Structure · Built 1971
Convenient Plaza
Convenient Plaza
| Address | 498 506 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1971 |
| Tenants | |
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Spectrum Electronic Sales Company (1971 - 1976)
Convenient Food Mart (1971 - 1990) Brothers Pizza Family Restaurant (1976 - 2000) Mingo Chef (1977 - 1978) Three-D Launderama Centers (1985 - 1985) Christy's (1991 - 1996) The Lost Sock (1995 - 2020) Pasta Lovers Express (1997 - 1997) Thai Dragon (1997 - 1997) Jim's Quick Stop (1997 - 2020) Stephanie's Restaurant (2001 - 2018) Hair Fashions by Donna (2003 - 2017) Old Sichuan (2003 - 2023) The Flower Outlet (2011 - 2011) McCue the Florist (2012 - ????) Fancy Nails & Spa (2019 - 2023) Melrose Laundromat (2020 - 2021) Hyderabad Palace (2021 - ????) SI (2023 - ????) Bliss Nail Spa (2024 - ????) Sichuan Cooking (2024 - ????) |
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| Other Lot Structures | Artemas Young House (1832 - 1971) |
The Convenient Plaza is the small shopping plaza at 498-506 Boston Road (Route 3A), on the east side of the road south of Billerica Center. It stands on the house lot of the Artemas Young House, the homestead of Josiah Rogers from 1838, which the Angell family owned from 1922. In June 1970 Arthur Andrew and Mabel B. Angell sold the lot, "with the buildings thereon", for $64,000 to the C.B.C. Billerica Trust. A plan of the lot, 42,907 square feet between Boston Road and the Town of Billerica's standpipe land, was made on November 3, 1970 for C.F.M. of New England, Inc., and on March 8, 1971 the Board of Appeals granted a variance for the project (case 189). The old house was taken down, and store "A" in the new building was leased from November 12, 1971 to the Spectrum Electronic Sales Company.
The plaza's convenience store was a Convenient Food Mart, open "8 a.m. to midnight, 365 days" in 1975 and listed at 502 Boston Road in 1985; C.F.M. of New England, Inc. was one of the beneficiaries of the trust that built the plaza. A Christy's store followed by 1991, and Jim's Quick Stop by 1997, with a Pasta Lovers Express counter inside it. Brothers Pizza Family Restaurant leased Store #4 from March 1976 and was at 504 Boston Road into the 1990s; Stephanie's Restaurant followed there in 2001, and Hyderabad Palace in 2021. The Chinese restaurant Mingo Chef advertised from "Convenient Plaza, 502 Boston Road (Route 3A)" in 1977 and 1978, Thai Dragon put up its sign in 1997, and Old Sichuan, which advertised as Sichuan Gourmet, served there from about 2003 to 2023, followed by Sichuan Cooking. A hair salon "specializing in coloring and blow cutting" advertised at 506 Boston Road in 1975, and Hair Fashions by Donna was there from 2003 to 2017, followed by Fancy Nails & Spa and Bliss Nail Spa. The plaza has also had a laundromat since at least 1985: Three-D Launderama, then from 1995 The Lost Sock, and later the Melrose Laundromat.
The C.B.C. Billerica Trust kept the plaza for thirty-seven years and sold it in August 2007 for $1,500,000 to the Grovegate Realty Trust, which still owns it.
References
- Billerica assessor, 498-506 Boston Rd (parcel 61-113-0): shopping center on 0.985 acres, Grovegate Realty Trust, deed 21511/112
- Warrior (Billerica Memorial High School yearbook) 1977: Mingo Chef ad, "Convenient Plaza, 502 Boston Road (Route 3A)"
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| June 15, 1970 | Quitclaim Deed | Arthur Andrew Angell and Mabel B. Angell, husband and wife, of Billerica | Trustee of the C.B.C. Billerica Trust (declaration of June 9, 1970) | 1970: the C.B.C. Billerica Trust buys the Angell lot, the plaza site | 1923/776 |
Signed June 12, 1970; full consideration $64,000. The land "with the buildings thereon" by the bounds of the 1922 deed, one acre 65 rods, excepting the 1928 Bohannon parcel, "Meaning and intending to convey the same premises conveyed to the grantors herein by deed of Mabel B. Angell dated July 31, 1967 ... Book 1806, Page 558." The grantee took over the 1970 taxes. The last deed of the Rogers house lot "with the buildings thereon".
Title from:
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| March 10, 1971 | Decision | Town of Billerica Board of Appeals | C.F.M. of New England, Inc., for the trustee of the C.B.C. Billerica Trust | 1971: Board of Appeals variance (case 189) for the plaza | 1951/356 |
Notice of a conditional or limited variance or special permit, signed March 8, 1971, case 189, for the premises held under the deed in Book 1923. The variance for the new plaza.
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| November 19, 1973 | Notice of Lease | Trustee of the C.B.C. Billerica Trust | Spectrum Electronic Sales Company (a partnership) | 1971: store "A" in the new plaza leased to Spectrum Electronic Sales Company | 2093/127 |
Lease executed November 12, 1971, recorded November 19, 1973, of "that certain store marked rental A" on the site plan of C.F.M. of New England, Inc., Billerica, Route 3A, Boston Road, for five years from November 12, 1971 with an option for five more. The first recorded store lease in the new plaza.
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| August 15, 2007 | Quitclaim Deed | Trustee of the C.B.C. Billerica Trust | Trustee of the Grovegate Realty Trust | 2007: the trust sells the plaza to the Grovegate Realty Trust for $1,500,000 | 21511/112 |
Signed August 2007; $1,500,000. "500 Boston Road", the land "together with the buildings and other improvements thereon": 164.53 feet on Boston Road (Route 3A), 261.35 feet by land of the Town of Billerica on the north, 168.05 feet by other land of the Town on the east and 255.61 feet by land now or formerly of Doris C. Surette et als and of Athelian Christen et al on the south, 42,907 square feet, as shown on a "Plan of Land in Billerica prepared for C.F.M. of New England, Inc." dated November 3, 1970 by Essex Survey Service, Inc. The grantee is the present owner (assessor parcel 61-113-0).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.