Construction Underway on Salem Five Savings Bank

The new bank branch will be in the left half of the building 

Construction recently started on a New Salem Five Saving Bank branch at 285 Great Road which is the former location of the Travelodge Motel. Construction of the building is expected to be completed later this fall. The new bank includes a drive through. The new building will also have about 1600 additional square feet of rental space available for retail or office use.

It's interesting to note that while the size of this new bank branch is only about 2,000 square feet (which is smaller than average for freestanding branches), this follows the industry trend of smaller bank branches. During the last 10 years the average size of a new bank branch has decreased by about 25%.

Quick Update on Bedford Marketplace

Two Quick Updates on Bedford Marketplace.

1. Plans were recently approved for the next phase of reconstruction/expansion at Bedford Market Place. This next phase includes additional retail space adjacent to the Whole Foods and Marshalls. Whereas tenant negotiations are still ongoing, one of the new retail spaces is expected to feature a Pet Store. 

2. While the demolition of the Post Office distribution building is still expected soon, unconfirmed reports have indicated that the arrangement to move the distribution center to the TD Bank building at 175 Great Road have fallen through and that the Post Office may temporarily move Bedford mail distribution to the mail distribution facility in Burlington.

August 26th Update:
It now appears that the Post Office will be leasing part of the TD Bank Building but it will not be ready in time and that Bedford mail will be sorted in Burlington for a few months.

Bedford Market Place Renovation Begins

The renovation project at the Bedford Market Place Shopping Center began a few weeks ago. While plans were made for a complete overhaul of the shopping center including additional retail, updated parking lot/traffic flow configurations and pedestrian improvements; it looks like the work is going to be done in phases.

The first phase is expected to include a new facade for Whole Foods along with improvements to it's front parking lot. Work is expected to be completed before Labor Day.

The Bedford Whole Foods Market will be getting an updated exterior. The interior was renovated in 2013. Within the next 12 months, Whole Foods plans to renovate 70% of it's stores that are over 10 years old. 

The renovations will add additional retail space adjacent to both Marshalls and Whole Foods.

To prepare for the reconfiguration of the parking lot, the trees between Bedford Market Place and Blue Ribbon Plaza were removed.

During the next phase of construction, the Post Office distribution building will be torn down to make way for new retail space. 

The Bedford Post Office Mail distribution building is expected to move across the street to 175 Great Road. Although details are not yet finalized, the move could occur before the end of the year.

Artist depiction of the completed renovations including an updated exterior facade for Whole Foods along with the new adjacent retail space.

Stay tuned for more details in the next few weeks.