Wellesley business buzz: Local Oath Pizza unaffected by corporate issues; Haynes sells properties for $48.5M; Whole Foods EV chargers gone
The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:
Local Oath Pizza unaffected by corporate issues
The Wellesley-Nantucket connection is a strong one, with many in Wellesley being regular visitors to the island. So it came as no surprise that a story about Oath Pizza in the Nantucket Current headlined “Broken Oath: Island Pizza Joint Faces Uncertain Future” had readers forwarding the link to us and wondering what this all mean for our own Oath Pizza in Linden Square.
Oath Pizza got its start in Nantucket and has expanded through corporate-owned outlets as well as those like the Wellesley Oath Pizza that opened in June that are franchises. As the Current reports, a lawsuit has been brought against the former CEO by investors, and a handful of corporate-owned Oath Pizza shops have closed.
We reached out to Bill Ebben, who launched the Wellesley Oath Pizza, and he assured us that the corporate issue won’t affect his business.
“This corporate matter will have no impact on operations at Oath Pizza Wellesley at Linden Square,” Ebben said. “As always, we’ll continue to serve our loyal customers the craft pizza they’ve grown to love everyday. We’re grateful to the entire Wellesley community for welcoming us so warmly since we opened, and we hope to see you soon.”
Haynes sells commercial properties for $48.5M
Jumbo Capital is paying Wellesley’s Haynes Management $48.5M for a handful of Wellesley office properties, per news reports, including from The Real Reporter.
The transaction involved properties at 40 Grove St., 326-332 Washington St., 336 Washington St., 366 Washington St., 10 Prescott St. and 16 Prescott St., and 16 Laurel Ave. Haynes still has plenty of Washington Street and Worcester Street (Rte. 9) properties on the market, as the office real estate market has cooled in light of the biolab slowdown and continued remote work arrangements.
The properties by Haynes sold house tenants such as medical offices, contractors, and more.
Our inquiries to Haynes and Jumbo have gone unanswered so far.
Whole Foods EV chargers gone
The longtime electric vehicle charging station at Whole Foods is no longer there, and hasn’t been since at least October. We’ve reached out to Whole Foods then to find out if it’s gone for good, being upgraded, or something else maybe related to its planned parking lot expansion. We just reached out again, so will update this post if we learn anything.
The charging station, which arrived when Whole Foods did in 2011, may have been the first public one in town, even before there were many EVs around.
