All updates from the month of April 2007 are listed below.

Sel de la Terre confirms plans to open at Natick Collection
Written by Justin on April 19, 2007 at 4:35PM

• Sel de la Terre was one of the first restaurants announced to be a part of the Natick Collection's expansion, which will open in September. Now, the restaurant has provided further details about the new location, which will be found between Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.
• To execute Sel de la Terre’s rustic French Provencal menu in Natick, the restaurant's owners have brought Chef Daniel Bojorquez on board.  With over six years experience in the kitchen at L’Espalier and Sel de la Terre, extensive French culinary training, and time spent cooking under chefs Charlie Trotter and Rick Tramonto, Bojorquez brings an incredible working knowledge of the product to his new position. Bojorquez will create inspired contemporary dishes in Sel de la Terre’s traditional style creating a menu which is both familiar and innovative.
• The new location will allow devoted diners to experience Sel de la Terre’s signature Provencal style without having to travel in to Boston. The restaurant’s warm and inviting décor, along with its seasonal and locally grown Provencal-inspired cuisine, beckons diners to come and enjoy an innovative meal without pretense. Sel de la Terre Natick will also feature the restaurant’s signature boulangerie, the perfect spot for shoppers to enjoy fresh-brewed coffee, French pastries or pick up Sel de la Terre’s award-winning fresh breads and charcuterie.
• More details will be added soon to the From Wonder Bread to the Natick Collection 2007 Expansion page.
  

Sales of luxury Nouvelle condos slow for now, could a sign help?
Written by Justin on April 19, 2007 at 4:24PM

• With 14 months before the grand opening of the Nouvelle residential project at the Natick Collection's expansion, the MetroWest Daily News reports that only 10 percent of the condos have been sold. To let people know that it is there, Claude Hoopes, who is in charge of sales for Nouvelle, is trying to get approval to hang a massive sign from the building that would be visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike's Exit 13 tollbooths, listing the telephone number of his office and the word "condomininums".
• One local real estate broker quoted in the article states that the slow sales are likely because the project creates relately niche condos that are relatively unheardof in MetroWest and are seen only closer to Boston.
• More on the condo situation at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1330246110. Nouvelle also has a website at http://www.nouvelleatnatick.com.
  

More high-rise residential living en route to Natick
Written by Justin on April 19, 2007 at 4:04PM

• With a need for the construction of more affordable housing to meet Natick's 40B requirement, the town is evaluating a proposal to construct two 11-story towers on Chrysler Road, near the under-construction Nouvelle project at the Natick Collection. The project, which is being proposed by J.W. Katzen Co., the same group behind the under construction Cloverleaf apartment tower that will be completed in June 2008, will create 404 apartment units, with 202 in each building.
• The MWDN has more on this interesting proposal at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/homepage/x1843544407.
  

New Middlesex Savings Bank location to open on Route 9
Written by Justin on April 19, 2007 at 3:48PM

• A tidbit of news from Route 9 west of the Golden Triangle: Middlesex Savings Bank is taking over the former Walk-in Medical Clinic on the eastbound side of Route 9, near Whole Foods Market. The clinic closed in January 2006 with the head doctor's retirement. Substantial renovation to the building, constructed in 1971 as "Gino's Restaurant", is well underway.
  

Natick Collection announces new name, Natick Transfer Station
Written by Nitsuj on April 1, 2007 at 12:43PM

• Natick Collection is no more. The mall, previously known as the Natick Mall, Natick, and the Natick Mall, has announced that the name will change again, to Natick Transfer Station. In an interview with the Boston Globe, an unnamed mall officials commented that, "In recent weeks, many people have thought that the name "Collection" sounded like a municipal landfill. So we thought, why not go all the way?"
• In addition, the Transfer Station also named several tenants that will be housed in the Station's new down-scale expansion. They include 99 Cents Only, Burger King, and Sears Outlet.  In addition, the space that has been speculated to hold P.F. Chang's China Bistro will instead house a relocated Bickford's Grille.
  
• More at http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/04/natick_transfer_station_to_replace_collection_name.html. And happy April Fools' Day from Framingham/Natick Retail!