Saturday, December 17, 2011

Burlington to get new Mixed Use Retail Center

The Town of Burlington in conjunction with Nordblum Company in redeveloping a new mixed use retail center in the Northwest Office Park off Middlesex Turnpike in Burlington. While Nordblum has been busy redeveloping the property and securing Wegman's Supermarket as the anchor tenant, Burlington in conjunction with the state has received $3.5 million dollar in MassWorks Grants.

While the area currently primarily consists of office buildings, a new 140,000 square foot Wegman's will be opening along with plans for a host of non-chain restaurants along 3rd avenue. Plans also call for a bowling alley and 300 residential apartments. The project is designed to emulate a downtown area, with wide sidewalks and a main street. More details on this project can be found here.





3rd Avenue in Burlington. Click to View Larger Map


Comments:
This is a very interesting redevelopment project that seems to make sense from a land perspective. The downtown areas in most Massachusetts towns are deemed historic and thus are restricted from significant redevelopment. There is very little open land left for new malls or shopping centers while there is a glut of office space in older suburban style office parks. The challenge will be to gain a critical mass of restaurants and retail to make this a destination.

Do you think this is a good idea?

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Restaurant Proposed to Replace Travelodge


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Gerald Management Group, owners of Great Road Shopping Center, have proposed a new Quick Service Restaurant to replace the Travelodge which is forecast to close soon (it's no longer accepting online reservations). The proposed restaurant is expected to be about 3600 square feet and features 68 seats and a Drive Thru.

McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts are currently the only restaurants in town that feature Drive Thrus.

The exact brand of restaurant is still unknown at this time. Please click here to see the top 50 Quick Service Restaurant brands.

What restaurant would you most like to see?