Charles Patsios, the Swampscott developer who purchased former Factory of the Future site on Federal Street in Lynn in 2013, with the goal of developing the city’s first Market Basket location, said this week that he is confident that the plans to open a Market Basket in Lynn will go forward, now that Arthur T. Demoulas has been regained control of his family’s company.
“I have spoken with Market Basket and with Arthur (T. Demoulas) and the feeling is that Lynn is a city that they want to open in, it is a city they plan to open in and it is a city they are committed to opening in,” said Patsios. ‘But the challenge right now is for them to stabilize the company, to make sure that all of their stores are open and properly stocked, that all of their suppliers are back and make sure that they are operating properly. At that point, they can re-commit to a proper planning process.”
Patsios noted that the regional supermarket chain and he were already well on their way into the planning process earlier this year, when Arthur T. was removed from his position as CEO of the chain by a vote of the board of directors and replaced with a pair of outside executives.
That action, which was initiated by a majority vote of the family-owned company’s shareholders, touched off a six-week standoff between the corporate board of directors and their employees, customers and even some suppliers. Arthur T. Demoulas regained control of the company and his position as CEO last week, when he and his rivals on the company board reached an agreement for Arthur T. and his supporters to purchase the 50.5 percent of the company that was owned and controlled by other family members.
According to Patsios, the next steps in planning process involve preparing the site to be capable of supporting a super market and possibly ancillary retail uses as well.
“The next step will be to move forward with planning and building the infrastructure the site will need,” explained Patsios. “A roadway into the site, parking, lighting and even the shell of the supermarket are part of the infrastructure for the store and I’ve committed to providing that for them in this development.”
Patsios added that discussions about scheduling and timetables is still premature at this point, since Market Basket’s first priority is to get their stores fully operational and functioning again, before they look ahead to new developments.
“What I can say is that they are committed to a store here and are excited about Lynn, just as we are about having Market Basket coming to Lynn,” said Patsios.