UPDATED: Alderman Ted Hess Mahan provides details in the comments section.
Here’s the original thread…
Leave it to Melanie Graham from Patch to probe the big Newton existential questions of our time, including…
What’s Happening with The Cheesecake Factory in Chestnut Hill?
My understanding is that the Chestnut Hill Mall will be coming in for a special permit to add space so that the Cheesecake Factory can move across Route 9 to the mall.
May I say, it is so good having the Land Use Chairman as a regular participant on this blog!
@Greg, da nada. I’ve got my finger on the pulse of Newton.
Keep checking the Special Permits page on the Aldermanic website for the application and plans.
I would like to add that this is actually an exciting time for me as a member and chairman of Land Use. In addition to Chestnut Hill Mall, we have taken up or will take up Chestnut Hill Square, ‘The Street” at Chestnut Hill Shopping Center, a slew of new restaurants and a couple of retail projects on Needham Street during my tenure that I think are going to revitalize Newton’s economy in the years to come and make each of these locales more vibrant and interesting. And, of course, we are also continuing to work on the Riverside Station mixed use/transit oriented development. I do encourage bloggers to keep tabs (no pun intended) on the Special Permits page of the aldermanic website to see what is coming up, because for better or worse these projects are changing the fact of Newton for years to come.
Changing the *face* of Newton.
Ha! I knew before Ted did about the move across the street to the Mall! Last fall, when all the Atrium businesses were escaping from that sinking ship, I had the foresight and temerity to question an Atrium employee and friend who promised that Cheesecake would retain its Chestnut Hill presence across the street at the Mall, either in a stand-alone building or in a Mall bump-out (as at the Natick Mall). Had it been otherwise, I might have needed some prescription substance to reduce my anxiety at the chain’s withdrawal from Newton. In addition, as I noted on that other blog (Patch), my daughter who resides in Michigan has informed me that Michigan is about to get its first Cheesecake, which will open in Novi this year! That is a big deal because there is some scuttlebutt that the chain’s founder hated Michigan (where she grew up) and wanted to punish that state by refusing to open a restaurant there! @Ted: I am breathing easier now…really…even though I have no power!!!
@Salle: It’s nice that you knew this but better when you share these things with the Village 14 community!
The plans I saw a few months ago involved a bump out and a tower. The plans have now gone through design review with the city, and the chief zoning code official has been working on the zoning memo, so as soon as that is done the application can be filed. It is possible we can hold a public hearing in May or June, depending on when the Mall files.
Back when I found out about Cheesecake’s possible move I didn’t know about Village 14. But I’m learning! Question: Is this blogging that we aredoing akin to journalism? What standards do/should we meet that rise above pure gossip? I’d love to hear thoughts from the bloggers on this site.
@Sallee