The latest Natick, Mass., business news:
From motel to biotech labs
ABI-LAB is looking to expand its campus significantly in the Sherwood Plaza area of Rte. 9 east with its third lab, which is planned for the space occupied by the long shuttered Travelodge motel.
The Natick Planning Board held a public hearing on June 7 to discuss the planned teardown of the existing structure and development of a new building that would house a mix of retail and professional space, including space for labs. ABI LAB 3 at 1350 Worcester St./3 Dean Rd. on the Natick/Framingham border would provide room to grow for labs at the current ABI Lab locations on Strathmore Road less than half a mile away.
The lab facility would comply with Natick’s new biosafety rules.
David Cohen Pratt of HC Development, who as anyone who has ever watched a Natick Economic Development Committee knows is hugely bullish on bio labs. He said during the June 7 meeting that “the concept of expanding the ABI LAB model came as our growth during COVID and post-COVID has continued to expand very rapidly. We have a huge amount of demand and that demand is coming because Natick sits at a very unique nexus from a transit perspective and an amenity perspective, and we are simply leveraging the existing structural retail footprint of Natick and its location on the Mass turnpike to allow us to attract a professional community that is looking for new space to expand.”
Discussion on the proposal continues tonight at the Planning Board’s 7pm meeting.
Christmas comes early with going-outta-business sale
The end of Christmas Tree Shops, including Natick’s in Sherwood Plaza, is near. It looks like CTS got a great deal itself on Going Out of Business signs, which currently dominate the outside and inside of the store.
Citizens Bank—1 staying, 1 going
Customers of Citizens Bank at the Roche Bros., in Natick have received notice that the branch will soon close.
The downtown Citizens at 34 North Main St., is temporarily closed, and while temporarily often means permanent in the business world, it looks like this branch really will reopen. The note on the door says you’ll get “a whole new banking experience” come Thursday, July 27.
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