The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Wellesley Square’s Taylor Block on the block

Wellesley’s Taylor Block, consisting of 540-568 Washington St. at the intersection with Grove Street, is up for sale.

The Boston Globe reports that brokerage firm Colliers is shopping the property across from the Wellesley Square train station to developers.

Businesses such as Old School Pizzeria, Rice Burg, and Comina are among the tenants on this stretch.

A Colliers brochure about the two- and three-story property promotes the town’s multifamily development rule changes in line with the MBTA Communities Act. The buildings currently host retail on the first floor, with some offices and apartments above. The brochure cites there being about 128,000 developable square feet of property.

The Globe quotes a Colliers executive named Frank Petz saying: “It’s such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given the scale of what we’re talking about, the prime location in the heart of Wellesley, and the strength of the [housing] market.”

According to a 2013 post on the Wellesley History blog, the block was constructed by Charles N. Taylor in 1904 to house the Wellesley National Bank that he led, as well as the Post Office that moved across the street to its current Grove Street location in 1964.

Know of businesses coming or going? Don’t keep it to yourself: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

3 Easy Steps to Estate Planning (Sponsored)

First taste of Natick’s new Hungry Pot restaurant

We checked out the newest area restaurant, Hungry Pot, which is located on Rte. 9 east in Natick. You can choose between hot pot and Korean barbecue… we went with the hot pot.

Read more about Hungry Pot in our Natick Report piece.

Heat Pumps can be good for the environment & your wallet

From Larry Derany and Duncan Perry of Smarter Bear Financial

You’ve probably seen a lot of advertisements about heat pumps and their installation. Heat pumps can meet your heating and cooling needs, replacing natural gas, oil, or propane equipment. Recent technology improvements allow heat pumps to work well at the low temperatures in New England winters.  Previously, you would need a backup heat source on very cold days. Whole house heat pumps are a perfect upgrade when your current heating system uses forced hot air. If your current system uses forced hot water – mini-split heat pumps would be the better fit.  Mini-splits are ductless systems that consist of a unit outside your house and one or more small units mounted on a wall inside the room that needs heating and cooling.

Wellesley makes heat pump upgrades a great deal for your family budget in two ways. First, there is a valuable rebate program—all the details can be found at https://wellesleyma.gov/1641/Heat-Pump-Program. In addition, Wellesley has one of the lowest rates for buying electricity in the state at around $.17/KWH compared to a state average of $.29/KWH. Wellesley should be able to keep rates low for residents as the Municipal Light and Power (MLP) team recently activated a giant battery system that can help avoid higher costs of acquiring electricity at peak usage times. The MLP does not generate electricity; they purchase electricity using cost-effective long-term contracts, and the battery system will avoid paying high market rates when demand is high—an intelligent move by the MLP.

More financial information of interest is available in Smarter Bear’s free monthly newsletter.

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

New life for Church Square bike shop?

Papa Wheelies in October closed its shop at Church Square, but the word is that an employee from the shop is working with the property owner to reopen a bike shop at the same location soon.

Papa Wheelies opened in Wellesley in spring of 2022 after relocating from Rte. 9 in Natick. It provided area cyclists with a full line of hybrid, mountain, electric and road bikes as well as accessories. 

“We believe that it is a viable business and that with a local owner/operator the store will continue to be well supported by the local community,” the property owner says.

Ownership change at Roche Bros.

Universal Hub reports that members of the family owning Roche Bros. are selling a controlling interest in the supermarket company to a Connecticut food supplier and longtime partner.

From Universal Hub:

Family members who are retiring from the grocery business are selling 51% of RBSBW, Inc., the Mansfield company that owns the supermarkets, to Michael Bozzuto, owner of Bozzuto’s in Cheshire, CT, Roche Bros. attorney Andrew Upton told the Boston Licensing Board yesterday at a hearing to request approval of a change in corporate ownership at the West Roxbury and Downtown Crossing Roche Bros. stores.

Aside from the composition of the company’s ownership, “there are no changes to any aspect of operation, hours, management, floor plans,” Upton said. “No aspect of any location here or anywhere in Massachusetts is changing.”

Know of businesses coming or going? Don’t keep it to yourself: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

The Charles River Regional Chamber on Friday, Nov. 1, held its annual Fall Business Breakfast, which sent the full house of attendees off with a message that regardless of what happens on Election Day, you’re going to be alright. But you should also make sure that the people around you are alright, and to do what you can to support them.

The message of community and neighborliness espoused at the meeting was so strong that I thought I might never get out of the parking lot at the Boston Marriott Newton: The freshly inspired masses from Needham, Newton, Watertown, Wellesley, and elsewhere were being sooo polite about letting each other cut in (“you go,” “no, you go first…”).

In light of the upcoming election and the anxiety surrounding it, Chamber President & CEO Greg Reibman and team orchestrated a largely politics-free event.

Opening speaker Kathleen Marchi, who heads up social services and suicide prevention non-profit Samaritans, Inc., followed Reibman’s introductory remarks by discussing ways to support those feeling anxiety and stress. “Central to everything we do is human connection,” she said, emphasizing the need for authentic and compassionate listening to others, including those whose mental health may be affecting their job performance. She cited the ways she dealt with stress before throwing out the first pitch before a baseball game at Fenway Park.

Next up was the presentation of the Chamber’s big recognition, the R.L. Tennant Award, to Newton’s Darryl Settles of Catalyst Ventures. An entrepreneur and activist with his fingers in a seemingly endless number of projects and causes, Tennant has played a big role in empowering minorities in the greater Boston area in everything from business to real estate. Reibman, in presenting the award to Settles, also described the heartbreaking loss that Settles and his wife suffered after their teenage son (Preston) died following cardiac arrest on the basketball court in 2022, and the many ways in which they have since honored him and helped others in Preston’s name since then. An emotional Settles began his remarks with just “Wow,” then after collecting himself, graciously accepted the award, and encouraged all attendees to help their neighbors thrive. “Every day I try to do something that makes me the kind of neighbor that I would like to have,” Settles said. He received standing ovations at the start and end of his remarks.

The event concluded with a freewheeling motivational presentation by Needham High grad and Newton resident Steve Gross of the Life is Good Playmaker Project, which boils down its mission as teaching early childhood professionals to help kids heal from trauma. Life is Good also sells lots of t-shirts and other gear, though Gross described that merchandise as “a vehicle to… spread the power of optimism.”

Continuing on the event’s theme of really seeing others and helping them, Gross instigated “a mind-altering experience”—a room-wide rock paper scissors tournament that involved wildly cheering on one another and culminated in a best of three title match on stage. Even members of Wellesley’s Select Board got into the action, with at least a few of them earning early-round wins.

Bringing a sense of play and joy to whatever you do is the key to seizing opportunities as an individual and community member despite life’s challenges and pain, Gross told the crowd.

(We’ll plug in a video of the meeting once the recording is available from the Chamber.)

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