A veterinary clinic, new cafes, businesses in the Roslindale Substation, and the return of the farmers market are some of the new developments happening in Roslindale Village, according to Christina DiLisio, executive director of Roslindale Village Main Street (RVMS).
RVMS is a business promotion organization.
“For a long time, Roslindale has been eager to get a functioning cafe into our community, but up to this point no property owners were ready to make it work,” DiLisio said. “We’re really excited that we’re seeing some more cafes coming in.”
PF Gourmet recently opened up in the heart of the square. Green T Coffee is planning on opening a second location in Roslindale and is working on its permitting and licensing. DiLisio expects it to be up and running sometime in the coming month. Green T Coffee has another location on Mission Hill.
“We have a lot of families and people that work from home, so cafes will be a great addition to our community,” DiLisio said.
The substation, a historical building at 4228 Washington St. that was previously used by the MBTA, is being renovated through the joint venture of RVMS, Historic Boston, Inc. (HBI) and Peregrine Group. The building is expected to be ready to open in the fall.
DiLisio said that the restaurant portion of the substation will open in the fall under the name The Third Rail. The restaurant will be run by Chris Douglas, who is also the owner of Ashmont Grille and Tavolo in Dorchester. The restaurant will be in the top part of the station, and in the basement will be a craft beer retail store called Craft Beer Cellar, also opening this fall.
“We’re also excited because some long-term vacant properties are now getting tenants,” said DiLisio.
DiLisio said that a veterinary clinic is coming to 2 Belgrade Ave.
“There is definitely a need for a pet clinic here,” she said. “The businesses Pet Cabaret and Petco Unleashed in the neighborhood demonstrate to us that there is a real community of pet owners, and we can see that anecdotally because we see many people walking their dogs in the Arboretum.
She hopes the vet clinic will add foot traffic to the square.
“A full service vet clinic will be an asset to the community,” she said.
RVMS has also partnered with a design group called Street Ops, and they will be releasing a custom designed bike corral in the coming weeks.
“It’s like a bike rack plus,” said DiLisio about the corral. “It will hold a lot more bikes with a simple design.”
The corral will be able to fit 6 to 10 bicycles on it at a time, with additional features so that bicyclists can park their bikes safely, and will also include seating and spots for plants.
“People have been calling for more bike infrastructure, and this is the first step in that process,” said DiLisio.
The RVMS Farmers Market will be returning on Saturday June 4th from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and runs every Saturday through the weekend before Thanksgiving. This year, the market will offer entertainment “bigger and better than in past years,” DiLisio says. There will be more focus on physical activity, including demonstrations from yoga studios and a new boutique cycling studio.