Development

Watertown Could Get 15 More Liquor Licenses for Restaurants

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In hopes of attracting more restaurants and commercial or mixed-use developments, Town Councilors have been exploring how to add up up to 15 liquor licenses in town, but they still must figure out where to put them. Watertown has 32 liquor licenses given to the town by the state through a quota system based on the town’s population. Communities can ask for more through a special act of the State Legislature, which is what the Town Council plans to do. A joint group Council subcommittee – Rules & Ordinances, Economic Development & Planning, and Public Safety – met Tuesday to discuss the issue. The group looked at adding 15 to accommodate recently approved projects with restaurants, projects coming down the line with restaurants and some of additional projects.

Development

LETTER: Neighbors Have Requests for Proposed Athenahealth Project

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Re: AthenaHealth LLC and Arsenal on the Charles

We appreciate the Town Council’s delay on the vote for AthenaHealth’s proposal for changes to the AODD. We are assuming they have realized, like we have, that we need more details from them in order to make an informed decision. Any changes to the AODD should be considered with the future in mind: how will these changes affect Watertown’s ability to control what happens on that property while AthenaHealth owns it, as well as after they have gone. We hope AthenaHealth stays for the long term and works with the town in good faith, but businesses come and go, so we shouldn’t give away our rights to some determination on that property. To this end, we are asking the Town Council and relevant town departments to do the following:

1.

Development

Traffic a Concern for Some With Proposal to Renovate Grove Street Site

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Residents recently got their first look at local developers plans to redevelop the former GE Ionics building at 65 Grove St. Cresset Grove LLC. unveiled its proposed plans to redevelop the former GE building during a community meeting at the Coolidge School apartment complex on Monday Sept. 29. The proposed plans includes large glass windows that would make the building more transparent, a roof terrace, improved drainage system in the parking lot, and a four-story 350 car garage with a bamboo screen wall along the back.

Development

East Watertown CVS Project on Next Planning Board Agenda

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The CVS/Pharmacy proposed to go at the corner of Mt. Auburn and Arlington streets is on the agenda for the Oct. 8 Planning Board meeting. Developers, Coolidge Square II LLC,  held a community meeting in August where many residents worried about the amount of traffic coming in and out of the new store. Others did not like the reconfiguration of the parking lot that would serve not only the CVS but also other businesses on the block such as the Mt.

Business

See Why Tufts Health Plan is Going Purple This Month

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You may have noticed that the Tufts Health Plan building on Mt. Auburn Street has been lit up purple this week. The employees have been donning purple outfits too. The company is once again observing World Alzheimer’s Month with activities to help bring an end to the disease. Over the past week, employees from all locations wore purple to raise awareness and show support for current sufferers and their caregivers.

Business

New Watertown Eatery Features Healthy, Local Food

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The owner of Watertown’s newest eating spot moved to town because it is a town on the rise, food wise. “Renaissance is a good word,” Farmer’s Market Kitchen chef Adam Nazzaro said of Watertown’s changing atmosphere. “You don’t want to take away from everything that happened here with the Marathon, but sometimes that can spark something better than itself. Watertown reminds me of Somerville; I’ve been living in Union Square and it reminds me of that, five or six years ago.”
He sees the city undergoing a transition, as “on the up,” with young professionals and a “hipster crowd” starting to move in, attracted by proximity to Boston and decent public transportation without the exorbitant real estate costs of Newton or Belmont. As the Boston Globe just reported, Watertown was deemed the third-best town in New England to live in, taking taxes, crime, amenities, and commute into account.

Business

Watertown Dentist Uses Technology to Fix Teeth

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When Dan D’Amico needs to figure out how to create and place a crown, he heads to his office to look at a 3-D image of his patients teeth. Then he mills the new tooth, bakes it in a small oven in his Main Street office and can place it that same day. The Watertown dentist decided to use high tech tools at his practice – D’Amico Dental Care – to speed up his work and make it more precise. “With 3-D we can see things we couldn’t see before,” D’Amico said. Now he can take a 3-D X-ray of his patient’s mouth, then go and create the tooth using special software.