Monday, October 19, 2020

Plans Moving Ahead for The Former Beachcomber Site in Quincy to Be Turned into Open Space

After at least a couple of years of proposals submitted for the former site of an iconic seaside music spot that have included restaurants, stores, function spaces, a food hall, and residential property, it now looks like the space could be returned to the wild.

According to an article from The Patriot Ledger, the Quincy Community Preservation Committee has given its approval for the city to purchase the old Beachcomber property across from Wollaston Beach and turn it into a "passive park" while also approving of a separate project where a parcel of land near Presidents Golf Course would also be turned into preservation land. The article mentions that the Quincy Shore Drive site is below the flood plain and that the worry has been that any new development of the Beachcomber site could increase the potential for flooding of nearby properties, with local resident Joe Cardone saying at a meeting last week that "Every time we have a storm surge, there is water coming out of the storm drains. It's a salt marsh back there." As mentioned here earlier, there had been proposals for the Beachcomber space that included development of an Asian restaurant along with retail and residential space in 2018, then a scaled down proposal that would include a food hall, a sushi spot with a function hall, and office space a year later--and that the property had been sold to the developers involved in the project back in 2018.

The article says that the proposal will soon be looked at by the city council, presumably including concerns such as the purchase price; Community Preservation Committee member Susan McPhearson noted this during the meeting, saying "An $800,000 profit for something they did nothing on? That's a lot of money....These projects are really important, and I support them in principal, I'm just really concerned about the money – specifically the Beachcomber. I just don't see why we're paying $2.5 million for it. If you could find a way to reduce that, I'd be a happy camper."

The Beachcomber closed in 2015 after more than 50 years in business.

[Earlier Articles]
Asian Restaurant, Retail, Condos Could Be Coming to the Former Beachcomber Site in Quincy
Food Court, Sushi Restaurant, Office Space Now Being Planned for the Former Beachcomber Site in Quincy

by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)


[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]


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