Around Town

Residents Can Shape Decisions in Watertown by Taking Vision & Needs Survey

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The City of Watertown sent out the following announcement:

Watertown is beginning the process of updating our Comprehensive Plan to guide policy and decision-making over the next 10+ years. Citizen engagement and community input will be important throughout the planning process. Please participate in the Vision and Needs Survey to share your thoughts about life in Watertown today and its future by June 3, 2022. 

Click here to find the survey. Find out more about the Comprehensive Plan process by clicking below:

City Wants Input on Comprehensive Plan, Providing Multiple Opporunties

Around Town

Find Out About Plans for Sterritt Lumber Site at Community Meeting

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148 Waltham Owner LLCA rendering of the proposed office/lab build proposed to be built at 148 Waltham St., the former Sterritt Lumber site. The developers of the former Sterritt Lumber site on Waltham Street will host a community meeting on May 26 to discuss a proposed office/lab building. The owners sent out the following announcement:

Please join 148 Waltham Owner LLC for a review and discussion of conceptual plans anddetails for the redevelopment and revitalization of the site at 148 Waltham Street. The use of the site is being transitioned to Office Research and Development/Lab-Life Sciences incorporating publicly accessible open space and public realm enhancements as part of the development plans. (note: postings will be available online on the City website prior to the meeting)

We will be hosting an interactive meeting on Thursday, May 26th at 6:30 p.m. and hope you areable to join us for the presentation.

104 Main Street

Possible Main St. Project Has Restaurant Owners Worried About Future

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Crown CafeDiners enjoy a meal at Crown Cafe on Main Street. The future of the restaurant is uncertain because a development has been proposed that includes the restaurant’s property. The new owners of the Crown Cafe invested tens-of-thousands of dollars into the space on Main Street and the restaurant began serving food in January. Just a few months later they worry whether their investment will be for nothing, and the space where their business sits may be demolished to make way for a proposed five-story mixed use development near Watertown Square. One hope for the owners may be a grassroots effort started to try to stop the development by making the area a historic district.

Around Town

City Wants to Hear from Public on Changes to Watertown’s Major Planning Document

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The City of Watertown will be updating its Comprehensive Plan. This document guides what the City will look like in future, and covers topics such as economic development, land use, and transportation. The review will be an 18-month process that will be led by the Department of Community Development and Planning and a consultant team from Stantec in partnership with the Planning Advisory Committee. 

The first public meeting will be in the Hosmer School Cafeteria, 1 Concord Road, on Thursday, May 19 from 7-8:30 p.m. It will be held live and on Zoom. “This year, we are updating the city’s comprehensive plan which means that we want your feedback to plan for Watertown’s future,” said the announcement from the City. City officials want to hear from Watertown residents, property owners, business owners, and workers.

Development

Major Residential, Retail Project Proposed for Main Street, Near Watertown Square

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Icon ArchitectureA view of the proposed project at 104-126 Main St. from Main Street. A five-story mixed use project with housing units on top of retail and commercial space may be coming to Main Street. The development would include properties that currently include the Post Office, a restaurant, a boutique and other properties. The pre-application plans were sent to the to the Watertown Planning Department for review on March 31 show 146 residential units in four stories.

Development

LETTER: Westside Resident Upset by Loss of Trees on Recently Sold Property

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Linda ScottStumps remaining after several trees were taken down at a property on Olcott Street. An Open Letter to the Watertown Planning and Zoning Boards:

There’s a war on trees on Olcott Street. On a one block street where the only major street tree is dying, it was a terrible shock to me and my neighbors when we returned home from our work and chores to find that a developer who bought 45-47 Olcott St., had, in one day, chopped down at least five trees on this private lot … five mature trees that were homes and roosts for wildlife; provided shade on those extremely hot days that have become so prevalent; provided privacy, a commodity hard to come by in this dense neighborhood; and served as a sound buffer for traffic and neighborhood noises. The trees that remained were “pruned” to within inches of their lives. Trees which, in short, made Olcott Street a much more pleasant and livable place were felled without any thought for how this would Impact this neighborhood.

23 Elm St.

Life Science Building in East Watertown Approved by Zoning Board

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Elm Street PartnersA rendering of the new life science lab building approved to be built at 23 Elm St. The building to the right is the Residence Inn by Marriott hotel. Months after it first appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeal, a three story life science lab building at 23 Elm Street got approval to be constructed on Wednesday night. The proposal first came before the ZBA in February, at a meeting where board members expressed their concerns about the amount of parking for the then 78,000 sq. ft.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Rumors of Sale of Watertown Mall to Life Science Developer

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The Watertown Mall — home to Target, the RMV and Best Buy — could soon be sold to a developer looking to create life science lab space, according to a Boston Globe article. The potential deal involved a sale by owners Rosen Associates Management Corp. to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which also owns the Arsenal on the Charles and the former Mount Auburn Club. The sales price of the 18-acre-site on Arsenal Street is reportedly $125 million, according to the Globe. The property lies in the Regional Mixed Use District (RMUD) zone in East Watertown, which allows for taller buildings (up to five stories) and more dense development (75 percent building coverage) than most areas of town.