Development

LETTER: Developer Makes Case for a Hotel on Elm Street in Watertown

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There will be a Special Meeting of the Watertown Planning Board on Thursday, May 21, 2015, in the Town Council Chamber of Town Hall, 149 Main Street, Watertown, to hear a proposal to build a new business class five story hotel on the site formerly occupied by Atlantic Battery. The developer, Cherag Patel, from the Chicago area has owned and developed hotels for the past sixteen years. Mr. Patel said “We are excited about the opportunity to bring another marquis hotel to Watertown. We feel that Watertown’s location is superior to Cambridge and Waltham because Watertown has the unique ability to offer guests both an urban experience like Cambridge, and a suburban experience, like Waltham. Our market research firmly establishes that there is so much demand for hotel rooms from Watertown businesses such as Athena Health, Tufts Health, the Perkins School for the Blind, and the many other thriving businesses in Watertown, that a second hotel in Watertown will flourish.

Real Estate

Take a Look at the Five Homes That Sold This Week in Watertown

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Five Watertown homes sold this week. See information about the properties below. 

$420,000 – 112 Laurel St., 8 room, 5 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, Colonial single-family home

$720,000 – 222 Edenfield Ave. Unit 2, 7 room, 3 bedroom, 3 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

$599,900 – 125 Coolidge Ave Unit 204, 5 room, 2 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, Mid-Rise condo/townhouse

Story Sponsored by:

$633,000 – 109 Spring St. Unit 109, 9 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse

$487,000 – 42 Rosedale Road, 7 room, 5 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Cape single-family home

Development

Changes Made to Hotel Proposal Do Not Satisfy Concerned Residents

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Despite a local developer’s efforts to redesign plans for a proposed hotel at 80 Elm Street, Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis and a group of East end residents said they still don’t want it in their neighborhood last week. “It does not belong on Elm Street,” Kounelis said. The residents and several Town Councilors gathered at he Apartments at Coolidge School’s Function Room on Arlington Street, May 7 for an option neighborhood meeting about the proposed five-story, 104-room hotel. Despite already meeting the required number of neighborhood meetings, developer Cherag Patel held the meeting to address concerns residents had previously expressed. The project is scheduled to by heard at a special planning board meeting on May 21.

Real Estate

Check Out the Dozens of Open Houses in Watertown This Weekend

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Home seekers have plenty of choices around Watertown this weekend. $589,000 – 68 Highland Ave., 4 bed, 2 bath ranch, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$409,000 – 235 Palfrey St., 3 bed, 1 bath home, Open Houses: Saturday 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$689,900 – 73 Everett Ave., 4 bed, 2 bath contemporary Open House: Friday 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

$334,900 – 120 Duff St. Unit 120, 2 bed, 1 bath townhouse, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$850,000 – 40 Katherine Road, 5 bed, 1 full 2 half bath Gambrel/Dutch, Open Houses: Saturday 1:30-3 p.m. Sunday 1:30-3 p.m.

Story Sponsored by:

$749,900 – 13-15 Columbia St., 2 unit, 12 total room, 4 total bedroom 2 family, Open Houses: Friday 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday 12-1:30 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$439,000 – 15 Beacon Park, 2 bed, 1 bath bungalow, Open Houses: Saturday 1-2 p.m. Sunday 12-1 p.m.

$635,000 – 195 Chapman St., 4 bed, 1 full 2 half bath colonial, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1 p.m. Sunday 12-2 p.m.

$750,000 – 87 Arlington St., 3 unit, 5 total room, 2 total bedroom 3 family, Open House: Sunday 2-3 p.m.

$815,000 – 456 Belmont St. Unit 24, 3 bed, 2 full 1 half bath townhouse, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 p.m. Sunday 12-2 p.m.

$569,000 – 24 Edenfield Ave., 3 bed, 2 bath colonial, Open House: Sunday 1-2 p.m.

$789,000 – 191 Edenfield Ave., 4 bed, 3 bath colonial, Open House: Sunday 12-2 p.m.

$839,000 – 11-13 Lyons Court, 2 unit, 10 total room, 4 total bedroom, Open House: Saturday 12-1:30 p.m.

Business

New Tufts Health Plan Foundation President Has Ties to Obama Administration

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Tufts Health Plan today announced that Nora Moreno Cargie has been named president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation. Moreno Cargie joined Tufts Health Plan one year ago as executive director of the Foundation and vice president of corporate citizenship. The Tufts Health Plan Foundation sent out the following announcement:

“Nora’s new designation is in recognition of her accomplishments this past year and her growing role within the organization,” said James Roosevelt Jr., Tufts Health Plan’s chief executive officer. “The Foundation board of directors is particularly proud of how Nora has advanced the Foundation beyond grantmaking toward meaningful engagement strategies that focus on convening communities, building systems and best practices, influencing policies and investing in collaborations that help move our communities – particularly the most vulnerable – toward achieving the World Health Organization’s goals for age-friendly communities.”

“The success of the Foundation’s recent Building Age-Friendly Communities summit, hosted in partnership with The Boston Foundation, is a prime example of the leadership Nora has shown in our communities,” added Thomas P. O’Neill, III, chairman of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation board of directors. “Our board looks forward to continued collaboration with Nora as we engage with community leaders in this important work.”

As president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Moreno Cargie will be responsible for leading the Foundation’s work in healthy living with an emphasis on older adults.

Business

New Watertown Restaurant Brings a Taste of South of the Border

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A trip to Watertown’s newest restaurant will be like taking a trip South of the Border, with authentic Mexican dishes, margaritas and real tiles and decorations from Mexico. 

Ixtapa Mexican Grill & Cantina will take the spot at 18 Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown that was occupied for many years by Verona Restaurant. It is part of a local group of family restaurants that started in Lunenberg in 2005, said Jillian Canavan, director of marketing for Ixtapa Grill. Ixtapa is modeled after a cantina in Guerrero, Mexico, Canavan said, and the experience will be “like walking into a real Mexican hacienda.” “All the recipes, the food, are all homemade, family recipes,” Canavan said.

Development

After Long Process, Watertown’s Comprehensive Plan Nears Completion

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The Town Council, and the Planning Board gathered with residents at the Watertown Middle School this week to put the final touches on the town’s long anticipated Comprehensive Plan. The Council and the Board presented the plan during a joint conference Wednesday, May 6. The comprehensive plan outlines the town’s goals through 2025, and is the town’s first since 1988, according to the town comprehensive plan website. The plan calls to “reinforce Watertown Square as a town center” transform Arsenal Corridor into a “dynamic mixed-use-corridor.”

The town original aimed to have the plan completed in 2013, but the process took longer than expected, Steve Magoon, Director of Planning and Development said. The Planning Board and the Town Council will vote on the proposed plan at upcoming meetings.