Keeping with the theme of "Da Lake", I would like to see a North End style produce store on the first floor with offices above. If the owner of the store is the owner of the building, the rent they get for the offices would offset the "rental costs" of the store. With the produce store, people in the area could get a complete meal without leaving the neighborhood.

I'd love to see a great diner in there. I live nearby and would love to have a nice place for Sunday brunch!

I think I would agree with Mark Golden's comment. I have always said, "you can get a complete meal - except for vegetables - here in the Lake". A bottle of wine, a loaf of bread, a seafood appetizer, fresh sausages or steak tips, and gelato and expresso for desert! All withing walking distance. A nice fresh produce (North End style - of course!) would be wonderful. NOT ANOTHER HAIRDRESSER OR BANK!

FYI : Tommy Doyle's has a great Sunday brunch.

Amazing! I was going to say "a really good greengrocer"! There is an emerging consensus here. In the Italian tradition but giving space to locally grown and produced specially crops and value-added products like jams, pickles, canned local tomatoes etc. and being very selective about stock in the off season. To be economically viable the shop would probably also have to sell sandwiches or something....

Serious parking problem at that corner!

Big problem: No place for employees to park. Customers have the lot across the street, but all day employees don't. Also asking a rather high price.

As far what the neighborhood hasn't got yet that could go there: a good kosher deli.

Something kosher in the Lake could help make Nonantum more of a shopping destination for the rest of Newton,

(Only kosher food options now are in Brookline, or else the kosher Chinese restaurant on the Newton-Needham line.)

There is no Jewish-style deli here, kosher or not, so the foot traffic is there for something of that style. (You don't have t be Jewish to like...)

(Of course the still-vibrant 100-year-old shul around the corner would patronize it only if it were actually kosher.)

My point about it attracting Jews from other neighborhoods of Newton was not connected in my mind with the viability of the business, but with its congruence with another goal of the neighborhood's businesses: The merchants of the Lake would benefit from making Nonantum a "shopping destination", taking a slice of the traffic away from places like the Chestnut Hill Mall.

Anything unique to Nonantum becomes another "draw" that benefits the whole Nonantum economy by introducing others to all that we have.

The building exterior looks old, and kind of reminds me of an old fashioned fire department. But I think it would probably be too small to house even one fire engine. I wonder what happened to the previous printing company. Why did it close down? As for what should replace that business, perhaps an Italian Pizza place would be great to go along with the Italian theme in that neighbourhood? The street can be marketed as a “little Italy”, with the various Italian shops so conveniently located. - http://www.intellprinting.com

By the way. I clicked on the link you have at the end of your posting. It seems that YOU are a printing company. Hmm. If the ideas you present are an example of your companies ability to pay attention to details, your customers must be in deep ka-ka. Obviously you are not even local, did not read the article nor should anyone pay attention to anything you have to say. Let me guess, you Googled "Printing Companies" and this article showed up. You saw the photo and instead of reading anything, you just looked at the "pretty picture", and made your decisions from that one look. Next time, look again.