With construction set to begin at North Station’s Bullfinch Triangle, One Canal will soon provide 320 new apartments. With 1,000 new residences expected in the area, developers have turned their focus towards providing a soon-to-shift-demographic with neighborhood amenities: Five new grocery stores.
The 50,000 square-foot Trinity Parcel (One Canal) will have its own. Its unclear which chain will occupy the 22,000 square-feet of space set aside for a supermarket, now that Stop and Shop, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have already passed on the opportunity.
Deals have already been finalized to bring a Roche Brothers and another Whole Foods to the city by 2015.
Roche Bros. will open a gourmet food and produce store at 1 Franklin in Downtown Boston by 2015 — the first of downtown location.
A new Whole Foods will open at a Boston Herald Block location in the South End sometime between 2014-2015.
A Jamaica Plain Stop and Compare in Jackson Square and a Wegman’s in Fenway’s Landmark Center do not have finalized dates of completion.
Currently, there are 41 supermarkets in (as show by this map) Boston — a total of 1.3 million square feet. The North and South End, Downtown, Jamaica Plain and Fenway developments will add an addition 200,000 square feet.
“As the demographics of the city become more diverse, these investments are needed to increase access to fresh and multiethnic produce across all neighborhoods,” a BRA report read.
New grocery stores not only provide more options, but they signal a shift, especially for the North End.
The One Canal grocery store will be the first supermarket in a neighborhood filled with “Mom and Pop” stores. The debate can rage as to what exactly this means. For one, it underscores that the North End/North Station area’s demographics are set for a makeover — young business professionals and their families, perhaps.
The North End has a population of just over 10,000; one could argue that a chain grocer hasn’t been needed.
A 22,000 square-foot supermarket, however, indicates that area itself could quickly become a commercial and residential destination, rather than a quaint, historic tourist mecca, occupied by fortunate college students, professional athletes and generations of Italian families, among others.
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