It’s Official: Spokesperson Says Cushing Square Starbucks is Closing

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Photo: Closed … for now.

It’s the least best-kept secret in Belmont: the popular Starbucks Cafe in the heart of Cushing Square is closing.

If the reduction of parking and pedestrian access which dramatically reduced business wasn’t enough of a clue that the store would struggle as the construction of the 164,000 square foot multi-use Cushing Village development is built around the store, staff members have told customers that the store would be closing “soon” as reported by the Belmontonian a fortnight ago.

And now word has come from Seattle that makes what is already known, official.

“We can confirm that our store at 112 Trapelo Rd. in Belmont will close in the coming months while the building undergoes a large-scale redevelopment,” said a spokesperson from the Starbucks Media Relations Team in an email sent to the Belmontonian.

But the shutting of the doors at 112 Trapelo Rd. will not be the end of the coffeeshop’s presence in the neighborhood.

“We look forward to re-opening when construction is complete,” said the statement “and in the meantime, we invite customers to visit our partners (employees) at one of our nearby locations.”

Toll Brothers, the developer of Cushing Village, stated that a new store could be up and running in the project’s Winslow Building located at the site of the former municipal parking lot by the summer of 2018.

Last Call for Lattes: Cushing Sq. Starbucks Reported to Close ‘Soon’

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Photo: Starbucks in Cushing Square.

When you’re hunting for a cool iced caramel macchiato this summer, you’ll no longer have Starbucks in Belmont’s Cushing Square as a destination. 

According to associates who spoke to worried customers and the Belmontonian, the busy store located at 112 Trapelo Rd. will be shutting its doors “soon, in the next couple of months.” 

“Oh, no. What will happen to you,” said a customer when learning the news while purchasing a latte.  

While staff associates were happy to tell customers that the store would close, none would go on the record.

An email on the store’s closing to Nicole Smith, Starbuck’s district manager who oversees the Cushing Square store, has not been returned.

In statements to staff members, the decision to shut the popular site was due to the coming construction of Cushing Village, the 164,000 sq.-ft. multi-use project being built on three parcels in the heart of Cushing Square including the spot Starbucks is located.

Demolition of the site has begun with the tearing down of the former CVS/First National Building at the corner of Common Street and Belmont Avenue. 

According to a Cushing Square business owner, what clinched the decision was the drastic reduction of parking at the store. The municipal parking space adjacent to the store was closed to the public two weeks ago while the store’s own parking lot has been squeezed to less than a dozen spots.

With on-the-street parking to be limited due to construction in early April of the foundation of the first building – dubbed the Winslow – it was inevitable the store needed to be shut down.

The closing of the popular coffee stop will be felt in the square, said Chris Benoit, owner of the Spirited Gourmet on Common Street. 

“It is a big draw so its closing would be another hit to businesses that are struggling,” said Benoit three weeks ago at a public meeting on the future of the project. 

But there is an upside for coffee lovers.  Bill Lovett, the senior development manager at Toll’s Apartment Living who is managing the project told the previously mentioned public meeting that if Starbucks closed in the spring, the construction of the Winslow, which will house a new, expanded store, could be completed earlier than the anticipated summer 2018 date. 

In addition, the associates were telling customers that the store would be holding a “going away party” for its loyal customers. 

Cushing Square MuniParking Lot Closes Sept. 29

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Photo: Surveying equipment at the municipal lot in Cushing Square.

The first concrete step in the construction of Cushing Village takes place next week as the municipal parking lot at Trapelo and Williston roads will close temporarily on Thursday, Sept. 29.

The closure comes a day before Toll Brothers is scheduled to execute a purchase and sales agreement for the parcel of land adjacent to Starbucks. Even before next week’s events take place, engineers and surveyors have been seen in the lot making measurements and preparing for the building of fencing.

With the closure, Cushing Square-area businesses can purchase monthly parking passes from the Belmont Police for access to the Cushing Square parking lot. During the time the municipal parking lot is closed, permit holders will be allowed to park in the Cushing Square area free from time restrictions on parking with the exception of the following roadways:

  • Trapelo Road
  • Horne Road
  • Common Street

The Belmont Police will work closely with monthly pass holders and neighbors to minimize the impact that additional parked vehicles will have on the neighborhood. A similar plan was successfully put in place during the reconstruction of the Waverly Square municipal parking lot during the renovation of the Trapelo Road/Belmont Street Corredor.

Residents who have questions regarding enforcement should call:

Belmont Police Traffic Sergeant Ben Mailhot at 617-993-2538.

All other questions should be directed to the Town Administrator’s office at 617-993-2610.

Cushing Village’s New Owner Seeking Added Concessions From Town

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Photo: The current state of the location of Cushing Village.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That 19th-century French saying has a ring of truth to it when the discussion turns to the long-stalled Cushing Village residential/retail/parking development as it appears the new owners are seeking their own set of concessions from the town.

Approved for construction in July 2013, the project suffered through two-and-a-half years of delays and missed opportunities under the former ownership of lead developer Smith Legacy Partners.

So there was hope in the community when national housing firm Toll Brothers purchased the development rights in March of this year that a change at the top would allow the $80 million project – 115 units of housing, 38,000 sq.-ft. of stores and approximately 200 parking spaces – to move quickly to the construction stage.

In fact, representative of the Pennsylvia company said then it would not seek changes to the project which would warrant restarting the process, expressing confidence it would make the Aug. 26 deadline for the firm to sign a purchase and sale agreement with the town to buy a key town-owned land parcel, the municipal parking lot adjacent to Trapelo Road and Starbucks for $1 million, that would allow building to commence. 

For the town, Toll Brothers’ commitment to the site would stop the “endless loop of uncertainty” hampering work from commencing, said Selectman Sami Baghdady in March.

But what was said in the Spring appears to have fallen to the wayside in mid Summer. According to documents from the Board of Selectmen, Toll Brothers representatives will come before the Board at its Monday, Aug. 22 meeting seeking a new extension to the P&S deadline taking place four days later. 

In addition, the firm will request amendments to the Land Development Agreement – which for commercial property is a development plan that typically includes the time frame for completing the project, the property description, design sketches, and other details. 

The details of the changes and why they are being sought by Toll Brothers have not been publically flushed out – both the town and Toll are not speaking on the matter – as both sides appear ready to present their arguments on Monday.

Earlier this month, the board and the town appeared ready to sign all necessary paperwork on the 22nd, with current board chair Mark Paolillo saying that “both sides want this to go through.” 

New Cushing Square Traffic Light Pattern Set to Start May 31

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Photo: The intersection at Cushing Square.

As of May 31, driving efficiency will be coming to Cushing Square, whether you’re ready or not.

While it was apparent that many residents were happy with the old pattern of traffic lights at the busy intersection of Trapelo Road and Common Street, one entity that wasn’t were the engineers from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation which has been working on the $17 million Trapelo Road/Belmont Street Corridor Reconstruction project for the past two years.

According to State Sen. Will Brownsberger in a note to his constituents, the engineers will introduce a new traffic light phasing that will allow a greater number of vehicles to move through the square than under the current system.

This is the state’s second attempt to alter the long-time pattern of red and green lights at the corner – last fall it tried unsuccessfully to change the light phasing only to go back to the pre-project configuration.

The current system allows vehicles on Common Street headed towards Watertown get a green light to either travel straight or take a left while cars headed down Common into Belmont have to stop at a red light. Then, that reverses happens.

“This is very inefficient because most of the traffic in both directions would like to go straight. One wants the two straight movements to share green time,” noted Brownsberger. “After a lot of debate, a new approach has emerged which should be clear for drivers and is more efficient than any of the previously attempted configurations.”

The engineer’s explanation of this new approach appears below (with some additions from me):

  • For vehicles traveling on Trapelo Road, there will be no change.
  • The south bound Common Street (towards Watertown) lights will have a left arrow and a green ball light that still turn green simultaneously.
  • But, the south-bound green arrow will turn to red while the south bound straight ball light remains green, allowing vehicles on Common Street heading toward Watertown to continue towards Watertown.  But vehicles in the left turn lane which are turning left onto Trapelo Road will have to stop.
  • When that south-bound left arrow goes red, the north-Belmont bound Common Street lights will go green for both north lanes.  For south bound vehicles on Common Street in the right lane and heading toward Watertown, they will find that, during the latter part of their green phase, traffic will start coming from the opposite direction of Common Street and some of that traffic will be wanting to turn left in front of them.
  • The North Belmont bound vehicles will see green balls only (no left arrow), as is common at many intersections around the state. There will be a “left-turn-yield-on-green ball” sign, again as is common at many intersections. For vehicles on Common Street coming from Watertown, they will now find that traffic will be coming from the opposite direction of Common Street when they have the green indication and the vehicles turning left into Trapelo Road toward Waverley Square will need to yield to traffic coming from the other direction of Common Street.

“The beauty of this approach is that (a) the signage will be simpler — the complicated signs with three-headed arrows will be less critical; and (b) if north-bound traffic makes the mistake that it tends to make — thinking that the straight move to continue on Common Street is a left turn, they will actually not conflict with the straight movement from the other direction,” said Brownsberger.

The only time they will need to think is when they are making the hard left onto Trapelo and on that movement, it is reasonable to expect the drivers will exercise the caution that they generally should on a left turn with no arrow, he noted.

Business: A Simple Concept Brings Yoga Business to Cushing Village

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Photo: Stephanie Mills, owner of Simply Yoga in Cushing Square.

The circular logo on the window of Simply Yoga, which opens this weekend in the heart of Cushing Square, is not associated with traditional yoga illustrations. 

In fact, owner Stephanie Mills brought the symbol over from her native Ireland.

“It’s an image carved in stone at Newgrange,” said the Dublin native. Four days a year at the winter solstice, the sun enters a tiny roof box which allows the morning sun to illuminate the vast interior of the 5,000-year-old structure.

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And Mills wants to enlighten resident to the benefits of her brand of yoga. 

In many ways,  the name of Mills’ studio– who practices and teaches Vinyasa/Flow Yoga, where movement and breathing are synchronized  – is her business philosophy.

“That’s what I’m offering here, simply yoga. I’m not offering all the other exercise. It’s just yoga because I believe in it. It’s about the exercise; it’s about the mind, and it’s about creating a community. I want people to come here and to leave their stress at the door, where you can bring your kids, that you know this studio has a good vibe.”

“I’m not looking to build an empire. This is it,” she said.

Belmont residents got the opportunity to experience Mills’ approach with a free weekend – April 23 and 24 – of classes at her studio at 95 Trapelo Rd. which was once the location of a Chinese restaurant and a convenience store. The completely renovated interior has a large room (named Adam) and a more intimate space (dubbed Saoirse – not after the actress, Saoirse Ronan, but is Irish for “freedom) where she and staff can conduct classes and workshop.

“Yoga is for everyone, no matter what your experience. Simply Yoga is about building a community and introducing people to the simplicity that yoga can bring to our chaotic lives,” she said. “I think it’s very important in today’s society. We are constantly chasing our tails. Yoga is a reminder to take time for oneself.”

The Watertown resident has left a long career behind the camera – working at WGBH in production for NOVA and The American Experience and as a freelancer for National Geographic and The History Channel – after “returning to the yoga mat 17 years ago like most folks do; to get a workout,” she said,

After suffering a back injury that required surgery, going to the studio as well as finding a committed chiropractor “renewed my enthusiasm for yoga as I found it to be very restorative,” she said. The next step was her belief that she could provide people of all ages and abilities the same experience. 

Mills said she hopes the studio “is everything to every person” whether the customer is the middle-aged dad, the empty nester or the young professional who will be living in Cushing Village.

Screen Shot 2016-04-23 at 8.59.02 PM

Stephanie Mills, Simply Yoga.

“I believe strongly that yoga is for everyone,” said Mills. The range of classes are from yoga’s foundations, for the very beginner and the more experienced to go back to basics and learn the cues and get proper alignment for poses, Yin yoga where poses are held for minutes with the idea that your mind relaxes into that pose, more traditional flow classes, and a heated class. 

“People go to various yoga studios for lots of different reasons. When I envisioned taking this leap, starting a yoga studio, Belmont was the town I [saw], specifically Cushing Square,” she said.

“I envisioned a community, a ‘yoga strong’ community built by the instructors – who she spent the past six months recruiting for her studio – and the students, a place to learn and where knowledge is shared freely.  The team at Simply Yoga are deeply committed to the practice of yoga and the community,” said Mills.

“I think I have a stellar team, and they are really invested in yoga and invested in Belmont,” she said. 

Cushing Village Developer Misses Deadline for [Put Number Here] Time

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Photo: The municipal parking lot at Cushing Village is .. still there. 

Belmont just received another lump of coal from the developer who promised 30 months ago that he would build a project that “will revitalize Cushing Square and will become a source of pride for all of Belmont.”

On Dec. 3, after repeatedly missing deadlines for five months to purchase the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square, a “contrite” Chris Starr came before the Planning Board to apologize to town officials for two-and-a-half years of delays and false starts in building the 164,000 sq.-ft. the multi-use development known as Cushing Village. 

Starr told the board – which oversees the troubled project for the town – that he pledged to meet “three agreed to ‘milestones’ with the town” to begin the initial construction phase of the $63 million project consisting of 115 residential units, 38,300 sq.-ft. of retail and 225 parking space with 50 reserved for town use. 

“So we are really committed to making a change in Cushing Square and getting Cushing Village done,” said Starr.

The first milestone was to purchase the deed for the lot at Trapelo and Williston roads adjacent to the Cushing Square Starbucks at a cost of $850,000 by Friday, Dec. 11.

Um, how about moving that first deadline by a week, to Dec. 18, advised Starr’s attorney Mark Donahue. 

“We have frankly lost time as we … were communicating with the lenders,” said Donahue, speaking of lead banker Wells Fargo. Despite a lot of misgivings, the board and Board of Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady felt that Starr and his team had a plan that could be met.

Present at the meeting was Tony Papantonis, president and founder of Needham-based Nauset Construction, who said the lot would be “secured” and fenced in during Christmas week with heavy machinery marshaled on the space. In fact, prep work would begin that week, said Papantonis.

But for residents who live in the nearby neighborhood, the scene is anything but busy. Twenty days after Starr made his “solid” promise to the Planning Board, the lot remains open for parking, there is no fencing at the site, and the only activity is people leaving Starbucks with a hot mocha in a red cup. 

Once again, Chris Starr failed to make a “milestone” for the troubled project.

“The bottom line here is that the deadline was missed,” confirmed David Kale, town administrator on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

One neighbor, who has been following the Cushing Village saga for many years, said he has been reviewing land registry activity in Belmont and has not seen any evidence that Starr or Wells Fargo has begun the process of securing the deed for the lot.

What next? Kale said the Planning Board can request an agenda item concerning Cushing Village is included at its next meeting, “but that would be up to the board to do so.” 

An email was sent to Elizabeth Allison, the current chair of the Planning Board, concerning such a request. 

But it appears that a solution may come to pass before the Planning Board’s next meeting. It seems the missed deadline has less to do with a major failure on the developer’s part but rather what has cursed the project from the time Starr first initiated plans in 2008; simple incompetence. 

According to sources within government circles, the lack of a signature on an important set of papers at a time when officers of the bank and development company are decamping for an extended holiday recess was the culprit. 

The result is an inexcusable delay of several weeks, up until the first week in January, before the team can come together to sign off of the payment to Belmont for the municipal lot.

Three more lost weeks is but a drop in the bucket when the developer said in July 2013 the first building (on the parking lot) would welcome residents and retailers by the late fall/early winter … of 2014. 

A Contrite Developer Promises Action on Long-Delayed Cushing Village

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Photo: Developer Chris Starr (photo 2012)

Apologetic and contrite, Chris Starr stood before the Belmont Planning Board and said he was sorry.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much each of these delays really impacts me,” said Starr.

“I’ve seen the frustration of people in Cushing Square, and I’ve seen the residents and the business owners … and I certainly empathize with what they are going through right now. And I share that frustration,” said Starr. 

Starr, who in 2010 sued each member of the Belmont Board of Selectmen and threatened in 2012 to develop a 40B housing development if the Planning Board would not move on the development, was penitent at the Dec. 3 meeting as he sought for the third time in the past four months either an extension or modifications to the proposed project that was approved nearly 30 months before.

“I want first to start off by apologizing for having to come back for yet another request. We are deeply sorry to do this … the simple fact is that there were some lender requirements that needed to address.

The Planning Board approved Thursday night the three “modifications” to a one-year extension to the special permit granted in July 2013 passing Starr’s Smith Legacy Partners to obtain the town permits to construct the residential/commercial/parking complex running from Belmont and Common streets onto Trapelo to Winston roads. 

The two-and-a-half year delay in construction was due in large part in the difficulty in securing a primary lender who would assume the risk in a project led by an inexperienced developer. 

Starr also announced Thursday that he is now to meet three agreed to “milestones” with the town to begin the initial construction phase of the project. 

“So we are really committed to making a change in Cushing Square and getting Cushing Village done,” said Starr.

The three strict milestones with deadlines as part of the agreement:

  • The developers must close on the deed for the municipal parking lot at a cost of $850,000 by Friday, Dec. 11,
  • Begin initial demolition on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, and
  • Seek a building foundation permit from the town by Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. 

One of the modifications deals directly with the very first milestone, delaying the Dec. 11 closing of the sale of the municipal parking lot adjacent Trapelo Road by a week.  

Starr said he and his family is “committed to closing on the 18th” ending by thanking the Planning Board for “your understanding, your patience and I’m sure it won’t go unrewarded.” 

Mark Donahue, the Smith Legacy attorney, outlined the modifications that he noted was being required by Wells Fargo, the developer’s lead lender who will commit $15 million at the start of the project.

The first is a “force majeure” provision that allows the three milestones will be extended in the event of an extraordinary incident; relating to acts of God and not mere neglect or if the developer seeks a better deal.  

The second is what Donahue called “the lender saving provision” where the milestone dates are set aside if the lender exercises its rights of taking control of the property if it is determined the developer fails to meet his obligation to the bank. The lender, Wells Fargo, will then have the ability to negotiate a sale or a new deal with the town within the one-year extension, preventing the project from falling into “a black hole.”

The benefit of the second alteration is it “reassures the town” the project will be ultimately completed, with or without Starr at the helm, said Donahue.

“This is not to suggest in any fashion that the developer is walking away from these milestones,” said Donahue.

The third is the delay by a week of the first milestone. 

“We have frankly lost time as we … were communicating with the lenders,” said Donahue. 

The new additions, said Belmont Selectman Chair Sami Baghdady, will be beneficial to Belmont as it will allow the development to move forward whoever is in control of the project.

Saying that “we’re all frustrated to be here again” Baghdady said when looking at the development “in the bigger picture, we have to say to ourselves, ‘OK, what’s best for Belmont?'” 

None of the proposed language affects the one-year extension “and it’s still ticking,” said Baghdady. If the developer misses any of the milestone conditions, “we don’t want the special permit to terminate. We do want the lender to have the opportunity to come in, secure the project, take it over, finish the construction, cure, remedy and proceed.” 

“We don’t want a hole in the ground … and if this developer can’t make it continue, it is good for Belmont to have some else move in and move this project forward,” he said.

Cushing Village, at 164,000 sq.-ft. encompassing three buildings and two town blocks, would be the largest development in Belmont in recent memory. When completed in 18 months, the $63 million project will include 115 residential units, 38,000 sq.-ft. of retail spaces and underground parking that includes 50 municipal spaces.

After the closing, the public will see heavy equipment come to the municipal parking lot, the first building site, a few days later as the lot will be closed for the final time on Christmas week, according to Tony Papantonis, president and founder of Needham-based Nauset Construction.

Demolition of the S.S. Pierce building (at the corner of Common and Trapelo) and the former CVS building at Common and Belmont would then begin as well as prep work on the municipal lot within two weeks, in the first weeks of January 2016.

Back Again: Cushing Village to Seek More Changes to Development Permit

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Photo: The proposed Cushing Village development (left) and what is currently at the location (right).

Only three weeks after receiving an extension allowing it an additional year to construct its long-stalled project, the developers of the troubled Cushing Village residential/commercial/parking complex at Common Street and Trapelo Road will be back once again before the town’s Planning Board on Thursday, Dec. 3, as the project’s money backers are expected to demand modifications to the agreement to provide them even more legal and financial cover in the event the deal falls apart.

While neither the developer, Smith Legacy’s Chris Starr, nor the town’s point person on the project, the Office of Community Development’s Jeffrey Wheeler, would indicate what section of the extension requires altering, the one-year deadline of the special permit itself would not be affected, according to Sami Baghdady, chair of the Board of Selectmen. 

Baghdady led the Planning Board when it awarded the special permit to Starr in July 2013 to build a 164,000 sq.-ft. three-building development with 115 units of housing, shops and underground parking in the heart of Cushing Square.

This time, it’s the developer’s financial backers who are demanding the changes.

“It is my understanding that the proposed modifications to the one-year extension of the special permit are at the request of the developers’ lenders,” said Baghdady, who said the thrust of the revisions is to allow the lenders the opportunity to protect their interests in the event that the developer does not meet the time deadlines of the conditions.

But even Baghdady said the public will know the exact implications of the changes when the agenda item is taken up by the Planning Board.

“It is difficult to comment any further without the benefit of the developer’s presentation at the hearing,” said Baghdady.

Thursday marks the third time since August that the development team requested and received extensions and modifications to the special permit issued nearly 30 months ago. 

The latest extension, for 12 months, issued on Nov. 17, also stipulated the developers meet three strict deadlines as part of the agreement:

  • The developers must close on the deed for the municipal parking lot at a cost of $850,000 by Friday, Dec. 11,
  • Begin initial demolition on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, and
  • Seek a building foundation permit from the town by Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. 

The meeting’s timing is also somewhat interesting, as it will occur at the same time thousands of Belmont residents will be attending the annual “Turn on the Town” Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony taking place in Belmont Center, a block from Town Hall. 

Belmont Police has issued traffic bulletins advising residents of road closures in the Center including Leonard Street being closed at 5:30 p.m., making travel to Town Hall difficult. 

Traditionally, the Planning Board holds meetings on Tuesday evenings.

Holiday Parking Cheer: Selectmen OK 2 Free Hours at Municipal Lots

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Photo: Don’t put any coins in or swipe you credit card if your staying less than two hours.

The holiday season came early for residents and shoppers who will be shopping for that special gift in Belmont’s three main shopping districts as the Board of Selectmen Monday night, Nov. 9, voted to allow the first two hours free at municipal parking lots town-wide during the holiday season.,

The free parking will take place from Nov. 27 to Dec. 27, said Town Administrator David Kale “as a  ‘welcome back’ gesture” to customers who didn’t want to contend with the road construction occurring throughout Belmont.

Currently, parking in the three municipal lots – Belmont Center, Waverley, and Cushing squares – costs a dollar for each hour and five dollars for the day.

Concerned business owners told Kale the reconstruction of Belmont Center and the work on the $17 million Trapelo/Belmont Corridor project had impacted sales and activity in the past six months. The free parking will be an incentive to draw them back.

Kale said parking enforcement will target the late afternoon hours, after 6 p.m. to keep spaces turning over during the peak shopping times. 

Also, the town will increase the number of trash bins in the business centers, especially in Belmont Center during the annual Belmont Turn on the Town, Dec. 4 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

Belmont Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady said it was also a “tough environment” for store owners along Trapelo Road and especially those in Cushing Square which are dealing with the delay in the construction of the proposed Cushing Village development.

In construction news, Kale said the laying of sidewalks in Belmont Center is proceeding quickly, and the installation of new street lamps has begun on Leonard Street.