, at 493 and 505 Trapelo Rd., abutting the commuter rail tracks. The locations are currently occupied by the Waverley Insurance Agency (493 Trapelo) and “a dated strip style building” housing a fitness center (505 Trapelo).

In his letters to the board, DeStefano said the project will not just “greatly enhance the appearance of Waverley Square.” the new construction will “hopefully encourage further redevelopment along the Trapelo Road Corridor to complete an exciting revitalization of Belmont’s retail and residential neighborhoods.”

Belmont’s worst kept secret over the past two years has been the landowners of parcels in Waverley Square and along the length of South Pleasant Street are actively working in a loose partnership behind the scenes to advance plans to create a large-scale, multi-use development on land currently used for low-impact retail and equipment storage. Currently, the town’s Planning Board has been discussing the development options along South Pleasant Street and Waverley Square.

Last summer, the Planning Board (which, at that time, DeStefano was a member) took a first stab presenting a redevelopment blueprint for Waverley Square when it proposed building a housing development on the site of the Belmont Car Wash – across the commuter rail line from the DeStefano projects along Trapelo Road – centered by a relocated Belmont Public Library. That plan was immediately criticized by neighbors and the Board of Library Trustees which said it was never informed that the library was part of the plan. The proposal died soon after. 

DeStefano’s project, dubbed the Waverley Square Redevelopment, envisions building two, 40-foot tall buildings on the sites with approximately 10,000 square feet of storefront space on the ground floor. The two floors above the retail will be small living units. At 495 Trapelo, there will be six studios on the second floor (with one handicap accessible) and four studios and two one bedrooms on the second floor. At 505 Trapelo, there will be three studio and two one bedrooms on the first and second floors. Parking is located at the rear of the buildings.

Due to the existing business-related zoning bylaw, DeStefano initial attempt in April to obtain a building permit was denied by the Office of Community Development as both developments do not comply with the town’s current zoning bylaw in which a mixed-use building must obtain a Special Permit.

The project is in a Local Business I commercial zone which allows for the highest intensity development, include sit-down and fast-food restaurants and office and retail by Special Permit. The maximum building height is two stories, but three-story buildings may be approved by Special Permit. Belmont has a pair of LB I districts in Cushing and Waverley squares.

Nick Iannuzzi, chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals, told the Belmontonian the board will hold two nights of a public hearing beginning on June 18 to discuss the Special Permit request.

BREAKING: Foodie’s Closing Thursday After Failing To Attract Customers

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Photo: Au revoir, Foodies

The rumors have been swirling around Belmont Center for the past few months: Foodie’s Market was on its heels financially. Business owners on Leonard Street heard the number of customers coming to the store had never materialized as the Roxbury-based business and landlord, Locatelli Properties, had hoped. Recently, the market suddenly removed an application before the Zoning Board of Appeals to place a small cafe in the store to attract people to have lunch and dinner in the store. 

“It’s not a good sign,” said Gerry Dickhaut, owner of Champions Sporting Good and president of the Belmont Center Business Association, said just last week. 

Today, the scuttlebutt proved true. According to a spokesperson at Foodie’s headquarters in Boston, the supermarket in the former Filene’s’ store will close on Thursday, May 31, nearly a year after opening in the center. 

“All I can say is we are closing our Belmont operation. That’s it,” the spokesperson said.

No reason was provided, yet a person who works closely with Foodie’s speaking on background said a highly-competitive food marketplace – a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe’s, and two Star Market locations are within two miles of the smallish (15,000 square feet) Foodie’s outlet – and the market’s challenging layout in the basement of the new building which forced shoppers to climb down a long stairwell from the Leonard Street storefront proved a “hard nut to crack.” 

‘Dockless’ Bike Share Comes To Belmont This Summer

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Photo: Dockless bike share in Washington DC (Credit: Washington Post)

By early summer, Belmontians will be able to grab a bike for a buck and ride off to travel around Belmont and 14 nearby towns. When they’re done, the riders need only to park it at a centralized location and that’s it.

Welcome to bike sharing, Belmont-style, as the Board of Selectmen voted on Monday, April 9  to sign an agreement to join a regional bicycle-sharing program that is unlike the Hubway Bike Share program used in Boston (since 2011), Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville which require docking stations which municipalities need to invest thousands of dollars at several locations. Under the new “dockless” program, there is no cost to Belmont. 

“This will help take cars off the street,” said Spencer Gober, Office of Community Development staff planner, who has been working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) which brought together a group of 15 communities to join in a joint request for station-free proposals. In addition to Belmont, Watertown, Arlington, Lexington, Waltham, Bedford, and Concord and other cities and towns in Metro Boston are interested in joining the system.

About a year ago, several bike-sharing companies were seeking to establish relationships with individual municipalities when the MAPC took the lead to find the two vendors which were recently chosen to supply up to 2,000 bikes over the member towns and cities. The new dockless bike share system is taking off with Seattle and Washington launching programs using thousands of bicycles.

The service brings bikes with locks on their wheels that are opened by using the company’s app on their smartphone. Users can use the app to find locations of bikes which have GPS locators. The bikes will be located at designated public locations around town, including business centers and transportation hubs. Between 35 to 50 bikes – which may also include e-bikes, electric pedal-assist bicycles – will be located in Belmont with the cost per ride at $1, said Gober. Riders can cross town lines without leaving the network. 

Sold In Belmont: 1 Bathroom, Oil Heat, Nearly $1 Million Dollars On Chilton Street

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Photo: It’s a sign of the times 

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.” 

• 50 Chilton St., Side-entry Colonial (1930). Sold: $965,000. Listed at $925,000. Living area: 2,158 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. On the market: 40 days. Last sold: April 2012, $676,000.

Petula Clark had a classic 60s hit called “A Sign of the Times.” And you could say that about the house at 50 Chilton in the Winn Brook neighborhood. This nearly 80-year-old house has a single bathroom for three bedrooms – the town’s assessors shows only two not counting the one in the converted attic –  and as someone who grew up in a single bathroom in Weymouth, I can tell you there will definitely be a line in the morning. It’s also heated by oil fuel which is fast becoming an antique  And for this the new owner paid nearly seven figures for the privilege to live in it. 

But the house has been selling above the assessed value. The 2018 value of $850,000 and In 2012  it sold for $676,000, a 20 percent premium over the $542,000 assessed value. . It does have nice qualities, with nice grey and white with wood floors and with 2,100 smallish rooms 

 

 

 

Sold In Belmont: A Brick House A Smart Pig Would Love and Updated Antebellum on Lake Street;

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Photo: A two-family that sold for nearly one and a quarter million dollars? 

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.” 

• 60 Alexander Ave., Postwar Ranch (1951). Sold: $935,000. Listed at $850,000. Living area: 2,230 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 43 days. Last sold: Nov. 1976, $22,500.

• 140 Prospect St., Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,206,000. Listed at $895,000. Living area: 2,146 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market:  days. Last sold: July, 1941.

• 350 Lake St., Brick Colonial (1927). Sold: $905,000. Listed at $925,000. Living area: 1,598 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 64 days. Last sold: July, 2006, $590,000.

• 210 Waverley St., First-floor Condo townhouse (1880/Gut rehab 2016). Sold: $760,000. Listed at $799,999. Living area: 2,063 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 135 days. Last sold: Nov. 2016, $720,000.

• 55 Alma Ave. Unit 1, Condo (1916). Sold: $492,000. Listed at $499,000. Living area: 1,082 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 92 days. Last sold: Sept. 2017, for the building $855,000.

• 55 Alma Ave. Unit 2, Condo (1916). Sold: $520,000. Listed at $539,000. Living area: 1,301 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 91 days. Last sold: Sept. 2017, for the building $855,000.

• 354 Lake St., Antebellum Old-Style (1856). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,200,000. Living area: 2,800 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 127 days. Last sold: Oct. 2010, $525,000. 

The pair of Lake Street houses that sold last week may only be across the shortest street in Belmont from each other but they represent worlds of differences in terms of style and structure.

There’s the house at 350 which a smart little piggy would love own to keep the huffing, puffing wolf at bay. Talk about a brick house! This must have been a bear to construct compared to your typical wood frame around the area – it’s one of a pair with its sister just across Lake Street – even the garage and ornamentation is red brick with the roof slate and clay. A house of the earth, to say the least. It’s a relatively modest 1,600 sq.-ft.; it’s relatively easy to understand why there has been no expansion as it would mean carving out a hole in a wall of bricks. And while brick is the most popular exterior in the US, repointing this structure must be a constant drudgery. While there are lots of half brick Colonials and all brick Georgian Revival and Tudors around town, these two stand out in terms of location and the overwhelming use of the material. There has to be a story behind the twins but Dick Betts never got around mentioning it in his books. The interior is a bit tight but there’s a lot of original detail (doors, beams) remaining and it’s so solid it will be one of the few structures still standing if a meteor strikes the vicinity.

The second house at 354 on Lake that sold was built when the street was part of Arlington (then known as West Cambridge) as it predates Belmont’s creation by three years. Known as “old style” by the town’s assessors, it’s just that, a wood frame with strong corner treatment. While having a Lake Street address, the front porch now faces Belmont’s shortest street, Milton Street (Did you know that only one house (#15) has a Milton Street address?) although some may quibble and note Belmont Circle being smaller, it’s a dead end and edges into Watertown. While some people are wary of “old” homes and the surprises they hold, in the past decade the owners put a modern face on it. The renovations began with striping and reroofing ($34,100, yes, it’s expensive), replace all the windows ($25,000) and replastering walls and ceilings. Two years ago the big money ($79,000) went to remodeling the kitchen and baths. and last year $5,000 to renovate the front p0rch. Take a look inside and its actually quite nice, bright and spacy. Worth more than twice for it sold eight years ago as it lies a Tom Brady pass from the Route 2 on-ramp? Someone thought so.

Plastic Bag Ban Set For May Town Meeting Vote

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Photo: “Plastic or paper?” could become “Paper?”

The ubiquitous single-use plastic bag could soon be a memory in the Town of Homes as the Belmont Board of Selectmen approved on Monday, Feb. 26 sponsoring an article before the annual Town Meeting in May banning town retailers from providing the quintessential receptacle to their customers.

If passed by Town Meeting, the bylaw will take effect six months after the vote or on Nov. 1, 2018, whichever is later and would initially apply to stores with more than 30,000 square feet of retail space. Carthy said it would likely first impact the Star Market on Trapelo Road. The remainder of stores will have until nine months after Town Meeting approval or Feb. 1, 2019, to make the change.

The selectmen’s unanimous vote supports the initiative from the 15 resident group that formed in November seeking to end Belmont merchants use of the thin bags to check the harm it does to the environment – plastic bags harm animals and sea life that eat or are entangled by them – while also clogging storm drains and burdening solid waste disposal and recycling facilities. 

“The thin-film plastic bags are incredibly cheap so there is little incentive for merchants to make a change,” said the group’s spokesperson Mark Carthy of Stone Road and a Precinct 6 Town meeting member.

Carthy said the group submitted a Citizen’s Petition that was certified by the Town Clerk on Monday as a backup plan if the Selectmen had not accepted their proposal. 

“We are very pleased with [the selectmen’s] vote as it will make it an easier process under their guidance,” said Carthy.

Under the new bylaw, retailers will have two choices for customers; recyclables paper and reusable check-out bags made of natural fibers (cotton or linen), with stitched panels and can carry 25 pounds for more than 300 feet. The Belmont ban would include all plastic bags including the heavier, sturdy plastic examples which towns have allowed – an example is bags used by Russo’s in Watertown. Exceptions will include plastic bags without handles such as those covering or containing dry cleaning, newspapers, produce and meats, and bulk or wet foods.

For retailers who violate the ban, a written warning will come with the first offense. A second violation will be accompanied by a $50 fine and any further offense a $200 fine will be imposed and the fines will be cumulative and each day a violation occurs will constitute a separate offense.

Belmont is following the lead of more than 60 municipalities around the state which have installed bans in the past five years. Neighboring Cambridge has banned most plastic bags and charge a fee for paper bags since 2015 while Arlington’s ban on single-use plastic bags goes into effect on March 1 for retailers over 10,000 square feet and on July 1 for all other retailers. 

Belmont will not be able to impose a fee for bags as Cambridge does since state law prohibits towns from imposing a surtax on bags but does allow cities, said Carthy.

While popular in Massachusetts, bag bans have been less than accepted elsewhere. State legislatures in South Carolina, Utah, Arizona and Florida have voted to prohibit municipalities from banning carry-out bags. 

While the selectmen and Board of Health, which the bag ban group visited Monday evening, support the proposal, each noted a concern the bylaw’s enforcement powers which are ceded to the Belmont Health Department, will place an additional burden on its small staff. Health Board member Dr. David Alper told the group executing the laws compliance rules “will not be high on our things to enforce.”

Alper advised the group to reach out to the Department of Public Works and Mary Beth Calnan, the town’s part-time Recycling Coordinator, which would “give you a better bang for the buck” as “they can educate the stores and be punitive” when needed.

Belmont Farmers Market Ready To Park Itself In Belmont Center For 13th Season

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Photo: Hal Shubin (left) and Suzanne Johannet of the Belmont Food Collaborative before the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

What a difference two weeks can make.

The last time the leadership of the Belmont Food Collaborative – the group that runs the Belmont Farmers Market – was before the Board of Selectmen on Jan. 22, it was a slightly frosty reception as it comes to secure the board’s OK to bring the market back to Belmont Center for a 13th season.

Suzanne Johannet, collaborative’s president, and Hal Shubin, the chairman of the farmers market, were seated next to Kevin Foley, manager of Locatelli Properties and landlord of many businesses along Leonard Street in Belmont Center. For the second year, Foley came to the board to bring up a continuing sore point of the Farmers Market taking nearly 20 parking spaces in the rear of the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot on what he describes as “one of our busiest days of the week.” 

“Before we talk where and when the Farmers Market is located, that we look at this issue carefully each year and look at parking demand and adjust accordingly,” said Foley at the January meeting. In the past, Foley suggested either moving the market to another location away from the center or changing the markets’ operation times and the day it takes place such as Monday, noting that several new businesses have opened in the center with a new restaurant scheduled to arrive this summer.

For the Collaborative, Foley’s continued criticism of the markets’ use of the public lot was baffling. “What do you want, Kevin?” said Johannet, saying that Market customers bring business to his tenants, specifically during the summer when business drags.  

While open to the market returning for its second decade at the site, the Selectmen were “frustrated,” according to member Mark Paolillo, that long-standing agreement for the collaborative and Locatelli to sit down at a meeting “discuss” the parking issue had not taken place for well over a year. Due to the dispute, the Selectmen delayed acting on granting the Collaborative the right to set up shop in the parking lot “until you get together as was promised,” said Paolillo.

Fast forward to Monday, Feb. 5 and the much warmer encounter between the board and collaborative. 

Working with new Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, the Collaborative met with Foley and representatives from the Belmont Center Business Association and as Johannet told the board, it appears the Farmers Market was a lesser concern to Foley than the overriding worry of providing an adequate number of “core parking spaces” for patrons of the center’s retail operators. 

Johannet said Foley had been using the market “as a football” to express his frustrations with the town over the broader issue of parking supply and demand.

Garvin said Foley would like the town to create some “reprieve” for the employees to take pressure off of shoppers and those eating at the center’s restaurants. In an effort to help the business community, the town and market will continue to monitor parking levels and hold ongoing discussions with all sides, said Garvin. 

Despite Foley’s protestations, the Selectmen were solidly in the market’s corner. “The town owns the parking lot, not Kevin Foley,” said Selectmen Chair Jim Williams. In the end, the board voted unanimously to allow the Belmont Farmers Market to use the 19 spaces each Thursday, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in September and October) from June 7 to Oct. 26 to bring fresh produce and locally made goods to residents, to the applause of supporters in the audience.

According to Shubin, the collaborative is reviewing options that would allow the market to avoid being caught between the parking needs of businesses and the town, which could include asking for a multi-year approval.

“We can now get excited about our 13th year,” said Johannet.

il Casale Team Opening New Belmont Center Restaurant in Early Summer

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Photo: The de Magistris’ new eatery “The Wellington” will be a similar size to the flagship il Casale restaurant.

Residents will have a new dining option as the Belmont family that runs il Casale will open its newest eatery in the early summer in the building that houses Foodies and the Belmont Book Store.

The “The Wellington” was presented before the Belmont Board of Selectmen last week as the de Magistris family sought a full-alcohol license for the second of the family’s businesses in Belmont Center, following their award-winning restaurant at 50 Leonard St. 

The license was approved unanimously by the board on Jan. 8. 

The family first approached the town in July 2017 when it presented its designs to the Planning Board which took some issue with the parking spaces allocated to the business. The application was approved in September. 

The new restaurant will be “a little more casual than what you may recall at il Casale, more modern American fare (“hamburgers and oysters,” according to Dante de Magistris), a fresh seasonal menu that will change … and meeting the ever-growing demand foreign and vegetarian options” in the $11 to $16 range for “burger and  and $21 to $31 for entrees. There will also be a brunch menu.  

The location – which will have entries on Leonard Street and adjacent the Claflin Street parking lot – will be open for lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner until 10 p.m. with a bar featuring craft beers and handmade cocktails. There will also be a brunch menu.  

The new eatery will mirror il Casale in size and occupancy, taking up 3,500 sq.-ft. in the first-floor dining area – with 2,000 sq.-ft. in the lower level taken up by office and storage space – will have 133 seats with 21 bar seating with an occupancy of 200, nearly identical to the de Magistris’ flagship operation.