Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
(Revised 1/19/17): Century Bank, the family-run institution that came to Wellesley Square in 2012, is now relocating from its Wellesley Square location to a space in Wellesley Hills at 258 Washington St. The office sits in between H&A Jewelers to its west and Axiom Learning to its east.
Impulse by Adamas Fine Jewelry, the sparkly new Wellesley store in Linden Square that we previewed back in September, is having its grand opening this Friday through Sunday. You can check out the store’s new designer jewelry showroom, plus get free cupcakes, frozen yogurt, meet local media people and win fabulous prizes from local businesses (details here).
Separately, Century Bank (“the largest family controlled bank in New England”) is celebrating its opening in Wellesley Square over where Citizens Bank used to be at 75 Central St. Cocktails and hors d’ouevres are on tap Dec. 5 for those on the invite list.
UPDATED: 6/30/12
Century Bank this week has posted a series of job ads online seeking employees in Wellesley, as the town readies for another new bank. The postings are for jobs such as head teller, branch manager and assistant branch manager.
The bank will be located at 75 Central St., in Wellesley Square, once home to a Sovereign Bank. Barry R. Sloane, the bank’s president and CEO, says Century Bank will be opening by year-end in town.
“While there are many banks in Wellesley, it is a community of significant deposits and investable assets. We believe we bring a special brand of banking, as the largest family controlled bank in New England, and a contrast to most of the existing bank branches of global and out-of-state institutions currently in Wellesley,” Sloane writes.
Medford-based Century was formed in 1969 in Somerville and has branches in nearby communities such as Brookline and Newton, where an economic development advisory group is seeking to limit the influx of new bank branches.
Thanks to reader CT for the heads up.
RELATED: Yes! Wellesley to get another bank
The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:
One visible result of Eastern Bank’s recently announced buyout of Cambridge Trust for $528 million is that Wellesley will lose its Eastern Bank branch at 258 Washington St. That used to be a Century Bank before that bank merged with Eastern.
As part of the seemingly never ending bank consolidations, Cambridge Trust bought Wellesley Bank in 2019. The Eastern Bank branch will be consolidated with the Cambridge Trust (formerly Wellesley Bank) location a mile away at 29 Washington St. in lower falls. Depending upon regulatory approval, this change would likely occur between next spring and summer.
Eight Eastern Bank locations and 3 Cambridge Trust locations are expected to be consolidated. That would still leave 19 Cambridge Trust locations, including the one in Lower Falls and another in Linden Square. Overall, the combined bank will have more than 100 locations in its network.
According to Eastern, “All Cambridge Trust and Eastern branch employees will be retained. Over time and as branch consolidations happen, we will work to reassign colleagues with a combined team from both banks in order to serve the combined customer base with a team who is familiar with them.”
Eastern bank says it is not exiting any community where their combined network operates, and that no branches will be closed in low- and moderate-income areas.
There are no steps for Eastern or Cambridge Trust customers to take at this time, as their accounts, cards, etc., will remain the same for now.
For over a decade, Needham resident Heidi Wells has made sure that nobody in Wellesley has to face winter without plenty of cashmere to make those long, cold days and nights a little cozier. The Cashmere Sale will pop up this year at 35 Central St. (same location as in 2022), Oct. 13-Dec. 20, Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, noon-4pm.
The store, one of 15 across the country, carries high quality cashmere at irresistible prices for men and women. The energy is quiet luxury, trending styles, color pops, accessories, and sweaters upon sweaters upon sweaters. Bring your friends along to the annual shopping event you don’t want to miss.
MGS Group Real Estate is celebrating the opening of an office at 180 Linden St. (Suite 7A) on Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 4-6pm. They’ll be doling out pizza from Oath Pizza, plus offering other light bites & refreshments. Face painting will be available for kids.
A fun fact about this firm, which also has an office in Cambridge, is that its owner represented Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen in the 2021 sale of their Brookline estate.
Learn the benefits of infant massage and meet other parents at an Infant Massage Class for caregivers and their babies (6-9 months), at the Wellesley Recreation Center, starting October 17. Massage helps babies build attachment, aids in relaxation, and promotes better sleep and digestion.
DATES: Tuesdays, Oct. 17 – Nov. 14
TIME: 2pm-4pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Recreation Center, 90 Washington St.
REGISTRATION: register here
MORE INFO: email InfantCoachNancy@gmail.com or call 617-8724575
When AMC filmed parts of its “Invitation to a Bonfire” series at the Cheney-Baltzell Manor House within Elm Bank Reservation last fall, park visitors were surprised to see the usually off-limits neo-Georgian building back in action. It’s been decades since the manor has been occupied, and only occasionally this century has it been used, such as for filming and antiques fairs. The team behind “Bonfire” had approached Mass Hort about using the building after noticing some work had been done on it.
AMC wound up scrapping its “Bonfire” production to cut costs, so the fate of that project is unclear. So too is the future of the manor house, but the Massachusetts Horticultural Society that calls Elm Bank (900 Washington St., Wellesley) its home is hopeful that there will be a future for the 1907 building that now looms vacant behind the striking Italianate garden.
Mass Hort Executive Director James Hearsum, named to that position in 2019, recently shared an update with us on the site of the 3-story building that possesses an inner beauty that shines through the deterioration (no inside photos allowed). Highlights include a classic ballroom and 2-story library (accessed via a sort of secret door… don’t lean on the balcony!), their shelves filled with real and fake books supplied during the filming of 2009’s “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.” Also unique: more than a dozen commissioned marble fireplaces, each sent here from Italy following the original owners’ honeymoon in Europe.
The ground floor of the 40-room building remains in relatively good shape inside, though less stable temperatures on the upper floor have wreaked some havoc there. Fortunately, even though much plaster has turned to dust, the way the plaster was originally applied over a concrete base makes it “about a simple a restoration as you can do,” Hearsum says. There is lead paint to deal with as well, he adds.
Unfortunately, Hearsum acknowledges, the 36,000 sq. ft. condemned building, with its exterior marble steps and Ionic columns, has been low on the Society’s priority list because of the daunting cost to restore it. “When I came here in 2020 I wondered what we would be doing with this, and was told it would be a $20M to $25M restoration. Obviously there is no way on the planet we can fund that—nor should we. It’s not our mission,” he says.
In learning more about the building, and trying to get a handle on where the $20M-$25M figures came from, Hearsum says that “it was clear that it was tipping from restorable to not restorable” due to losing the water tightness of the building. “As soon as you lose the water tightness, you lose the building in a matter of a few years,” he says.
Hearsum began looking into what it would take to maintain the building envelope for the next 10 years, at least giving it a chance to remain viable. Hazardous material and structural surveys were conducted. On the plus side, it was structurally fine, but not unexpectedly, there was lots of asbestos to deal with in the basement. The building was restorable, but even at a modest per square foot cost for such a large building, you’re talking tens of millions of dollars, he says.
State politicians (Senators Rausch, Creem, and Rush among them) were then contacted to seek funding to keep the building intact. This would include addressing woodwork on the windows to prevent them from falling in or out, and keeping water from seeping into the basement, where utilities are located amidst the asbestos. The roof also has leaks, which could be fixed for a few hundred thousand (vs. a replacement that would cost millions). Mass Hort could find a couple or few hundred thousand dollars to put toward fixes (“we’ll stretch as far as we can…”), but it would really need the state to come through with more to effectively save the building, Hearsum says.
“We frankly didn’t expect to get it, but it wound up getting attached to the state budget for this past year,” says Hearsum, who credited many Mass Hort members from Wellesley and other communities for writing to their legislators in support of this investment. To Mass Hort’s surprise, $600K was appropriated, with asbestos abatement first on the list of jobs, starting this spring. Some painting and other woodwork restoration on windows on one facade has already been done, and Mass Hort has determined it will still need to raise $150,000-$200,000 for other work. Netting has been placed on the gutters to prevent parts of the roof from falling.
The state building inspector and town of Dover (where Elm Bank’s land resides) would need to sign off on any use of the property. It would most likely be cost prohibitive for Mass Hort to host events there, but AMC was able to pay for safety upgrades to allow filming for a few weeks. Given that that was done, it could be possible for Mass Hort to explore whether such existing safety investment would allow it to take advantage of that in hosting something. Hearsum was complimentary of the state and town’s willingness to support its efforts.
What would really be nice is if the manor house would catch the eye of not just film producers, but one of the many home makeover reality shows that might be willing to foot the bill.
While Mass Hort took an early hit during the pandemic, as weddings that would have been held on the Elm Bank grounds were canceled or postponed, Hearsum says the Society has come out of the past few years stronger organizationally and financially.
It is playing some catch-up, after being short staffed, and is sprucing up the pollinator area within Weezie’s Garden for Children and filling in the Bressingham Garden. It has been working more closely with Wellesley College, supporting internships, alumnae programs, and more.
The Society has also rethought its mission, which has long been a traditional approach to growing the art and science of horticulture, and promoting it. “We asked: ‘Is that significant enough?’ What we really do is help people have better lives through horticulture, helping at every stage of life,” Hearsum says. This translates into school programs that focus more on growing, efforts aimed at people transitioning from school to work, helping people going through various forms of rehabilitation. Hearsum points back to early Society work, back in the 1840s, helping new immigrants learn how to grow food in an unfamiliar climate.
“We kind of lost sight of all this, and had focused more on ‘Hey, pretty flowers,'” he says.
Not that Mass Hort, whose gardens are open from spring through fall, is eschewing pretty flowers. In fact, it will start spring with a bang in the form of a Tulip Mania festival during the first weeks of April. Some 53,000 tulip bulbs have been planted under netting in the trial garden for what should be a spectacularly colorful display, with cut flowers available for purchase.
Having a mission that supporters believe in will be important both for Mass Hort’s future, and possibly the manor house, Hearsum says.
Still, a huge challenge with the manor house is that those who might have an interest in restoring it would need something more to make a sustainable business of it. For example, the house plus a hotel or the house plus an arts center, Hearsum says.
“I am an optimist about this. I actually do believe this is restorable and worth restoring—otherwise we wouldn’t be sinking nearly a million dollars into it just to keep the possibilities alive,” he says. “You have to take a 20-year view though. If you take a 5-year view, there’s nothing we can do.”
Our roundup of the latest Wellesley MA business news:
Papa Wheelies is moving its bike shop from 1400 Worcester St. (Rte. 9) in Natick to 8 Church Square in Wellesley. Sunday was a busy day, as moving trucks were stuffed at the Rte. 9 location, and the former Lyn Evans space started to fill with bikes and accessories. The Natick store closed this weekend, and the Wellesley store is slated to open this week.
Papa Wheelies also has locations in the Back Bay and Portsmouth, NH, where it offers bike sales, rentals, services and accessories.
The shop offers road, mountain, electric, and other bike styles, with prices starting at less than $1,000 and ranging up to 5 figures. Kids’ bikes start at about $125.
We’ve shot a few questions to the business about why it is moving, etc., and will update this past if they get a chance to answer us between the move.
The business did post on its Facebook page that: “We are moving in order to be in a more community oriented location. & Plenty of parking in the FREE lot behind us.”
In the wake of Eastern Bank announcing plans to gobble up Century Bank earlier this year, the Century Bank branch at 258 Washington St., in Wellesley Hills is becoming an Eastern Bank branch.
As with all bank mergers, the institutions say everyone’s a winner, everyone gets access to more services, and family values survive.
Contact MetroWest Property Maintenance
The Babson Graduate Experiential Learning program is seeking proposals for its spring 2022 semester. The Wellesley-based school is looking forward to returning to an in-person model of student consulting kicking off in January. If interested, submit a proposal by Oct. 1.
In an unusual twist for a town that boasts banks galore, a branch is actually leaving Wellesley Square. Cambridge Trust execs have notified account holders that as of July 12 the 40 Central Street branch will close for good. A branch in Portsmouth, NH will also be shuttered. Both the Linden Square and Lower Falls offices will remain open, along with the rest of the bank’s approximately two dozen locations.
Cambridge Trust came to Wellesley Square last June as the result of a merger with Wellesley Bank. As a Central Street fixture for 45 years, many in town will recall Wellesley Bank as a place where the candy flowed freely and friendly tellers were always ready to update a young person’s passbook savings account. Many of the Wellesley Bank staff stayed on once the merger went through and became Cambridge Trust employees. So now what?
Senior VP Kerri Mooney in a letter said, “I am pleased to let you know that our Wellesley Square team will continue to serve your banking needs from other locations within our banking office network.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post made mention of safe deposit boxes at 40 Central St. That branch, in fact, does not have safe deposit boxes. We apologize for the error.
As we reported late last year Chase Bank, which burst onto the Wellesley scene in 2019 at 294 Washington St. (which used to house a Santander ATM), will be expanding its presence in town when it moves into the recently closed Peet’s Coffee & Tea location.
In the interest of balance or karma or something like that, we’re thinking a coffee and tea house would be just perfect in the Cambridge Trust spot.
Century Bank, which has a location on Washington Street in Wellesley Hills, has agreed to be acquired for $642M by Eastern Bank, which has clearly been feeling left out without a Wellesley presence. Expect to see the signs change on the family-owned Century Bank branch in Wellesley and be replaced with Eastern Bank signs once this deal is finalized.
We are still celebrating Women’s History Month with a nod of respect to some of the town’s women-owned businesses. Fun fact: Swellesley’s a women-owned business, too. Here’s a partial list below, with more to follow in our next Business Buzz:
Owner: Gretta Monahan
Fashion and beauty.
94 Central Street, Wellesley Square
Owner: Jill Sudman
101 Central Street, Wellesley Square
Owner: Cynthia Tsang
576 Washington St., Wellesley Square
Owner: Mary Marie Barrett
Clinic. Laser. Skincare.
31 Central Street, Wellesley Square
Owner: Shani Defina
200 Linden Street, Linden Square
Got tips on business openings, closings or whatever, feel free to email us here: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
Also email us if you’re interested in sponsoring our weekly Wellesley Business Buzz roundup.
Our round-up of the latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:
Mark’s Pizza & Subs, greatly missed since summer 2018 when the popular eatery’s building was torn down to make way for the expansion of another business, is back in action at 10B Washington Street in Wellesley Hills at a former salon space. All the old favorites are still on the menu — their famous broasted chicken dinners, chicken broccoli alfredo, subs, wraps, and of course, pizza. The menu has expanded to the point where if they’re not serving it at Mark’s, you probably don’t need it.
Mark’s Pizza & Subs has been operating in Wellesley since the 1970s, as one look at the former interior could have told you. The new decor is fresh and updated, with a modern vibe, seating for about 25 at ten tables and a high-top area, and a big ol’ flatscreen on the wall. The sense of relief that an old favorite is back in town was palpable from the steady stream of customers there for a good lunch.
Welcome back, Mark’s.
Cheesy Street Grill, which will have a captive audience at the new Boston Sports Institute (Rte. 9 skating and swimming complex), has opened.
The grill, which has two locations at Mass Pike service plazas, will serve up gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and other comfort foods, including tater tots and mac & cheese. Salads, soups and more are also on the menu.
Cheesy Street Grill had its humble beginnings as a food truck in Connecticut.
With Prospero’s Shoe Repair closing down its 294 Washington St., location at the end of August, the speculation began over what might replace it.
A bank? Or a bank? Or maybe a bank?
Well, close. More likely the dental office next door would expand into that space, but just down the block a ways, next to Maugus, is newcomer Chase Bank. One of the world’s few banks without a Wellesley location yet, Chase is slated to slide into 294 Washington St., which used to house a Santandar ATM. Conveniently located within a quarter of a mile of Century Bank, Middlesex Savings Bank and First Republic Bank.
Wayland resident Joan Cohen will be a Wellesley Books on Saturday, September 21, 4pm – 6pm to read from her new book, Land of Last Chances. It tells the story of a successful woman who has always been focused on her career, meticulously preparing for every challenge in her life. When she’s faced with an unplanned pregnancy in her late 40s (the father is one of two men in her life) she learns she must face the possibility of carrying a rare gene for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Joan’s writing style is dramatic, engaging and, at times, heartbreaking.
Marillac Residence, the non-profit Wellesley Hills facility that originally served retired Sisters of Charity, is now opening its doors to all seniors looking for a residential care home.
Marillac will host an open house on Sunday, Oct. 20 from 2-4pm. For more information, please visit us at: www.marillacresidence.org, or call 781-237-2161.
You can also email us if you’re interested in sponsoring our weekly Wellesley Business Buzz roundup.