The Belclare: Wellesley Inn successor “A new way to live in Wellesley”

The developers of the old Wellesley Inn property at 576 Washington St., which is being freshly marketed as the very Swellesley-ish sounding Belclare Wellesley, will soon be erecting signs and even providing “sneak peeks” through the fencing to keep busybodies/idiots like us from injuring ourselves while checking on construction progress.

Though why wouldn’t we be really curious? After all, the site has been an eyesore since 2006 when the Wellesley Inn was razed (though less an eyesore in recent years since a white fence was installed to block the view of the crater behind it).  Initially a high-end condo/retail development dubbed The Durant was planned, but it fell through when the economy went south and the developers couldn’t justify going ahead with the project.

Many in town were heartened when developer Jordan Warshaw came to the rescue of the property last year with plans for building something short of the Taj Mahal. Though some locals were disappointed a plan couldn’t be worked out to save the historic 1876 Beebe cottage on the property at 53 Grove St. The assorted permitting and approval processes for the residential/retail project sapped early hopes of getting the foundation in this past summer, but construction should start in earnest next year.

But the town in general is enthusiastic about refurbishment of the site. The centerpiece, according to those wooing buyers, is a collection of 25 “elegant, spacious condominiums [that] put Wellesley Square life at your front door — and the peace and quiet of a beautiful private courtyard at your back.” They’re going after locals who want to ditch the mansion and stay in the community in a nice but not overstated place.

And best of all, from what we can see in the promotional materials (UPDATE: Looks like Facebook page we had linked to is no longer up as of Nov. 19, 2013), the skies will always be blue and snow will be nowhere to be found!