Westwood Station Developments

I just have to say that I think its confusing that they put their two anchor stores (unless you count Marshalls/TJ, which is also adjoining) right in the middle of the shopping center. Whatever takes Sports Authority's place is going to have to be its own anchor (obviously, SA's problems were far larger).

I really think they should have put the Target where the SA was. Spread out the auto and foot traffic. The only reason I can think for the current arrangement is to make things easier on the apartment tenants.
 
agreed - it's like a dead zone where SA was, so much excess parking. Perhaps down the road they can develop part of it into a pad site for another restaurant? Has anyone heard of any prospective tenants going into the space? There was a rumor of Barnes & Noble a few months back, but that appears to have been false.

Also - they still have not filed plans with the town for Phase 2 - which is the area in between the Gables assisted living the NYAJ / Del Frisco's / Hotel area.

Any updates from anyone?
 
Bonefish has closed less than a year after opening. I had been here twice and both times received some of the worst service imaginable. Too bad because I've been to their Florida locations which were excellent.

The Burlington location closed last month as well, only one left is Waltham.
 
yep, that place was very hit or miss.

The Orange Leaf (frozen yogurt) also closed and the space is all "boarded up" with window coverings.

I drove by this AM and saw that down by the old Sports Authority building, there is a temp "For Lease" sign advertising 12k Sq Ft. I know that the entire space is 30k+ sq ft, so perhaps they are splitting it up to get multiple tenants as opposed to just one?

I am also surprised to see that there have been no updates or announcements regarding phase 2 of the project. It's almost as if there is simply nothing to announce...
 
and I just heard that the Del Frisco's Grille is not opening until January 2018
 
Bergeron37 said:
Bonefish has closed less than a year after opening. I had been here twice and both times received some of the worst service imaginable. Too bad because I've been to their Florida locations which were excellent.

The Burlington location closed last month as well, only one left is Waltham.
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I am not surprised. I've gone in 8 times (I like the bang bang shrip tacos) and 6 of the 8 times the service was horrible and food took forever.

kenns15 said:
yep, that place was very hit or miss.

The Orange Leaf (frozen yogurt) also closed and the space is all "boarded up" with window coverings.

I drove by this AM and saw that down by the old Sports Authority building, there is a temp "For Lease" sign advertising 12k Sq Ft. I know that the entire space is 30k+ sq ft, so perhaps they are splitting it up to get multiple tenants as opposed to just one?

I am also surprised to see that there have been no updates or announcements regarding phase 2 of the project. It's almost as if there is simply nothing to announce...
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I believe the Orange Leaf in Canton also closed - wonder if it's the same franchisee on both locations?
 
Bergeron37 said:
Bonefish has closed less than a year after opening. I had been here twice and both times received some of the worst service imaginable. Too bad because I've been to their Florida locations which were excellent.

The Burlington location closed last month as well, only one left is Waltham.
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The entire chain is downsizing.
 
why do you say that about Del Frisco's Grille? (DFG)

I know that the Not Your Average Joe's is absolutely crushing their numbers. The "spill over" effect from them (constantly a line and people waiting on the patio, etc.) will only help DFG - it's going to be built next to NYAJ. I think Bonefish had a chance, their service and consistency was just awful.

It's a tough retail and restaurant market for sure. I don't see them filling these vacancies with anything special or that different than any other suburban strip mall. I just hope it's not another meh chain or store.
 
So what is going on at Westwood Station? I have rolled through there a couple of times on the Acela, but is there a big development proposed or under construction?
 
The only thing under construction right now that I am aware of is the Marriott Courtyard next to the station.
 
kenns15 said:
why do you say that about Del Frisco's Grille? (DFG)
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Have you been to one of their other Grille locations (i.e. Chestnut Hill or Burlington)? They aren't very good and I'm a fan of their downtown steakhouse compared to other steakhouses in town. I also think this Westwood development is a bit of a disaster only saved by the Wegmans (of which there will be a half dozen local Wegmans before too long so I wonder how much draw Wegmans will ultimately have once they are everywhere)
 
Is the concept of Westwood Station as a walkable, new-urbanist, mixed-use development totally dead at this point? I was so excited about it many years ago, but it seems like all we ended up getting were a bunch of strip malls?!
 
yep, pretty much.

I do have an update though. The area by the NYAJ/DFG and hotel, by the train station is getting an 80k sqft office building for...Brigham and Women's...I think it's the same thing as their location/facility at Patriots Place in Foxboro...this should entice DFG to stay the course with their planned restaurant. Perhaps it will encourage "better" retailers to open up too...Although Physician One, a new to the area, urgent care center is opening up by GNC/Mens Warehouse already - duplicative? or just competition baby!

http://westwood.wickedlocal.com/new...womens-facility-at-university-station?start=2
 
DFG is good but it is a bit overpriced. I think it makes a good upscale restaurant for a rich suburb, like a Newton or Wellesley. For a few bucks more you can dine at Del Frisco's or Capital Grille, etc. In NYC, there is a DFG around the corner from the Del Frisco's mothership location (a slice of heaven, IMO) on 6th Ave.
 
Czervik.Construction said:
DFG is good but it is a bit overpriced. I think it makes a good upscale restaurant for a rich suburb, like a Newton or Wellesley. For a few bucks more you can dine at Del Frisco's or Capital Grille, etc. In NYC, there is a DFG around the corner from the Del Frisco's mothership location (a slice of heaven, IMO) on 6th Ave.
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Really, only a few bucks more for the full fledged Del Frisco's over their Grille concepts? That's simply not accurate even if you are just comparing steaks in which case the downtown steaks cost about 20% more than at the suburban Grille locations. But the Grille locations have an entire section of their dinner menu with many options ranging from $14 to $25. Almost every non-steak entree is around $20-$25. You can easily get out of there for $50 a person including a drink or two. Good luck doing that at their downtown steakhouse where a salmon fillet will run you $38 and most other entrees north of $40. Drinks are also 30% more expensive downtown.
 
Ok, fair point. In NYC and in some other city-located DFG outlets, the steaks, etc. are near as makes no difference the same price as Del Frisco's and the drinks are just as expensive. That is the commentary from people down here that you end up spending a lot and could have spent not much more and received the full schmeer, literally across the street.

BosDevelop said:
Really, only a few bucks more for the full fledged Del Frisco's over their Grille concepts? That's simply not accurate even if you are just comparing steaks in which case the downtown steaks cost about 20% more than at the suburban Grille locations. But the Grille locations have an entire section of their dinner menu with many options ranging from $14 to $25. Almost every non-steak entree is around $20-$25. You can easily get out of there for $50 a person including a drink or two. Good luck doing that at their downtown steakhouse where a salmon fillet will run you $38 and most other entrees north of $40. Drinks are also 30% more expensive downtown.
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Attached is the Project Development Review for Brigham and Women's hospital who wants to build 2 buildings and a parking garage on the site, in two phases. They want to include an urgent care component which is interesting since a "Physicians One" urgent care center just opened up. In order to accommodate BWH and hopefully spur more demand among office and retail tenants, the developers changed the layout of what was originally designed to be the "village" area into what I'd call a typical suburban office park design. See the last page of the link below for the layout:

http://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=28469

The developers made a comment recently that they've had a very hard time attracting office tenants, they were in the mix for Dunkin Donuts HQ (stayed in Canton) and Clarks (went to Waltham instead) and that the TripAdvisor development in Needham has served as a "block" of sorts as many potential tenants won't even consider the site.

Also - several store fronts are still vacant: Sports Authority, Orange Leaf, Bonefish Grill - and as previously mentioned Del Frisco's Grille has delayed their opening until 2018
 
mass88 said:
This might be better suited for the Westwood Station thread.

There still looks to be a lot of work remaining on the exterior of the hotel. It looks like they’re moving pretty quickly.

I hope they don’t put a Buffalo Wild Wings in here – that place is garbage. It’s bad enough there’s a Chipotle. I’d like to see a place like Anna’s Taqueria, or La Victoria (Arlington) go in.

This area could also use a gas station.
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One of the two areas split by the Sports Authority space is going to be a HomeSense - which is the new concept from TJ Maxx
 
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