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What's Happening with The Cheesecake Factory in Chestnut Hill?

You ask, Patch answers.

It is easily the question readers ask us the most: What's happening with The Cheesecake Factory at the former Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill? Last summer, Simon Properties sold the ailing Atrium Mall to Needham-based Bulfinch Cos. In July, Bulfinch announced it would convert the mall into the Atrium Center at Chestnut Hill, a medical and office building.  Once the sale went through, the already half-empty mall started losing stores one by one, with the last few moving out in January 2013.  But as the mall emptied, one Atrium tenant remained: The Cheesecake Factory. When asked about its future plans at the Atrium or elsewhere in Chestnut Hill, The Cheesecake Factory Senior Director of Public Relations Alethea Rowe sent the following statement…

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New Children's Store to Open in Newton's Mall at Chestnut Hill

The store is moving from the Atrium Mall, which will be closing all its stores by the end of this month.

As the retail life of the Atrium Mall comes to an end, another former Atrium store has decided to move across Route 9 and set up shop in the Mall at Chestnut Hill.  Children's store Janie and Jack will be joining the second level of the Mall at Chestnut Hill and is slated to open at the end of January, according to a press release issued this morning.  The children's store offers "distinctive, finely crafted clothing and accessories" for kids in sizes preemie to 6 (preemie to 12 online), the press release said.  “The addition of another popular children’s clothing and accessory option continues our reputation as the premier, high-end shopping destination in the area," Simon Property Group Senior Vice President of Leasing Cindy Kernan said …

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You Ask, Patch Answers

When Will the Last Atrium Mall Stores Close?

Bulfinch Cos. has purchased the mall and will be converting it into medical offices.

Updated 11:40 a.m. with an update from Bulfinch. Five months after Needham-based Bulfinch Cos. purchased the Atrium Mall in Newton, there are just a few more breaths of retail life left in the shopping center.  Patch has received a few questions from readers about the property and decided to look into the status of the Atrium Mall for You Ask, Patch Answers. According to Tina Snyder, director of marketing for Bulfinch, there are three stores left in the mall: Janie and Jack, Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn.  Pottery Barn will close at the end of January, Synder said, and Janie and Jack will be vacating on Jan. 4. Restoration Harware will close at the end of 2012. Cheesecake Factory is also still open, however, the future of the …

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Bulfinch Purchases Newton's Atrium Mall, Will Convert Property into Medical Offices

Needham-based Bulfinch Cos. reportedly paid Simon Property Group $46 million.

After speculation surfaced last month that Newton's Atrium Mall would be soon be sold, a Needham-based firm has purchased the property with plans to convert it into medical offices.  According to a report in the Boston Business Journal, the mall has been sold to an affiliate of Bulfinch Cos. Although a price was not disclosed, Bulfinch recently made a $46 million payment to the mall's owners, Simon Property Group, BBJ reported.  Check out more details in the full BBJ report. Bulfinch CEO Eric Schlager told BBJ that the firm plans to renovate the facility and use it as an office and medical center campus. The 300,000-square-foot property will be renamed the Atrium Center at Chestnut Hill.  Construction at the site is set to begin this year …

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Wendy Schapiro

9:41 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2012

They are more than welcome to relocate the Cheesecake Factory to my living room ;-)   more ›

Report: Newton's Atrium Mall to be Sold, Will be Medical Offices

The property is reportedly going to be sold for $50 million.

The Boston Herald reports this morning that the ailing Atrium Mall is under agreement to be sold for $50 million and will eventually be turned into medical offices.  Sourcing a person "close to the deal" the Herald says Needham-based Bullfinch Cos. is buying the property and the deal should close later this month. For more information, check out the story in the Boston Herald.  The Simon-owned Atrium Mall, which opened in 1989, has recently dropped to roughly 20 percent capacity, with ten retail stores left in the mall and just two restaurants. Earlier this month the mall lost one of its anchor eateries, Bertucci's.  Since January, a slew of stores have exited the property including Gap, GapKids, Pottery Barn Kids and Creatoyivity. Some …

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Bertucci's Closes in Newton's Atrium Mall

According to the restaurant's answering machine, the Bertucci's closed May 14.

The Atrium Mall lost one of its anchor restaurants this month as Bertucci's has closed up shop in the ailing Chestnut Hill retail center. According to a report in Boston Business Journal, the restaurant's exit brings the mall's occupancy rate to under 20 percent, with less than 12 stores and two restaurants left in the space.  The answering machine at the Atrium Mall Bertucci's says the restaurant closed on May 14. The message thanks customers for "all the memories" over the last decade in Chestnut Hill.  The closing of Bertucci's is the most recent blow to the struggling property, which has seen a number of stores close or relocate across the street to the Mall at Chestnut Hill. Over the last few months, stores including Gap, GapKids, …

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Karla Vallance

6:13 pm on Friday, June 1, 2012

I suppose it wouldn't work to become all pop-up stores, since you (generally) need street traffic, but that's a great building; there has to be an answer...   more ›

Another Store Set to Leave Newton's Atrium Mall

What do you think should be done with the Chestnut Hill property?

The Atrium Mall will say goodbye to another storefront this week. Gap and GapKids will close its doors after business ends on Saturday, the Boston Globe reported yesterday, leaving just 14 stores in the Chestnut Hill property.  The four-floor Atrium Mall is no stranger to empty storefronts--just last month, Creatoyivity and Pottery Barn Kids also exited the shopping center.  The Atrium will see even more empty storefronts in the coming months as JCrew and Ross-Simons also plan to leave. Boston Business Journal reported earlier this year that the two stores will be moving across the street to The Mall at Chestnut Hill sometime this spring.  Williams-Sonoma, Borders, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Tiffany & Co. are among other stores that have …

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Newton Macy's Could be the Site of New Movie Theatre

WS Development is proposing a plan to close the AMC Chestnut Hill and reopen a new theatre at the former Macy's site, which closed last year.

A Chestnut Hill development firm has some makeover plans for the Macy's on Route 9 in Newton.  Boston.com recently reported the now closed department store could soon be converted into a movie theatre.  According to the article, WS Development, the property's owners, have started removing asbestos from the former Macy's building and have plans to start construction as soon as next month.  The owners indicated that the new theatre would result in the closing of the AMC Chestnut Hill, which is a few doors down in the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center. WS Development would not disclose the new theatre company.  Macy's closed its Chestnut Hill store in early 2011 as part of the company's move to "prune underperforming locations while also opening …

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Two More Atrium Mall Stores Reportedly to Close [POLL]

Boston Business Journal says two childrens' stores are expected to join the exodus from the Atrium Mall.

Creatoyvity and Pottery Barn Kids will exit their spaces at the Atrium Mall within the next few weeks, reports Boston Business Journal. Williams-Sonoma, Tiffany's and Borders are among the stores to have already moved out of the mall. BBJ says J. Crew and Ross-Simons are expected to move to the Chestnut Hill Mall in the spring. But store closings aren't exclusive to the Atrium Mall; last year, Talbots shut its store in the Mall at Chestnut Hill across Route 9 from the Atrium Mall; The Rugged Bear and Macy's withdrew from the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center. Both the Mall at Chestnut Hill and the Atrium Mall are properties of Simon Malls. Chestnut Hill Square is another retail area being developed close by, with a Wegmans scheduled to move …

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Wendy Schapiro

6:07 pm on Thursday, January 5, 2012

Maybe the new shopping center down the way and the Wegman's will revitalize it. It's a long time to wait, but I can't imagine what ELSE would go into that space other than a mall, and they can't even begin to think about putting something else in until Chestnut Hill Square is all done and up and running.   more ›

Despite Economic Climate, Newton Malls Prep for Tax-Free Weekend

Many Newton retailers are ready for the crowds this weekend, but will they come?

In years past, a tax-free weekend in Massachusetts meant mobs of people and packed parking lots filled with shoppers ready to save money. But with the current economic climate, will crowds this year fill the stores to save their 6.25 percent? "No one is really sure how this weekend will play out," said David Fleming, the corporate marketing director for WS Development, owners of the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center. "We expect it to be a good one, but we're not sure with the recent economic news." Fleming explained that stores with higher-end merchandise are likely to see more customers, such as the upscale houseware store Portobello Road. Just next door at Eyespot, the boutique eyewear store will be offering tax-free deals on some unique …

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