‘Sooner Than Later’: Lottery Is Returning To Waverley Star Market

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Photo: Star Market in Belmont.

“Sooner than later.”

Those were the words of Star Market General Manager and Vice President Steve Duran when asked by the Belmontonian the date Massachusetts Lottery tickets, and card games will be sold at the supermarket’s Waverley Square outlet after the Belmont Board of Selectmen unanimously approved a request by the state’s lottery commission to resume their sale at its board meeting on Monday, Oct. 16.

The approval comes a year after the supermarket chain agreed not to sell lottery tickets as a condition by the board to the transfer of a full retail liquor license for $450,000 from The Loading Zone. The restriction was part of a long-standing practice by the selectmen to decouple the sale of both tobacco and lottery products to retail establishments acquiring any town-issued alcohol license. 

But since the transfer, the state lottery had quietly lobbied the town to reintroduce sales its products. Officials noted the state returned $2.2 million in lottery revenue to Belmont in the 2017 fiscal year in direct local aid. 

The sitting Board of Selectmen earlier this year indicated a willingness to assist the lottery – which has seen activity flatten for the past few years – by returning sales to Belmont locations with retail licenses.

Love Learning Science At Belmont High Thanks To Cityside Subaru

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Photo: (from left) Belmont Superintendent John Phelan; Belmont High School Principal Dan Richards; Cityside Subaru’s Meagan Taylor; Cityside’s General Manager Richard White; Belmont Schools Science, Health, Technology and Engineering Director Elizabeth Baker. 

Belmont High School’s science program will soon be the beneficiary of a little lovin’ as Cityside Subaru is donating 150 books to the high school’s science program through the Subaru Loves Learning Project, part of the Subaru Love Promise Campaign.

The presentation was made at the Belmont School Committee meeting on Oct. 10.

In partnership with the Science Books & Films (SB&F) Project at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the books will supplement existing curriculum by supporting K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, while also helping to build reading and literacy skills. The ultimate goal of the donation is to engage young learners in the world of science and inspire them to want to learn more.

“Education is very important to us, we spend a lot of time training our people,” said Cityside’s General Manager Richard White to the committee and Belmont Superintendent John Phelan, Belmont High Principal Dan Richards and District Science Director Elizabeth Baker.

“Anytime we can leverage our relationship with Subaru to help bring more money and programs to the community, we are all for that,” said White. 

Cityside’s General Manager Richard White speaking before the Belmont School Committee; Cityside’s Meagan Taylor is at left.

The dealership is located at 790 Pleasant St.

In 2015, Subaru created the Subaru Love Promise Campaign, a pledge to do right by the communities in which local retailers live and work. It is a promise to make a positive impact in the world by focusing on improving our neighborhoods and communities.

Other Belmont and Boston-area charities and non-profits that benefit from the Subaru Love Promise Campaign include:

  • MSPCA, Animal Rescue League of Boston
  • Foundation For Belmont Education
  • Dan Scharfman Memorial 5K race
  • Fenway Health Initiative.

Sold In Belmont: Two Family Breaks Bank Selling For $1.22 Million

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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.”

A pair of two-families on corner lots built in the same year, but way different sale prices. 

• 92-94 Creeley Rd., Two family (1922). Sold: $1,220,000. Listed at $1,220,000. Living area: 3,089 sq.-ft. 15 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 54 days. Last sold: Dec. 2008, $595,000.

• 717 Belmont St., Second-floor condo (1922). Sold: $445,000. Listed at $449,998. Living area: 1,380 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 90 days. Last sold: Condo master deed filed Aug. 2007.

They must have discovered gold in the basement of 92-94 Creeley Rd. Surely that would explain how a C+ rated, 95-year-old two family would sell for nearly one and a quarter million dollars. OK, I give you the opportunity of a first-floor rental, there’s some renovation – the last permitted work was completed in 2015 with the deck and renovated bathroom costing $27,400 – and it’s a corner lot at the intersection of Gilbert. But do those amenities require a $337,000 premium above the town assessed value (2017) of $883,000? It’s a good-sized house at more than 3,000 square-feet but that space fills 15 rooms, and the images of the interior don’t give you the sense of wide-open spaces. The seller did add a second floor – it’s the attic – to the owner’s unit, just don’t be too tall when standing due to the slant of the roof. All this and an unfinished basement – which will likely stay in its present state for storage now that the attic has become living space – and a road out front that must be high on Glenn Clancy’s pavement condition index of streets to be repaired.

So is 92-94 Creeley Rd. the harbinger of a new pricing reality in two family sales in Belmont or a Casandra of a real estate bubble? 

Sold In Belmont: Ranch (House) On The Hill Sells For $1.14 Million

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Photo: A ranch house built on a slab of concrete with oil heat and with a town grade of C+; that’s worth a cool million in Belmont.

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

• 49 Robin Wood Rd., Ranch (1957). Sold: $1,140,000. Listed at $1,129,000. Living area: 2,144 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 50 days. Last sold: June 1989, $325,000. 

• 100 Common St. Apt. 2, Condominium (1880/1980). Sold: $430,000. Listed at $420,000. Living area: 1,278 sq.-ft. 3 rooms, 1 bedroom, 1 bath. On the market: 47 days. Last sold: June 2004, $379,000.

• 483 Pleasant St., [George Varnum Fletcher House] Second Empire/Free standing condo (1868). Sold: $1,770,000. Listed at $2,000,000. Living area: 4,776 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 104 days. Last sold: Sept. 2009, $1,305,375.

• 18 Woodland St. Unit 1, Condo in two-family (1910). Sold: $552,000. Listed at $525,000. Living area: 1,100 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. On the market: 55 days. Last sold: New condo conversion.

• 39 Woods Rd., expanded Cape (1955). Sold: $910,000. Listed at $899,000. Living area: 1,546 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 54 days. Last sold: June 1991, $230,000.

de Magistristos OK’d To Open ‘Neighborhood’ Eatery In Macy’s Block

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Photo: Damian de Magistris 

It doesn’t yet have a name, but a new eatery from the Belmont family that brought upscale il Casale will be up and running in Belmont Center next year.

That’s the outcome from the Planning Board that voted to waive the town’s bylaw on restaurant parking requirements allowing the de Magistris family to open a “neighborhood restaurant” in the renovated Macy’s Block.

“We’ll start work on the space in the fall and open by spring [2018],” said Damian de Magistris to the Belmontonian after the decision made at the Planning Board’s meeting held Monday, Sept. 19.

The town’s zoning bylaw requires one parking space for every two seats in a proposed restaurant. With the new site set to hold 133 seats, the de Magistris family was required to provide 67 spaces dedicated to the new business.

After the Planning Board advised the family to come back with additional data back in July, it came to Monday’s meeting with parking statistics and two videos. 

According to Len Simons, an attorney for landlord Locatelli Properties assisting the de Magistris family with its application, there is “a lot of parking spaces available” in the parking lots in the rear of the building and on-the-street at the peak times of 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and Saturday afternoons around 12:30 p.m.

Simons also said supplemental information indicates that about 70 percent of employees will be taking public transportation to the new outlet. 

de Magistris told the board the family sees the new dining spot “a bit as a service to our community.” But requiring multiple visits before the board “are stressful for us financial” since “we want to make this work.” said de Magistris.

In the end, the Planning Board gave relief to the zoning requirements with the condition that employees understand where they can and cannot park.

Initially dubbed Roast 75 (as in 75 Leonard St. the street address), the new site would be a “new warm, inviting neighborhood restaurant,”  incorporating an inexpensive, farm-to-table concept “that you can go to every day,” said Dante de Magistris when the family first revealed its plans before the Planning Board in July. 

“It’s a nice beautiful spot there,” said de Magistris.

Belmont Savings Streaks To 16th Consecutive Quarter of Growth

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Photo: Bob Mahoney, president and CEO of BSB Bancorp, Inc.

Everyone can appreciate a good “streak.” The Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio is still remembered for hitting in 56 straight games while the Boston Celtics won eight consecutive world championships in the 1950s and 60s, a record unlikely to be broken.

And you can add another familiar name to those holding impressive streaks as the parent company of Belmont Savings Bank, BSB Bancorp, Inc., announced recently it had achieved 16 straight quarters of increased earnings.

At the end of the second quarter on June 30, the bank’s net income reached $4 million, a 36 percent increase over the same quarter last year as strong loan creation and deposits drove the results. Since the beginning of the year, the bank reported net income of $7.7 million as compared to $5.5 million for the six months, a 40 percent jump.

“The bank’s success is due to our focus,” said Robert Mahoney, BSB’s CEO and president who since he was hired in 2010 has led the 132-year-old bank from a sleepy $400 million mutual savings bank into a stock-ownership holding company with $2.37 billion in assets, placing it in the top 400 banks – 376th to be exact – in the US.

“We created a road map seven years ago that has worked successfully in a terrific community with dedicated customers,” said the Wellesley resident who helped build Citizens Bank into a regional powerhouse in the early 2000s.

Unlike the recent trend of building through rival acquisitions or relying heavily on technology, Belmont Saving’s formula powering its growth is, well, boring; over the past seven years it has concentrated on writing mortgages on lots of residential homes and lend to commercial real estate ventures that fall in the bank’s Goldilocks range – not too big and not too small.

“We’re not into selling wealth management services or insurance or other financial products,” he said. ‘We decided back in 2011 to have a narrow view of where our growth would come from. I like the notion of controlling our own destiny,” said Mahoney.

And the numbers show it. Total loans – 1 to 4 family homes and commercial properties – grew by 11 percent comparing the first half of this year with last year to $201.6 million while deposits increased in the first six months to $1.61 billion from $1.47 billion.

What that vanilla portfolio produces besides earnings is safety: The bank’s total nonperforming assets have dropped to $1.7 million, or about three-quarters of one percent of total assets while outright net charge offs was $32,000 in the first half of the year. 

The four years of steady growth has rewarded bank shareholders with its stock price breaking the $30 barrier recently as total stockholders’ equity increased by $8.9 million to $169.8 million as of June 30.

Mahoney said matching the recent record of double digit growth will be harder to achieve as the bank continues to grow ever bigger – there are only so many home mortgages a bank can write in the competitive Metrowest market  – “so all I can do is focus on earnings since can’t control the other parts of the economy.”

But streaks, whether on the playing field or in business, can end suddenly if the person or organization doesn’t recognize potential roadblocks before them. The big one is a change in the national economy. Mahoney said he sees headwinds on the horizon, noting that the current economic recovery is entering its seventh year which is the usual length of financial rallies while other signs such as rental rates, occupancy and equity values that are “overheated.”

“It looks a lot like 1999, 2003 and 2007,” said Mahoney, reeling off the years the most recent of the downturns began.

Yet Mahoney doesn’t believe a decline, when it does come, will be severe, especially in New England with the economy driven by strong sectors such as biotech, medicine, universities and specialized manufacturing, saying “we are on a better ship to weather the coming storm.”

While bankers have well-honed strategies to ride out a downturn, there is a new and potentially greater threat to Belmont Savings and the entire banking structure: technologic disruption.

Like many industries, the banking sector is seen as a prime target for new tech-based firms that are looking to nimbly take advantage of an industry that they see as underserving their customers. An article in Inc. magazine points to startups that are “debanking” customers with mobile financial services. 

While recognizing the push towards technology creating fundamental changes to the industry, Mahoney contends banks such as Belmont Savings are meeting that challenge with apps and online services that are making a trip to a branch or the main office unnecessary and putting its customers in control.

“Amazon can’t transfer funds any faster than we can. And we have free ATM transactions around the world,” said Mahoney. Nor does he think that large firms such as Apple or Google will want to venture into the banking due to the burden of regulatory demands.

“If [the tech companies] think that dealing with the [Securities and Exchange Commission] is rough, they will not want to see the federal and state regulations we have to meet. That’s why, I think, they haven’t entered the business,” said Mahoney.

After engineering the bank’s multi-year streak, Mahoney said he isn’t ready to take the accolades and retire, who, at 69, is the same age as Aerosmith’s frontman Steven Tyler who is about to go on tour.

“I failed at retirement twice before so why try it a third time?” Mahoney said.

Belmont Resident In Running To Co-Own Big League Ball Club

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Photo: The hapless Miami Marlins.

What does a former-Presidential candidate, New York Yankee’s greatest shortstop, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, a Yale-educated baseball-obsessed New York city art dealer, Pitbull (not the dog), a basketball GOAT (not the animal), HOF pitchers and Belmont’s own Tagg Romney have in common?

Not much? Au contraire!

They are all in a battle royale to become part of America’s national past time as owner(s) of the Miami Marlins. And in one week’s time, we’ll know if Romney will be a part-owner of a Major League Baseball team.

With a July 31 deadline by Major League Baseball looming, the competition between two or three sets of bidders is a free-for-all who will spend millions take control of one of the most miserable franchises in recent baseball history.

The Grennsbrook Way homeowner and private equity manager and life sciences investment fund owner Wayne Rothbaum are bidding approximately $1.1 billion to buy the Marlins from art dealer to the New York elite Jeffrey Loria who many in sports circles consider the worst professional sports owner in the US for rarely investing in the product on the field. 

Since making their initial offer a few months ago, the Romney/Rothbaum tandem has added a truly incongruous mix co-partners to strengthen the their team including former Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, Pitbull – the popular Miami DJ – three great former starting pitchers (Tom Glavine, Dave Stewart, Al Leiter) and the CEO of Shoney’s (some kind of Southern regional restaurant chain) David Davoudpour.

For Romney, being owner would be a return to the sports business, having been head of marketing for the Los Angeles Dodgers before becoming vice president of onfield marketing at Reebok.

Romney will need the help as they are up against Yankees superstar Derek Jeter, who is the personal favorite of Loria, who is a big Yankees fan. Two months ago it appeared that Jeter along with his partner Jeb Bush – yup, the same Bush – to beat out the Romney/Rothbaum team with a $1.2 billion offer. But when Jeter struggled to finance the bid, Jeb pulled out. Since then, it is reported that Jeter traded a Bush for a GOAT: basketball superstar Michael Jordan has joined the Jeter squad that includes its own slew of money men.

Add to the mix is Florida cable-laying tycoon Jorge Mas who is making a late run for the team, yet there is evidence he is not as enthusiastic about the bid as the other two.

The sale process began in February when members of Jared Kushner’s family engaged in talks to purchase the franchise. The Kushners abandoned their pursuit of the team when the price peaked at $1 billion. 

Any sale will require the approval of Major League Baseball.

 

Planning Board Parks il Casale’s Next Belmont Eatery

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Photo: Dante de Magistris before the Planning Board.

Everything appeared to be going swimmingly for the local team seeking to open a new restaurant in the former Macy’s building in Belmont Center.

The site review application before the Planning Board which met on Monday, June 10 at the Beech Street Center couldn’t have come with a better pedigree. The de Magistris brothers (“We all grow up in Belmont,” said one brother at the introductions) who run the prestigious award-winning il Casale restaurant at 50 Leonard St. are seeking to open a second Belmont location, a new dining experience for residents to experience.

Likely dubbed Roast 75 (as in 75 Leonard St. the street address), the new site would be a “new warm, inviting neighborhood restaurant,” according to Dante de Magistris, the chef, and co-owner of il Casale, speaking for the family. The eatery would incorporate an inexpensive, farm-to-table concept “that you can go to every day,” he said.

The “front” door would be the back entrance facing the two parking lots along Claflin Street. ‘It’s a nice beautiful spot there,” said de Magistris.

Architect Neli Ialamov of South End-based McMahon Architects said little would be done to the brick exterior. The interior would consist of a lower basement storage area and a main floor dining area with an open “show” kitchen so diners can see the cooks in action. 

Architect Neli Ialamov of South End-based McMahon Architects.

But for the Planning Board, it wasn’t what the customers would be ordering that interested them; rather where those patrons would park their cars that held their interest.

Len Simons, an attorney for landlord Locatelli Properties assisting the de Magistris family with its application, told the board it would be seeking relief from the town’s zoning bylaw requirement of supplying one parking space for every two seats in the restaurant. With the new site set to hold 133 seats, the de Magistris family will need to provide 67 spaces.

That would be an issue as the landlord’s parking lot located adjacent to the operation only has 61 spaces total which needs to supply existing retail and restaurants.

In the family and Simons’ view, the restaurant could get by with 54 dedicated spaces in which several spots would be daytime permitted commuter parking in the nearby lot behind the Leonard Street fire station and the municipal location.

With a total of 382 parking spaces in lots and on the street in Belmont Center,”[t]he thought is that there should be enough parking to satisfy the requirements of the zoning bylaw albeit not on the same lot as the restaurant,” said Simons.

Simons also said 70 percent of the expected 25 employees would take mass transit to work and since a growing number of diners are arriving via ride-hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber, the actual number of spots the restaurant would need will be reduced even further.

But as Board Chair Elizabeth Allison noted, “the numbers [of space] are not the problem.” While not disputing the data presented to the board, Allison wanted to see “firmer” facts on the number of restaurant seats and parking spaces in lots and on the street in the Center in chart form rather than just off the top-of-the-head figures. She also said the board would be reviewing past actions on relaxing the parking bylaw for restaurants to be “consistent” if it would grant relief.

And while the board wishes to be “business friendly,” Allison said it also wanted to “be friendly to all business” in the center, not crowding out one set of retailers for another.

But it was when they realized that the board was not going to vote on the application Monday – scheduling a return visit of the application on Aug. 1 – that the faces of the de Magistris brothers took a distinctly anxious turn. And little wonder as it was revealed the board’s three-week delay on a possible vote was putting the il Casale team “between a rock and a hard place,” according to Simons.

Apparently, the de Magistris’ are “on the cusp of obtaining a liquor license” from the Board of Selectmen, said Simons, which, in turn, will allow them to finalize a financing package needed to begin construction on a space they are paying rent.

“At the risk of seeming aggressive,” Simons asked if approval of the site review application could be granted at present with conditions attached. But Allison nixed the suggestion, and Aug 1 would be the next time the team can plead its case to the board.

After spending 10 minutes discussing strategy with Simons in the Beech Street Center’s parking lot, Dante de Magistris summed up the board’s decision with a shrug of the shoulders.

“It’s an ongoing process. It’s a beautiful process,” he said without a bit of cynicism in his voice.

 

Tweaked: Failed Dunkin’ Donut Developer’s Back On Pleasant Street With New Proposal

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Photo: The new design for the strip mall at Pleasant and Brighton.

The development team whose attempt to build a Dunkin’ Donut restaurant at the corner of Pleasant and Brighton streets was shot down by the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals in January 2016 is back before the town with a new proposal for the site.

Although “new” will be seen as a stretch for some as Nick Leo’s proposed strip mall does mention a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant as one “alternative” in occupying the larger storefront at the former Pleasant Street Getty service station located at 350 Pleasant St. which Leo bought for $1,060,000 in July 2014.

But this time, rather than building a strip mall with one of his franchise as the anchor tenant that would involve what some contend is a zoning board not favorably disposed to business interests, the development’s retail spaces will be open to anyone.

‘Once site plan approval is granted and the construction schedule is set up, Mr. Leo will then seek out possible tenants,” said Joseph Noone, the Belmont-based attorney for the Leo Organization.

Leo’s plan this time is to build the structure under the review of the Planning Board and “if a future tenant use requires a special permit under the Belmont By-Law, the tenant will apply to the ZBA for a special permit if the proposed use is not permitted as of right,” said Noone.

The new concept comes before the Planning Board on Tuesday, July 11 at 7 p.m. for a Site and Design Review a year-and-a-half after the Zoning Board of Appeals voted down the application in January 2016 due to traffic and parking issues.

Leo, the owner of 20 Dunkin’ Donut franchises in Massachusetts and Florida, is seeking to build a 3,516 sq.-ft. strip mall with three retail spaces of 1,500, 1,000  and 746 square feet with 269 square feet of common space. The site will have 21 parking spaces, seven more than is required in an LB3 zone.

In many ways, the new design is similar to the failed plan which included a 3,500 sq.-ft. building with a pair of 1,000 sq.-ft. retail operations.

While an application is prohibited for two years to return to the ZBA after being rejected, the new project is considered just enough of a change to allow it back before the town.

“In essence, the footprint of the building is not changed from the plans previously submitted,” said Noone, noting that a small second-floor storage space was eliminated.

The big difference is what’s going inside the space, said Noone. The initial design came before the ZBA as it needed a special permit to use one of the retail spaces as a Dunkin Donuts. Since the new proposal only mentions two possible uses – or alternatives – the Planning Board will only review the proposed structure.

“The denial of the special permit for the use of a Dunkin Donuts [in 2016] does not preclude seeking site plan approval for the proposed structure,’ said Noone.

Noone said the new design incorporates suggestions and requests by abutters, neighbors and the town made during the ZBA hearings, including moving the new building closer to Pleasant Street. and the placement of the dumpster, transformer, and environmental remediation equipment.

Leo also hosted an informational meeting for the neighbors on May 9 at Noone’s office, which was attended by several neighbors. 

Turning A New Page: Doors Open at Belmont Books In Center

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Photo: Belmont Book’s Matilda Banker-Johnson with the book purchased by the editor of the Belmontonian.

The long sheets of paper have been taken from the windows, the shelves are almost all filled with books and while you will need to wait a little bit longer to get a cappuccino, the Town of Homes has seen the return of its very own bookstore as Belmont Books opened officially for browsers and bibliophiles on Friday morning, June 16.

“It has taken us five years to get to this point,” said Belmont resident Chris Abouzeid, who with his wife, Kathy Crowley, own the general bookstore. 

Abouzeid, who was a bookseller for Porter Square Books for many years, said it’s “basically scary” opening up a new store. “We’re new to retail, and we don’t make any pretense otherwise,” he said, noting they had plenty of help from friends in the business. 

The two-floor store – large children’s and young adult sections upstairs – with its new bright interior at 75 Leonard St. is the second business to settle in the renovated Macy’s/Filene’s building following Foodies Urban Market by a month.

Residents who have followed the build-up via the store’s Twitter feed 

“We knew this was a community that wanted a bookstore after fighting to try and keep the last one,” said Abouzeid referring to the Charlesbank Bookshop that closed in January 2010. “We wouldn’t have tried this if they community didn’t seem to care.”

And town residents have been eagerly anticipating the opening, many following the daily updates via Twitter and other social media sites.

“All we’ve heard for the last eight months is ‘when are you opening? when are you opening?'” said Abouzeid. 

The opening came at an advantageous time as “[w]e really wanted to open this weekend because of Father’s Day and give people an opportunity to buy their summer reading before leaving town [the] schools closing,” said Abouzeid, who along with Crowley, is an author. 

Abouzeid and Crowley are entering a market dominated by the online behemoth Amazon (which on the same day purchased Whole Foods) which has millions of titles on hand which they sell at a discount that a solo store can not match.

But evidence indicates that customers are not abandoning the local shop. While the number of bookstores nationwide has declined by 12 percent from 2012 to 2016, membership in an independent booksellers trade group has grown almost 13 percent in the five years to 2016.

“E-book sales have flattened, and folks are showing that they prefer to hold a real book and that includes young people that you might not expect. They are on electronic devices all day long, so a book is more relaxing.”

He also spoke of the environment of a book buying experience is heightened by searching for a new book in a store, especially in one that is new to the community.

“Just the colors, the feeling, the atmosphere. You can’t get that shopping online,” said Abouzeid. The staff, who will be making recommendations and emphasizing customer service, will also be a draw for shoppers.

“Hopefully, over time, we’ll get to know our customers that come in regularly. We’ll know six months down the line before a new book is coming out so we can make a suggestion to buyers who are fans of the author,” he said. “And you’d be surprised that you’ll get seven-year-olds who say, “Do you have this book” and we can answer them right away.”

Store manager Matilda Banker-Johnson, who has been working in bookstores since she was 16, said one of her primaryr4 goals is an attempt to carry books customers want to read – and conceivably purchase – “so they’ll feel like they belong here.”

The store’s inaugural event will feature two local debut authors as “The Salt House” writer Lisa Duffy talks with Crystal King, author of “Feast of Sorrow” about their books on Thursday, June 22, at 7 p.m.   

Belmont Books is located at 75 Leonard St. in Belmont Center.

Hours:
Monday-Saturday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Parking is on Leonard Street and in the municipal parking lot behind the Center.