Meeting on a potential new Liquor Store

There will be a public meeting this Wednesday, January 6th concerning a liquor store that wants to open at 505 Tremont.  All are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, Jan 6
6pm
519 Tremont street (the empty storefront between Picco and Santander bank.)
All are welcome to attend.


The operators of Wine Riot are looking to open a liquor store in the Atelier complex.  The location would be 519 Tremont street - between Picco restaurant and Santander bank (previously home to a furniture store).  

A previous public "Abutters" meeting was held in December.  At that time the developer had not notified everyone within the required 300 foot radius, and only notified neighbors 2 days prior to the meeting.   Given the lack of notice, a second abutters meeting was recommended - to both give abutters & Neighbors another opportunity to get information and provide feedback, and to have a single common meeting rather than have separate Eight Streets and Ellis NA meetings.   The meeting date/time was put on the Eight Streets calendar at that time, but the final meeting location wasn't confirmed until just recently.

At the last meeting most of the attendees were Eight Streets residents, joined by an Ellis board member and 2 people form the 505 condo association.   Also in attendance were the owners of other local liquor sales establishments.

The petitioners want to open a 'high end' liquor store catering to the younger customer - those who attend their Wine Riot events.  They assured attendees that in-store tastings will be 'regular' small tastings, and not large events similar to their larger Wine Riot tastings.  While they help saying it would be a 'high end' shop, they said wine prices be between $15 and $25 - which is consistent with what other local stores offer wine for;  attendees were then curious what 'high end' would really be, and how this store would be different from the 8 local liquor/wine retailers in the area offer.

At the December public meeting, there were no members of the public who spoke in favor of the proposal.   Those who did speak wondered if the area needs another wine/liquor store, and what effect a new store would be on current businesses.

All are welcome to attend this Wednesday's meeting and express your opinion.   The City and both adjacent NAs will be in attendance to hear your views.

if you cannot make this meeting, you can attend or send a letter to the City Hall hearing.  
Wednesday, January 13th at 10am, City Hall, 8th Floor, 1 City Hall Sq Room 809, Boston, MA

December Social & Holiday Activities

Happy December everyone!

This month we will forgo our regular business meeting and instead have a social event to celebrate the season.

On our usual meeting night - Tuesday, December 8th - we will be having a Holiday Social instead of our regular meeting.   Stop by The Boston Eagle (tremont & Dwight) between 6pm and 8pm for some free pizza, cocktails, Pool lessons and some raffle prizes!

We invite everyone in Eight Streets to attend; meet your neighbors and make some new friends!
So we can get an accurate headcount, please RSVP to ESNA.DecSocial@gmail.com to secure your spot!

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This Wednesday (December 2) SEBA presents the South End Holiday Stroll.    Take a walk through the neighborhood and visit our local stores.    The walk is  from 4-9pm with many south end businesses participating.  See this link for a flier.

AS A BONUS -  Mayor Walsh will be participating right in our neighborhood.   Starting at 4:30pm, Mayor Walsh will be at Milford and Shawmut to visit local businesses in our Shawmut business district.   If you're home from work early, come out and shop with the Mayor.


More shopping can be had at Chrismaukka - a Free holiday shopping event at the SoWa market location (450 harrison ave).  A heated tent will be in place, hosting 50 local artisans and their wares.  The Food Trucks will also be there for your dining pleasure.   This is Free and open to all Friday night through Sunday (Dec 4-6).  See their Facebook page for more information.

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Christmas activities continue on Saturday with the 20th annual "Mayor's Enchanted Trolley Tour" and Christmas tree lighting at the BCA.  Starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, December 5th there will be kids activities with snacks and cider available.   The Mayor's trolley (with Santa) should arrive around 4:15 for a tree lighting and  a chance to visit the guy in red.

If you're putting a tree in your home, don't forget Christmas Trees and Wreaths are again for sale locally at the corner of Berkeley and Tremont.

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Have a great December, and I hope you can make it to our Holiday Social!!!

(click for a larger image)

February Business Meeting

Happy Goundhog Day!

Our next business meeting Wednesday, February  5th, 6:30-8:30 at the Boston Ballet 5th floor board room (Corner of Warren & Clarendon)

Meeting format:

6:30-7 - Neighborhood Networking.   Meet your neighbors in an informal setting.
7-8:30 - Business meeting.

On the agenda this month:

• Local Business Focus:  Don Weber of Brownstone Gardens
• Action items & committee reports
• Special guest Speakers: 
• City Council President Bill Linehan
• City Councilor-at-Large Michelle Wu
• City Councilor-at-Large Michael Flaherty
• Open Member Discussion

We continue this month with a plethora guest speakers.

Local businessman Don Weber will speak about his company Brownstone Gardens.   This is the first in what we hope will be a continuing series of local Eigth Streets neighborhood business owners coming to speak about their business.

We have a special guest this month.   Our district 2 city councilor Bill Linehan will be joining us again as guest speaker.  The councilor was just re-elected this past November, and in January was elected president of the city council.   Join us as Councilor Linehan speaks to us about his new role as Council President, and what the future may hold for local residents under the new council and the Walsh administration.

Councilor Linehan will also be joined by returning Councilor-at-Large Michel Flaherty, and our own South End neighbor Councilor-at-large Michelle Wu.   All three councilors have a strong connection to the inner city and the issues that are unique to downtown neighborhoods.

After our speakers address the neighborhood, there will be plenty of time for Q& A from the audience.

We will also be going over committee reports and some goals the committees have been working on over the past month.

Weather issues:    As of now there may or may not be lots of snow on Wednesday.   Please keep an eye on the blog and other social media should our speakers have to cancel or if the ballet school is closed on Wednesday.   Keep an eye on the forecast to see if this storm turns into a hit or miss.

If you haven't yet renewed your annual membership, or are looking to join us, head to the ESNA Membership Page.  There you can renew on-line with your credit card, or print out a membership form to mail in with a cheque.

Hope to see everyone there!

Join us on Social Media
Our Google Calendar
Our Facebook page
ESNA Twitter feed

Neighborhood Restaurant News

South End patch points us to the bosguy blog, with some local restaurant news/rumors...

Help plan the South End Holiday Stroll

Planning begins for the 2011 Holiday Stroll - meeting this Thursday (Sept 8) at 9:30am.   Please contact Nick Fedor if you would like to join the team.   The official announcement follows below...

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I’m writing to invite you to a holiday stroll and decorations planning meeting on Thursday, September 8 at 9:30am at Gaslight.  Gaslight is located at 560 Harrison Avenue.

At our first holiday planning meeting, attended by business owners, South End Business Alliance board members and Washington Gateway Main Street staff and board members, the group discussed coordinating holiday decorating efforts among businesses and neighborhood associations throughout the entire South End.  In this follow up meeting, we are hoping to get input from neighborhood associations.  It would be great if a representative from each association could attend this meeting.

We will also be discussing holiday stroll events centered around the Mayor’s tree lighting at the BCA plaza. 

The goal is to get the entire South End involved to create a fun, festive community atmosphere this holiday season. 

Please feel free to forward to anyone I may have missed. 

Thanks for reading and please RSVP to me by Tuesday, September 6^th.

Best,

Nick 

Sidewalk Sale this weekend

South End Business Alliance announces the annual South End Sidewalk Sale begins this Friday, Aug 19 and runs through Sunday the 22nd.  Shop local stores to see deals and special sales running all weekend long.

See flier for more details

Holiday Shopping Night Out

The holidays continue this Wednesday (12/8) with the South End Holiday Shopping Night Out.

Shop at your neighborhood businesses in the South End and enjoy 15-20% discounts. Grab dinner at one of your favorite South End restaurants who are offering specials for this evening only.

Participants include: 570 Market, Aquitaine, Aunt Sadie’s, Bark Place, Bead + Fiber, Boomerangs Special Edition, diseño | bos, Flock, Flour, Foodie’s Urban Market, Galeria Cubana, Gallardo Works, Gaslight, Gifted, Hudson, J.E.M., Kiwi Baby, Lekker, Looc, M. Flynn Accessories, Metropolis, Michele Mercaldo Jewelry, Michelle Willey, Mohr & McPherson, Motley, Myers+Chang, Patch NYC Shop, Polka Dog Bakery, POPS Restaurant, Posh on Tremont, Restoration Resources, Sara Campbell LTD, Skoah, Sooki, South End Athletic Company, South End Buttery, Stephen Baumbach, Stir, Tadpole, Turtle, Uniform, Union Bar and Grille, Upper Crust, Laura Preshong, D Scale, Charles Tersolo, Face Facts Healing Spa and Escape Salon & Spa.

Joe V's to close

The Boston Restaurant Talk Blog reports that Joe V's restaurant, just outside of ESNA at Shawmut and Union park, will be closing as the owner opens a new establishment in Brookline (Globe Article)

Wholy Grain open house

The to-be-opening new business The Wholy Grain is having an open houe this Wednesday, July 7 form 7-9pm. They are in the process of renovating the space at 275A Shawmut (corner of Hanson) and going through the city permit process. You may have met Ken at one of the ESNA meetings he attended. Stop by their open house and say hi, and check out the plans for the space.

A Flier with information on the open houe and an overview of The Wholy Grain is here (pdf).

New Bakery/Sandwich shop

The new shop that is applying to open at Shawmut and Hanson made an article in the Herald last week, This is the same gentleman that came to our March ESNA Meeting. Since herald articles expire after a week, the text of the article is below...

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The Wholy Grain, a bakery and deli emphasizing healthy fare, is coming to the South End this summer.

Neighborhood residents Ken Hassett and David McFarlane are going through the permitting process to open it in a space that previously housed a private social club at 275A Shawmut Ave., near Coppa, South End Formaggio and the Franklin Cafe.

“We’re looking to open a very health-conscious, take-out restaurant called the Wholy Grain with artisan-style breads, fresh in-house roasted meats and prepared meals to go,” Hassett said.

The plan is to steer clear of processed foods and do much of the baking on-site, with pastries and a juice bar also among the offerings. The Wholy Grain eventually will operate 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. to catch business for all three meals.

Hassett, who doesn’t cook, says the prepared meals geared to both meat eaters and vegetarians will be as much for himself as customers.

“I’m trying to repeat what I grew up with: a nice, decent home-cooked meal that has a little flair to it, but is healthy at the same time,” he said.

The Wholy Grain will be a takeoff of a fresh food takeout restaurant operated by Hassett’s brothers in the city of Cork, Ireland.

“One of them is a master baker, and he has a great bakery that produces bread for a lot of restaurants in southern Ireland, and they’ve come up with a kind of takeout concept called the Wholy Grain,” Hassett said.

The South End space is 800-square-feet and will have patio seating.

“Outside, it doesn’t have a lot of curb appeal,” Hassett said. “But inside, it’s a really cute little space. We’ll kick it up a notch. It will be a nice, old-fashioned shop.”

He and McFarlane also own the Carriage House, a seasonal bed and breakfast in Provincetown.

Trader Joes in the South End?

The Herald reports that GTI is working to put a Trader Joe's store in the old teolley barn warehouse on Harrison (the building where the South End Market is held).

Article (Herald article go off-line after a week, so the link is only good for a short time)

Harrison/Albany St Planning presentation

The BRA has been working on a Strategic Plan to coordinate development on Harrison Ave/Albany St. They have posted this notice on an Oct 28th public meeting will present a draft of their proposal. I hope you can attend.

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The Harrison-Albany Strategic Plan Advisory Group and the Boston Redevelopment Authority
will host a community meeting to discuss the

HARRISON-ALBANY STRATEGIC PLAN / South End
DRAFT VISION

Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 6:15PM
The Franklin Square House ( across from Franklin Square)
11 E. Newton Street in the South End

The BRA, in collaboration with a 30-member Advisory Group, has initiated a strategic planning process for the Harrison Avenue - Albany Street portion of the South End. The study area is bounded by the Massachusetts Turnpike to the east, Albany Street/Southeast Expressway/Massachusetts Avenue Connector to the south; Massachusetts Avenue to the west; and generally Washington Street/Harrison Avenue to the north.

The meeting will include a presentation of the draft vision and goals and objectives for the study area, and discussion will include feedback on the issues and opportunities identified as they relate to land use, urban design, transportation, and economic development.

Please come to learn more about the planning process and provide input about the study area. Upon its completion, the strategic plan will include recommendations to guide future development so that it meets the needs of the diverse community.

Translation will be provided.

Meeting notes and PowerPoint presentations from the Advisory Group meetings are available on the BRA website at: http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/Planning/PlanningInitsIndividual.asp?action=ViewInit&InitID=135

BRA Contact:
Marie Mercurio
Boston Redevelopment Authority
617-918-4352
Marie.Mercurio.BRA@cityofboston.gov

Dog Ice Cream Social

Boston veterinary Care is sponsoring a free Ice Cream Social for Dogs.

This Thursday, 8/20. 5-7 in the Joe Wex DRS in Peters Park (rain date 8/24)

• Cool treats from Polka Dog
• Photographer Cheryl Richards
• Meet their vet staff
• Cool treats for all

[[Download flier here]]

Free Yoga

South End Yoga is hosting a free week-end of yoga. This will give the neighborhood a chance to explore the various types of yoga.

Where:

South End Yoga
111 West Concord Street
REAR ENTRANCE
Boston (South End)

When:

Saturday September 26th 12noon - 6PM and
Sunday September 27th 9:30AM - 4:45PM

Website: www.SouthEndYoga.com

Contact: southendyoga@gmail.com
or call 617-947-8892

Thank you.

Your neighbor,
South End Yoga