Developer Wants To Tear Down Longtime Medford Restaurant

MEDFORD, MA – A longtime Italian restaurant on Main Street could be getting torn down if a developer's application is approved. Bocelli's is one of three businesses from 368-374 Main St. that developer Rick Welch of Mesiti Group is looking to demolish to build a mixed-use development, the Medford Transcript reported.

Welch's demolition application, filed with the Historical Commission, calls for replacing Bocelli's Jason Anthony's Formal Wear and Backstreet Salon with 12 apartments and new retailers on the ground floor. A public hearing will be held Aug. 20 after the Historical Commission voted that the building is historically significant, according to the Transcript.

Mesiti has not yet submitted a formal proposal, and the restaurant's owner Nick Catricala told the Transcript, "Bocelli's is going to stay here." Demolition on the building, which was the one-time home of iconic restaurant DePasquale's, will be stayed for at least 18 months if the Historical Commission decides it should be preferably preserved.

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