Former Macy’s Site On Schedule for Spring/Summer 2016 Re-Opening

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Kevin Foley is a man on a mission; telling Belmont the former Macy’s site in Belmont Center will return from its current mothball state and will be filled with tenants.

But not in 2015.

The manager of Locatelli Properties who oversees the significant stake the company has in Belmont’s commercial hub, Foley came before Belmont’s Board of Selectmen last week to reiterate what he told the Belmontonian in October: the historic building which opened in 1941 to house a Filene’s Department Store and then Macy’s (Macy’s closed in January 2013) will soon be transformed  inside and out to attract at least four and up to eight commercial tenants.

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“We are all excited about the future of the [site],” Foley told the board.

“My goal is to renovate the building and bring back the details,” he said, pointing to plans to re-establish large windows  along Leonard Street that were boarded up in the 1980s, as well as add architectural details to the facade.

“We are essentially bringing back … more store fronts to the street,” Foley told the board.

As he told a public meeting on Oct. 30, Foley said there will be “no substantive” exterior alterations to the building other than the creation of a vestibule on the parking side of the building to assist people entering the top and lower floors of the complex.

Locatelli has received the go-ahead from the Zoning Board of Appeals to move forward on the plans.

When asked about possible tenants – there will be nearly 50,000 square feet of retail space in the new structure – Foley remained mum, only saying “that everyone is asking me the same question.”

Foley does not rule out either national, regional or independent retailers or a restaurant becoming tenants. He has time to ponder which business will be coming to Belmont Center.

“Right now, I’m hoping spring or summer 2016 to open,” he said.

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Sold in Belmont: A Million Dollar House that SHOULD be Torn Down

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

• 5 Lodge Rd. A framed Colonial (1930), Sold for: $716,000. Listed at $695,000. Living area: 1,505 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 47 days.

• 665 Concord Ave. “Contemporary” (1961), Sold for: $1,175,000. Listed at $1,175,000. Living area: 3,080 sq.-ft. 10 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 4 baths. On the market: 64 days.

• 53 Leslie Rd. Two-floor condominium (1929), Sold for: $457,200. Listed at $437,000. Living area: 1,339 sq.-ft. 6 rooms; 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 50 days.

Some lucky individual just bought an upper Concord Avenue house for just more than a million dollars. (Kudos to the salesperson for selling the property the town appraised in 2014 at $920,000!)

Now the buyer(s) can provide a public benefit by tearing down this out-of-place, contemporary, rabbit hutch.

If this badly-aging, low-to-the-ground substandard example of Usonia architecture was situated in Palo Alto or Boulder or any of many western/West Coast communities where this sort of building is appreciated (along with “A” frames and split-levels such as Colorado which is actually attempting to preserve this architecture) then fine. But in Belmont, the Concord Avenue house is akin to the nice person on Bright Road who places palm trees and other exotics on his lawn most of the year: it’s interesting but out of place.

Frank Lloyd Wright developed this design (it’s also called Wrightian) as a low-end Prairie School-style house in which he attempted to “integrated the house with the landscape and nature in an attempt to get away from box-like structures (1)” that were plopped onto a plot of land.

Arranged in zones, typically with three areas: living space, small bedrooms, and a kitchen-dining area, the “Usonian houses were quite unlike the boxy, stark International Style houses that appeared to be dropped onto, rather than a part of, their location.”

But the Belmont house fails because it wasn’t designed by Wright but by a lesser architect who threw up (pun intended) a building that is a mashup of Wright’s principles and suburbanites’ demands. The structure the public can glimpse around that ugly fence (what did Robert Frost say about fences in “Mending Walls“?) is the garage! Is this Belmont, California? Garages are fine but not as your “Welcome” mate. Usonia is where carports (a word Wright created) became an architectural feature. Additionally, the open floor design with a large footprint has become hopelessly old-fashioned and inefficient, like having a typewriter on your office desk.

The house is a duck out of water, a dud. In temperament and temperature, New England is bound with Scandinavia. Residencies here need compartmentalization with multiple floors and designated rooms with doors to conserve warmth and energy but also large vertical windows to capture daylight especially in fall and winter. The Concord Avenue house had to rip out portions of the roof to install skylights to bring in the light.

Additionally, Belmont is suited for the tall over the squat (I would fear my six-foot, one-inch tall son would bump his head on the low ceilings at Concord Avenue): high windows allow for a view of the canopy of evergreens and the changing leaves; the narrow slits of the Usonia – which are fine for seeing the scrub and low grass of the West and Midwest – limits you to tree trunks and pet-eating coyotes to stare inside.

With nearly half an acre of land that is adjacent to Week’s Pond and Meadow, why not envelop the ever-changing coloring provided by the Southern light onto the trees and land? You want a unique, then go with a Farnsworth House-type structure (OK, you’ll probably need $10 million to build that today … ) On the more affordable side, there are great modular houses from noted Canadian and Swedish companies that would be a great modern addition to upper Concord Avenue.

So paraphrasing Ronald Reagan: “Mr. Homeowner, tear down this house!”

(1) “Selected Post-World War II Residential Architectural Styles and Building Types” Center for Historic Preservation, Research Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, Colorado Historical Society, 2006.

Finally: Sale of Town-Owned Woodfall Road Parcel Likely by Year’s End

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More than a year after it was selected to develop a town-owned property on Belmont Hill, a conglomerate of local businessmen will finally close on a deal to purchase the property and build three or four luxury homes on the site.

The 5.4 acre Woodfall Road parcel, a long-abandoned residential lot currently home to road material and overgrowth, “will be purchased by the end of the year,” said Andy Rojas, chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen, at a meeting of the Warrant Committee on Wednesday, Dec. 17.

The winning bidder Belmont Advisors – made up of partners Greensbrook Development, Line Company Architects and Phoenix Construction Group – will pay the town a purchase price of “between $1.8 to $1.7 million” to build luxury housing on the land, said Rojas.

When it was selected by the Selectmen in Nov. 2013 as the future developer of the site, it’s bid was $2.2 million. The other bidder, Northland Residential Corporation, which developed the residential portion of the McLean Property in Belmont, offered $750,000.

The deed transfer and final sales price were affected by a series of delays that included financing issues and drawn out concern with the abutting property owner, the Belmont Country Club. Apparently, the proposed housing was in the flight path of golf balls launched by members on the pitching and practice course. There is likely to be fencing on the property line.

The drawn-out purchase process would have a significant impact on the financing of the Belmont Center road reconstruction project. Early in 2014, town officials predicted the sale of the Woodfall Road site at nearly $2 million and the $850,000 for the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square to the current developer of the Cushing Village, Smith Legacy Limited, would fund the $2.8 million road and parking project.

When the two sales did not materialize, the town was forced to use a portion of its “free cash” reserves and call a special Town Meeting in November to secure the remaining funds to complete the project by the fall of 2015.

The proceeds from the sale, deemed “one-time” revenue receipt, will not be heading to the town’s general fund. In the past, such “one-time” monies have been directed to the Capital Budget Committee, which pays for long-term, large budget items such as public safety vehicles and repairs and upgrades to municipal buildings.

The sale for the parcel – known as 108 Woodfall Road – will bring to an end nearly a decade of attempts to sell the property that the town acquired through a foreclosure in 1938. The town thought it had sold the land to a private developer in 2006, but he never came up with the money.

In June 2012, the town’s Office of Community Development proposed a plan that would allow an Atlanta-based for-profit hospice firm to build a small residential building for end-of-life care for Belmont residents and others. But the opposition from homeowners in the upscale neighborhood drove the Selectmen’s decision to withdraw the proposed plan and restricted it to only residential construction.

Open Homes: The Priciest Open House in Belmont is on … Waverley?

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Belmont has some neighborhoods and byways that are readily associated with upscale homes and family manses: Belmont Hill, the McLean property, Somerset, Marsh, Grey Birch and Rutledge.

And this week, joining the avenues of the ritzy-priced homes is … Waverley Street.

Where are the smelling salts?

If you knocked on the doors of property owners along that fine street between, let’s say, Town Field and the square, the homeowners would say they live in a great neighborhood with good folks. But they would admit their humble road would hardly be considered a place where high-income houses are located.

But this weekend, the priciest open house is not in the converted asylum on McLean Hospital (a mere $1,495,000 for a condo) or on the Hill. No, it is the attached townhouses at 54-56 Waverley St. Priced at nearly $1.6 million, the new construction (built in 2009) duel homes are, um, tightly situated (i.e. crammed) onto 9,000 square feet of land with a garage – the salesperson calls it a “barn” that can become an office space – in the back.

So what do you get? Just like some newly-built residences around town, this is a standard two-family that has been fed steroids: each townhouse has three levels along with a portion of the basement that takes up nearly 4,400 square feet total. Each unit has six rooms, three bedrooms and either 2.5 or 3.5 bathrooms. It’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger of multi-family homes. Ja!

The townhouses are also being shopped around separately but how can you break up this pair? It’s being showed today, Saturday, Dec. 13, from noon to 2 p.m.

 

Sold in Belmont: From High to Low, Ranch to Antique

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

• 191 Somerset St. A Cape-style with a huge extension/wing (1950), Sold for: $1,450,000. Listed at $1,395,000. Living area: 3,167 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 70 days.

• 31 Robinwood Rd. Multi-level raised Ranch (1956), Sold for: $960,000. Listed at $1,059,000. Living area: 2,038 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 138 days.

• 57 Elm St. (upper). Two-level condominium (1925), Sold for: $719,900. Listed at $$719,900. Living area: 1,741 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 77 days.

• 41 Waverley St. Antique farmhouse-style (1880), Sold for: $690,000. Listed at $$750,000. Living area: 2,439 sq.-ft. 11 rooms; 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 49 days.

 

Sold in Belmont: Big Ranch by Little Pond (and the Uplands) Brings Seven Figures

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

• 75-77 Grove St. Two-family (1900), Sold for: $705,000. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 2,112 sq.-ft. 11 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 61 days.

• 127 Oliver Rd. Early Ranch (1945), Sold for: $1,020,000. Listed at $1,150,000. Living area: 2,911 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 76 days.

• 12 Hurley St. Ranch (1952), Sold for: $690,000. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 1,704 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 76 days.

While most of the million-dollar Belmont homes sold are those “with a view” – a glimpse of Boston through a grove of trees, overlooking parkland, etc. – there is a type of homes that many potential buyers may not realize are hiding in the Town of Homes: waterfront property. 

While surrounding towns have greater availability of “beach homes” – Spy Pond in Arlington, Winchester’s Upper Mystic Lake, along the Charles River – Belmont’s Little Pond provides houses for those partial being close to the water.

The Oliver Road property is interesting in that it’s one of the earliest examples of the ranch house in New England, being built as World War II ended. It’s big for a style built as being a starter house in mind, with nearly 3,000 square feet. But what really sells the property is the HUGE backyard, most of a half an acre that leads to the pond’s edge. That’s the sort of expanse you see in places out in the hinterland such as Arkansas or Minnesota where folks take the bass boat after work. (Do NOT eat the fish from Small Pond.) As you would expect, there is a large deck that overlooks the water. For their million dollars, the new owners will also get the opportunity to see the development of the 299-apartment unit Belmont Uplands housing project from their backyard. 

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Sold in Belmont: For One Week, ‘Affordability’ the Buzzword

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

• 2-4 Exeter St. Victorian two-family (1897), Sold for: $746,000. Listed at $750,000. Living area: 2,900 sq.-ft. 13 rooms; 6 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 70 days.

• 4 Ripley Rd. Condominum (1890), Sold for: $610,000. Listed at $575,000. Living area: 2,358 sq.-ft. 8 rooms; 5 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 53 days.

• 35-37 Harvard Rd. Two-family (1928), Sold for: $847,500. Listed at $849,900. Living area: 2,574 sq.-ft. 12 rooms; 6 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 112 days.

• 178 Waverley St. Side-entrance Colonial (1920), Sold for: $751,000. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 2,076 sq.-ft. 8 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 50 days.

• 134 Mill St. Colonial (1926), Sold for: $480,000. Listed at $499,900. Living area: 1,248 sq.-ft. 6 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 64 days.

• 7 Harvard Rd. Condominum (1920), Sold for: $435,000. Listed at $430,000. Living area: 1,293 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 58 days.

• 59 Edgemoor Rd. English-style Colonial (1935), Sold for: $1,060,000. Listed at $975,000. Living area: 2,372 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 49 days.

Nothing best describes a mature housing stock than when the “youngest” home sold in the past week is a mere 79 years old. That home, the “English-style” Colonial (what the salesperson should have said is that it has Tudor characteristics; the English-style actually goes back to the 1700s) on Edgemoor is the outlier this week, selling for seven figures as most of the residential properties sold for less than the medium home value in Belmont which last year was around $777,000.

The most interesting sale was the one on Mill Street in which the Colonial sold for under $500,000. Yet on closer look, the price discount is due to the location of the house: feet from a busy roadway and on the “wrong” side of the byway, adjacent to the McLean property and away from the Kendall Gardens neighborhood. In addition, the living area at 1,250 square-feet, was less than the condominiums sold this week. 

Sold in Belmont: Is the Hill Losing Some Luster to ‘Friendlier’ Homes?

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Photo: A classic Colonial on Benton Road that sold for seven figures. 

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

• 14 Frederick St. Two-family (1930), Sold for: $690,000. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 2,459 sq.-ft. 11 rooms; 5 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 47 days.

• 95 Bow Rd. Classic Colonial (1928), Sold for: $1,265,000. Listed at $1,250,000. Living area: 2,874 sq.-ft. 11 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 47 days.

• 10 Cutter St. Colonial “box” (1905), Sold for: $710,000. Listed at $689,000. Living area: 1,646 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 34 days. (A former House of the Week.)

• 80 Somerset St. Custom European-style home [the town calls it a colonial] (1924), Sold for: $1,500,000. Listed at $2,100,000. Living area: 3,116 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 179 days.

• 19 Benton Rd. Classic Colonial (1925), Sold for: $1,194,000. Listed at $1,149,000. Living area: 3,040 sq.-ft. 8 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 57 days.

• 26 Clifton St. English-brick Tudor (1920), Sold for: $1,085,000. Listed at $1,190,000. Living area: 2,675 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 86 days.

It’s good to be friendly.

And last week, that notable attribute was evident in real estate with the four Belmont homes that sold for seven figures. 

Up on Belmont Hill, a pair of houses hidden from public view (long-driveways and heavy vegetation) on large lots a distance from nearby residences took a couple of haircuts from their original list prices after spending some time sitting on the market.

Down in the hinterlands, two classic Colonials sitting steps from the street in typical neighborhoods located near bus lines and the town’s business center and other amenities were bought up for a premium after being listed for less than two months. 

Coincidence? Maybe. Or is the latest generation of homebuyers who can make the financial leap into high-end homes seeking a more communal living arrangement, wanting to be close to schools, libraries, pools and fellow residents. A recent report shows that many up-market buyers are no longer seeking celebrity-like seclusion but rather a lifestyle that allows the kids to walk down to school or the Benton Library and foregoing the second/third vehicle for public transportation.

A decade ago, the houses on Benton and Bow roads would never have been considered the equal of the duo on the Hill. Today, they are, and more.

Sold in Belmont: Belmont’s New Hill(crest) Paces Premium Price Housing

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

• 44 Hillcrest Rd. Colonial (1937), Sold for: $1,855,000. Listed at $1,795,000. Living area: 3,645 sq.-ft. 12 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 50 days.

• 9 Frederick St. Newly-renovated townhouse condo (1927/2013), Sold for: $679,000. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 1,563 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 63 days.

Once, not so many years ago, the only location in Belmont where you’d find premium-priced homes was on “the Hill” or in a high-end niche enclave such as Clover and Blake streets

Well, those days are gone. Today, your standard “Belmont” house situated far from the structures north of Pleasant Street are bringing in the big bucks; just take a gander at the prices attached to abodes sold this year on Goden and School streets.

So it doesn’t come as a shock to see a big Depression-era colonial (north of 3,700 sq.-ft. with 12 rooms) on Hillcrest Road not just selling for seven figures, but at a nice $60,000 premium over the listed price. Probably a nice bidding battle took place as the four (only) bedroom, three-and-a-half bath with a separate garage (although don’t try fitting an SUV into it) on a 16,000 sq.-ft. lot sold in a mere 50 days.

Not a bad payday for the long-time (and now ex-)owners who bought the house for $450,000 in 1989 and put $85,000 in major renovations two years later.

 

Sold in Belmont: To the Manor Born, a Monster Colonial

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

• 2 Radcliffe Rd. Colonial with Cape-design features (1938), Sold for: $756,625. Listed at $775,000. Living area: 1,887 sq.-ft. 8 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 61 days.

• 20 Wellington Ln. New construction/Colonial inspired (2014), Sold for: $2,350,000. Listed at $2,475,000. Living area: 5,701 sq.-ft. 18 rooms; 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: 52 days.

• 26 Alma Ave. #A1. Condominium (1923), Sold for: $356,000. Listed at $379,999. Living area: 970 sq.-ft. 5 rooms; 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 90 days.

• 11 Frederick St. Newly-renovated townhouse condo (1927/2013), Sold for: $699,000. Listed at $729,000. Living area: 1,909 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 98 days.