Former Square Mainstays Will Return To Mass. Ave. Building This Summer

Patrons of the long-absent Square hangout One Potato, Two Potato will once again be sipping their drinks and eating their burgers at the familiar Mass. Ave. spot come summertime.

Along with Bob Slate Stationers and Stonestreet Clothiers, the restaurant will be returning to its old location at 1280 Mass. Ave. in a new $4 million building across the street from Wigglesworth.

After 15 months of construction, the five-story structure will be completed and open for business in late June, said John Niles '59, president of North Coast Properties, the building's developer.

New Look

Cambridgeport Savings Bank, a newcomer to the Square, will occupy the last of the four retail spots on the bottom floor of the lucrative site. Professional office space will fill the upper four floors.

The new building replaces two smaller two- and three-story structures which "had outlived any economic or physical life," said Niles. The 90-year-old buildings were demolished to make way for the new red brick structure, which has twice the office space.

Schoenhof's Foreign Books and Pangloss Bookshop, two former tenants at 1280 Mass. Ave. who both moved to Mt. Auburn St over a year ago, will not return to the site.

"It's too costly to make two moves," said Dan Cianfarini of Schoenhof's.

Although workers in both stores said they lost "spontaneous walk-in trade" when they first moved, Nancy Gilson of Pangloss said that having so many bookshops on the street has begun to attract more customers to the area.

She added that Pangloss's investment in structural improvements at its new location is another reason for its reluctance to return to the Mass. Ave. location.

Expensive, But Worth It

Wishing to establish another branch in Cambridge, the Cambridgeport Savings Bank--based in Central Square--saw 1280 Mass. Ave. as "one of the best possible locations," said James B. Keegan '63, the bank's president.

He said the "substantial amount of [student] traffic" across Mass. Ave. is especially attractive to the bank, which will be on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Linden St.

Justin H. Slate of Bob Slate Stationers agreed that operating a store in Harvard Square "helps put food on the table."

The new building's owners offered retail space to former tenants as Bob Slate's at below the market level, Niles said. Space for the only newcomer, Cambridgeport Savings Bank, sold at a "competitive" rate, Keegan said.

Office space will sell at around the market value--$22-$25 per square foot, Niles said. Rents in the older buildings were $12-$15 per square foot, but this was for "third class" space in the old structure compared to "first class" space in the new one, he added.

So far, 55 percent of the building has been leased, according to Niles.

Building Blocks

The construction, which on average involved 40-50 workers per day, saw no major surprises, said Sid L. Levin, senior project manager for Wexler Construction Company.

Working in "a tight spot," said Levin, did pose some problems. Without storage place, for example, materials could only be delivered as they were needed. Workers also had to make sure to use appropriate equipment, such as cranes without wide swings.

As for weather, "temperature-wise it was cold, but snow-wise it was okay," said Levin. A yellow polyethylene canvas covering the building protected workers from the cold and allowed them to work through the winter.

Last year's Commencement also slowed construction down for a few days, Levin said, because workers had to "limit their operations to things that did not make a lot of noise."