SOUTHBOROUGH – After being abandoned for decades, the former Andrea Restaurant on Route 9 will be redeveloped into a clubhouse for car enthusiasts.
“Parkhaus” will include a climate-controlled 54,000-square-foot facility for car collectors, according to a filing with the Inspectional Services/Zoning Enforcement Department. In addition to the 32 individual automobile units sized from 854 to 1,100 square feet, the two-story property will include a workshop, offices, sitting areas, a bathroom and kitchen.
In 2021, Parkhaus 214 LLC, a division of Boston-based Transatlantic Investment Management Inc., purchased the shuttered restaurant and a nearby vacant office building at Parkerville Road for $1.25 million, according to the Worcester County Registry of Deeds.
Nadja Stratton, the project manager, did not return calls seeking comment.
Southborough Select Board Chair Kathryn Cook said while the board is pleased the eyesore will be revitalized, the panel would prefer to see more “viable” businesses come to Southborough.
“I’m glad someone has bought it,” she said. “And I’m glad they are planning to do something with it.”
Still, Cook said with the recent closing of Tomasso Trattoria & Enoteca at The Crossings on Route 9, there’s even more reason why the community needs a place to dine.
“Mauro’s Restaurant [on Main Street] closes at 3 p.m.,” she said. “I wish Andrea’s had remained as a nice restaurant.”
William Depietri, founder and president of Capital Group Properties, owner of The Crossings, said Tomasso’s ownership, which purchased the restaurant in 2019, had a tough going.
“It was bad timing with COVID-19 and it never really took off,” he said.
But Depietri said a new restaurant is slated to go into the space by year’s end. He declined to name the new tenant.
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Economic Development Committee Chair Michael Nordstrom said Southborough needs business and cannot afford to be fussy about which ones.
“We have a crisis on our hands when it comes to the lack of commercial and retail uses,” he said. “The restaurant situation is terrible, there’s no grocer or even a boutique grocery store, and residents must leave town for anything. I would be reluctant to say we’d rather some other kind of business unless we had alternatives.”
The Parkhaus project will not be built anytime soon as the developer has not applied for any permits.
In May, the LLC’s attorney requested a one year extension of the site plan approval to deal with septic issues. The Planning Board approved the request unanimously.
Stratton, who appeared before the Planning Board in May via Zoom, said the record rainfall this year has made the installation of a septic system challenging. But she said demolition of the two existing buildings should begin by year’s end.
At that meeting, Planning Board member Deborah DeMuria said the town is enthusiastic about getting the parcels redeveloped.
“We really want to see something there,” she said.