The corner where Route 27, Route 135 and Pond Street meet has working storefronts again. They haven't arrived all at once. The Block, the new building on the site of the 2019 Walcott block fire, now has a pizzeria and a barbershop open. Its other restaurants are still coming, and a few blocks away more new businesses are waiting on construction and licenses. Downtown Natick this October is partly finished. The places holding the street steady while the new ones arrive are mostly the long-standing ones, and some of those are quietly changing hands.
How long the corner sat waiting
The timeline explains why even two open doors register.
- July 22, 2019. A nine-alarm fire burned for more than fifteen hours in the Walcott block. Firefighters from Natick and more than a dozen nearby communities responded, and all eight stores in the building were destroyed, as the Natick Report recounted on the fire's fifth anniversary. The businesses there included Nancy Kelley Dance Studio, Iron Horse, the Christian Science Reading Room and Clip & Dip Dog Grooming.
- 2023. First Cambridge Realty Corp., led by president Stuart Rothman, broke ground on the replacement building.
- July 2025. Rothman described the building as 80 to 90 percent complete and pointed to a 2026 debut.
- May 27, 2026. Maverick Men's Grooming Center became the first tenant to open.
- June 2026. On June 12, The MetroWest Daily News reported that the complex's first restaurant was days from opening, with construction underway on the rest of its dining lineup. By June 26, Blue Square Pizza was open.
That's almost seven years between the fire and the first slice served on the same corner, and the building's own timeline slipped more than once along the way.
What's open now, and what's still on paper
This is where Natick Center stands as of mid-October, based on the most recent reporting available. Anything marked expected has not been confirmed open.
Open
- Blue Square Pizza, 1 S Main St. at The Block. Sourdough crust in New York, Detroit, Chicago cracker and Grandma styles.
- Maverick Men's Grooming Center at The Block. Owner Carl Cwiok, with Daniel DaSilva as managing barber.
- Burning Wheel Yoga & Fitness, 12 Washington St., second floor. Owner Jordan Lashley has added Pilates, HIIT and sound baths to the yoga schedule.
Expected
- Nhậu, a Vietnamese restaurant, and San Sushi Bar, both at The Block. A June report put Nhậu in late summer or early fall and San Sushi Bar sometime after that.
- Tsuru, 45 East Central St. A July update had the Japanese restaurant opening "around October," depending on how construction went.
- Epilogue Books & Wine, 21 Summer St. The Select Board approved its wine-and-malt license on June 10, with a fall opening targeted.
Four businesses are expected and three are open. A weekend downtown this fall gets you one new restaurant at the fire site and a handful of signs promising more.
The newcomers already run businesses somewhere else
Of the new food businesses whose owners have been reported, two of three already run a restaurant somewhere else.
Blue Square Pizza's founder, Troy Sproul, worked at Papa John's before opening his first Blue Square in Hopkinton in 2022, according to the Natick Report. A Northborough location came next, so Natick is at least the concept's third.
Tsuru comes from Jack Sy, who also runs Hanami Sushi Bar and Grill in Belmont. The Natick Report described a menu built around seafood and build-your-own hand rolls. It plans nearly 100 seats, including an outdoor patio.
Epilogue is the exception. It's a new concept from owner Mai Hoang, who told the Natick Report she wants a gathering place that pairs books and wine with food, coffee, beer and spritzes. A bookstore that pours wine on Summer Street would add a kind of evening stop the center doesn't currently have.
Operators with a working location elsewhere can take on a long build-out and a slipping schedule more easily than first-time owners can. That fits the staggered pace at The Block, where construction and licensing have set the timeline more than demand has.
The older storefronts are changing hands, not disappearing
While the fire site fills in, much of the rest of Natick Center's continuity runs through businesses passing to people who already know them.
On October 7, the Natick Report reported that Natick Outdoor Store at 38 North Ave., in business since 1947, has been bought by Greg Stabile. Henry Kanner, who led the store for the past 40 years, is retiring. Stabile joined the staff in 2009, became manager in 2015, and is a regular at Natick Center Associates meetings and at events like Natick Days and Natick Nights.
"I am really excited to take over especially because I already know that the model works," Stabile told the Natick Report. "We carry good products at good prices and we always have people here who can help you out."
The fire itself shows the same pull to stay put. Nancy Kelley Dance Studio had been in the Walcott block since 1984, and after the fire it reopened just around the corner from the old site.
Not every long run continues. George's Pizza at 41 South Main St. closed in July, with a sign thanking customers for 12 years. So South Main Street ended the summer with one pizzeria closing and another opening at The Block, a short walk apart.
A fall calendar on a block that's still filling in
The center's seasonal dates are fixed. What has changed is what sits around them. On October 11, the Massachusett Natick Praying Indians Tribe hosted a 375th anniversary event for Natick's first Praying Indian town, with drumming, dancing and storytelling, listed on the Natick Center Cultural District calendar. These dates are still ahead:
- Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The free Spooktacular on the Town Common, with pumpkin decorating, contests, live music and a pumpkin smash, according to the town calendar. It's the first Spooktacular with a restaurant open at the fire-site corner.
- Saturday, October 31. Costumed trick-or-treating at Natick Center businesses, listed on the Natick Center Cultural District calendar. The Block's open storefronts add stops at a corner that had none for years.
- Thursday, November 12. Natick's Night Out, an evening of shopping, treats and activities, also on the cultural district calendar. If Tsuru and Epilogue keep to their reported fall targets, this could be the first downtown event where both are serving. Neither had been confirmed open as of this writing.
Check event times against the cultural district and town calendars before you head out. Opening dates for the expected businesses have moved before and could move again.
On Night Out, Natick Outdoor Store will be under its new owner for the first time, a few blocks from a corner where construction began in 2023.
If you'd like to know how Natick Center's changes are showing up in the streets around it, M|E Collective is glad to walk you through what we're seeing. Book an appointment whenever you're ready.
