Business

New Assisted Living Center Opens in Watertown Square

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More than 200 people gathered at The Residence at Watertown Square Wednesday evening to celebrate the Grand Opening of Watertown’s newest assisted living and memory care community for seniors.  Watertown-area officials and residents, staff associates, Watertown Square community residents and LCB Senior Living staff joined in celebration, culminating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to the announcement from LCB Senior Living. The Residence at Watertown Square, located at the corner of Spring and Summer streets, is a unique community, offering seniors a unique combination of sophisticated city living and access to the area’s many resources and attractions. The community includes 90 Independent, Assisted and Memory Care Living apartments. Independent Living residents at the community will have their own apartment with kitchenette and bath, along with the peace of mind of 24-hour security, three gourmet meals prepared and served restaurant style on-site, available laundry and cleaning services, a full activities program, building and grounds maintenance, and a host of optional services. Assisted Living residents will have all of the above, along with assistance with the activities of daily living, including dressing, bathing medication reminders, and other services.

Business

Watertown Moving Company Sponsoring Special Olympics Athlete

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Special Olympics Massachusetts athlete Amanda Church is one of only seven athletes representing Massachusetts and the United States at the Special Olympics World Games this year. Olympia Moving & Storage will be sponsoring Amanda and her trip to the 2015 World Games. World Games will be the largest sporting event in 2015, featuring over 7,000 athletes from 177 countries. The Games begin July 25th in Los Angeles, according to the announcement sent out by Olympia. Amanda has been competing with Special Olympics since 1998. She has won numerous gold medals and was inducted into the Special Olympics Massachusetts Hall of Fame in 2012.

Real Estate

Three Homes in Watertown Sold This Week, See Details Here

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Three homes in Watertown’s sold this week, see the details below. $569,900 – 87-89 Edenfield Ave., 2 unit, 10 total room, 4 total bedroom, 2 Family multi-family home

$695,000 – 114 Forest St. Unit 114, 7 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse

Sponsored by:

$580,000 – 14-14A Charles St., 2 unit, 12 total room, 6 total bedroom, 2 Family – 2 Units Up/Down multi-family home

Development

Developer, School Collaborate to Make Grove Street Project Approvable

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The first time developers of the former GE Ionics Building on Grove Street came to the Planning Board they met loud opposition because the plan had hundreds of cars exiting onto a residential street, but they worked with their neighbor – the Atrium School – to come up with a solution. Wednesday night, Cresset Grove LLC presented a new plan that would have all cars from the 135,000 square foot office building come and and leave via Grove Street. The agreement became official just the night before the Planning Board meeting when the Atrium School School Committee approved the new plan, said Ed Nardi, president of the Cresset Group. The driveway for the Grove Street project was too narrow to allow cars to enter and exit, so they had to ask the school if they could share their driveway. Silvia Nerssessian, an Atrium parent and chair of the School Committee, said the school was pleased with the outcome, too.

Development

Most of Town Council Seeks Tweeks in New Pleasant Street Zoning

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The majority of Town Council liked most of the proposed changes to the Pleasant Street Corridor District zoning, but wanted time to think about some of the details. The lone councilor who wanted to pass the changes at Tuesday night’s special meeting was Westside Town Councilor Ken Woodland, whose district includes most of the Pleasant Street area. The area – most of Pleasant Street and side streets off that street – has uniform zoning created to encourage the redevelopment of unused and underused industrial buildings. The change was made in 2008, but the development that resulted has been almost all large residential complexes. The biggest change in the proposed new Pleasant Street Corridor District into three different zones:

PSCD-1 continues to allow the existing mixture of residential, retail, and/or industrial uses
PSCD-2 would allow a maximum of 25 percent of the square footage to be residential
PSCD-3 would allow only retail, commercial, and light industrial uses with no residential allowed

A large portion of the PSCD-3 zoning will be along the river in the southwest corner of the district.

Development

Armenian School Worried About Impact of Proposed Development

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The proposed Linx project has an address on Arsenal Street, but the redevelopment of the Verizon Building could impact residents and others in Coolidge Square, including the St. Stephen’s Armenian School. Last week, developers of the building, Boylston Properties, discussed the plans to turn the warehouse that serves as home to a fleet of Verizon trucks, into a 185,000 square foot space for companies that may in the past looked to be in Kendall Square in Cambridge. Details were first revealed during a meeting at the site in February (see details here). The 8.5-acre site will have a 37,000 square foot green space for employees to take breaks or work outside.

Business

Rep. John Lawn Working to Make Pleasant Street Part of New District

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The west end of Watertown has undergone a building boom, but lacks some services, so State Rep. John Lawn is working to bring that part of Watertown together with nearby areas of Newton and Waltham to create the Charles River Mill District. 
Lawn spoke about the effort during the Watertown Belmont Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Towns Breakfast on April 2. His district includes precincts in all three communities, and Lawn has met with leaders in each one. Lawn has been in discussions with Watertown Town Council President Mark Sideris, Newton Mayor Setti Warren and Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy about the new district. The area would include the Pleasant Street Corridor in Watertown, the Chapel Street are of Newton and River Street to Moody Street in Waltham, Lawn said. “We want to promote the area for business and create a stronger voice for state assistance for maintenance and MBTA services,” Lawn said.

Real Estate

Two Watertown Home Sold this Week – See Where Here!

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See the sales price and more information about the two homes that sold in Watertown this week. $510,000 – 33 Hunt St., 2 unit, 9 total room, 3 total bedroom, 2 Family multi-family home

Sponsored by:

$850,000 – 42 Knowles Road, 9 room, 5 bedroom, 3 full & 1 half bathroom, Colonial single-family home