Update (12/19/22): The Planning Board unanimously approved the project.

The Wellesley Planning Board on Dec. 5 had a Project of Significant Impact hearing regarding the Beacon Capital Partners property at 110 Worcester St., aka Park 9, aka the ex-Sun Life building, aka the property across from the Wellesley Gateway property (see the Wellesley Media recording just after the 41-minute mark). The project focuses on the conversion of 72,000 sq. ft. of office space located in Building 3 into laboratory space (this is dubbed “core and shell” work to prep the space for labs— lab tenants themselves will customize their chunks of space).

When bio lab plans were aired by Beacon Capital Partners for the Wellesley Gateway property across Rte. 9 (93 Worcester St.), members of the public grilled the board and property owner on the safety of the conversion, which has since been approved by Planning. That property was closer to residential neighbors than is 110 Worcester.

No one from the public messaged the Board about or attended the Dec. 5 meeting to speak, somewhat to the surprise of at least a couple of Board members. A legal notice was posted about the original date for the hearing in November on the town website and in an obscure thing called a “print newspaper,” and postcards and emails were sent to neighbors.

The property owner met with about 10 neighbors in October, so perhaps they had their main concerns addressed during that gathering (what they really wanted was for the leaf blowing to shift to weekdays and away from the wee hours, said Jennifer Schultz, 1 of 3 lawyers identified as being on the Beacon team for this project). As said local attorney David Himmelberger, also representing the applicant, “this is pretty much a replica” of the 93 Worcester St. proposal.

The town’s engineering team did have some questions to be addressed, and an email snafu delayed sorting that out, so the hearing needed to be continued. The fire department, Municipal Light Plant, and others were good with the plan.

The Planning Board discussion on this topic is slated to pick up, and perhaps finish, on Monday, Dec. 19.

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The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Asaro design plans shared

Asaro Bakery & Cafe, whose window signs on Church Square have been teasing the town since February about its impending arrival, does have design plans making the rounds.

We checked them out at the Wellesley Health Department recently, and word is that the cost of installing a pricey grease trap is one big challenge.

That didn’t stop Matz Collaborative Architects from posting renderings on its website and social media of what the eatery could look like, including outdoor seating along the side and rear of the building. Matz dared to hashtag its Instagram post #comingsoon, but when asked about “how soon is soon?”, it predictably deferred to the elusive Asaro.

 

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Town sticks with single tax rate

Wellesley will stay with its single property tax rate for residents and businesses, per a Select Board vote earlier this month.

The annual tax classification public hearing and vote, which you can relive by viewing the Wellesley Media recording about 3 minutes in, took place on Dec. 6. The new chief assessor, Ellen Muller, made her debut at these meetings as well.

To no one’s surprise the assessed value of residential and commercial property continues to climb, with those values up 9% and 11% respectively for fiscal 2023.

The median assessed value of single-family residences: $1.36M! Close to 80% of the town’s overall property values are single family residential homes .

Once the Assessor’s Office and Board of Assessors crunched the numbers, the tax rate turned out to be $11.45 per $1,000 in property value. That’s down from $11.68 last year, though due to ballooning property assessments the median tax bill rises by more than $1,200 to $15,538.

Shifting more of the tax burden to commercial property owners to the largest extent allowed would boost the median tax bill for them by about $16K a year, while reducing the median residential bill by about $1,100. “It’s really a very punitive effect on the commercial rates,” Select Board member Colette Aufranc said during discussion, adding that it’s very difficult to undo such a change.

Select Board member Beth Sullivan Woods emphasized that much of Wellesley’s commercial tax base comes from small businesses, and pointed out that landlords have been “heavily investing” in property improvements over the past year-plus. “Keeping the single tax rate is another element in ensuring the success and the rebound of our business community,” she said.

More: Natick stays with single tax rate for residents, businesses

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Free 2-hour parking during holiday season

Shop and dine locally and park for free at all 2-hour street meters in Wellesley during the holiday season.

Beginning on Monday, Nov. 21 and running through Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, drivers are permitted to park free of charge for up to 2 hours at all street meters.

Cars parked for more than two hours are subject to ticketing.

Free parking meters are marked with bags. Parking fees are still in effect during the holidays at all 4-hour and 10-hour meters, and in all municipal parking lots.

More on Wellesley parking.

License plate art expands into pillows

Great to see recent Wellesley High School alum Michael Tufankjian is going soft—he has expanded his License Plate Designs business to focus on pillows rather than metal signs made from chopped up license plates.

As we reported in 2017 (See “Entrepreneurial Wellesley High student not letting old license plates go to waste”), Tufankjian’s venture was borne out of both his family’s car dealerships and his own desire to start a business that incorporated recycling and sustainability.

“The idea came to me when I saw some discarded license plates at my family’s car dealerships, and I wanted to figure out a way to reuse them,” he said at the time. “I have taken several business classes at Wellesley High School and have always wanted to start my own business.”

He sold the art locally, including at Wellesley Holiday Boutique.

As reported by Bostinno, Tufankjian has transferred from Babson College to Villanova and expanded his business to focus on pillows with designs inspired by license plates. The pillows are available via his website as well as at college stores, from Babson to Stanford. A quarter of profits from the $75 pillows go to Boston Children’s Hospital.