DAVID TABER
SOUTH ST.—Two well-known commercial buildings that house Fiore’s Bakery and JP Centre/South Main Streets (JP CSMS) are for sale.
The two buildings are within 100 yards of each other, and a third building across Custer Street, a few doors down from Fiore’s, is also for sale.
The building that houses Fiore’s—at 55 South St., next to the Harvest Co-op—has a $995,000 price tag, according to an advertisement run the Nov. 21 issue of the Gazette and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) real estate listings.
Charles Fiore, owner of Fiore’s Bakery, said he is considering making an offer for the 55 South St. building where the bakery is located. Beyond that, he declined to comment on his business’s future.
The JP CSMS location—39 South St.—is owned by Mark MacMillan. His business, MacMillan Realtors, also has offices at that address. According to MLS listings, MacMillan is asking $549,000.
MacMillan told the Gazette he recently moved to West Roxbury and plans to take his business with him. The real estate business that bears his name has been in his family for three generations, he said. It was founded as Horn Realty by his grandfather, Thomas Horn, in 1935.
His mother, Mary MacMillan, took over in 1958 and changed the name. At that time the agency was at the current Fiore’s location at 55 South St.
In 1978 he moved it to 39 South St. The current planned move is in keeping with family tradition, MacMillan said. The agency was originally located in Boston’s South End neighborhood.
“Back then JP, was the suburbs. I am carrying on the tradition of moving to the outskirts of town,” he said.
JP CSMS is a city-affiliated nonprofit organization charged with supporting and promoting the Centre and South streets business district.
JP CSMS director Randace Moore said MacMillan has been showing the property for the last month.
Showing the space to potential buyers, “Mark will make a joke and say, ‘Are you’re going to keep Randace?’” Moore said.
The prospective buyers say they will allow the office to stay, but Moore said she is concerned JP CSMS may soon be looking for a new location.
The building housing the law offices of Fenn and Fisher at 71 South St. is also for sale for $595,000, according to MLS listings.
Peter Fenn told the Gazette the law firm is planning to seek a smaller office in the neighborhood. “We just don’t need as much space anymore,” he said.