Healthy Fast Food Restaurant Eyes Downtown Spots
A California-based company offering healthier fast food options could soon be coming to Boston. Lyfe Kitchen is looking for space in the city’s Downtown Crossing, Seaport District and Faneuil Hall areas in an effort to bring their quick-and-healthy restaurant concept from the West Coast to the East, the Boston Business Journal reports. The company currently has two locations in Culver City and Palo Alto, CA and is looking to expand to 250 restaurants nationwide, according to the BBJ. That could include up to 10 Lyfe Kitchens in the Boston area. Lyfe Kitchen’s menu items are all under 600 calories each, and the company promises “quality food using locally and sustainably sourced ingredients whenever possible,” according to its website, restaurant.lyfekitchen.com. The menu features breakfast to dinner options, with salads, “small bites” and desserts in between. Main dish offerings include a quinoa crunch wrap (547 calories, $ 8.99), grilled barramundi with soba noodles (286 calories, $ 13.99) and portobello pasta (581 calories, $ 11.99), among many others. Lyfe Kitchen co-founder Michael Donahue, who previously served as McDonald’s global communications chief, told the Journal he feels Boston would be a “robust market” for the new company, which opened its second location in March. The company is currently looking for an eligible franchisee to operate the Boston sites, according to the BBJ report. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Connolly Wants Developers to Get Fast Track For Schools
Boston At-Large City Councilor and mayoral John Connolly proposed allowing a fast track permitting process for large developers, if they agree to build a school or fund any of the $ 1.8 billion in construction projects identified as needed for Boston Public Schools. “We look at large school development projects and offer an option to developers to give them a fast-track permitting process. Keep it to six months, and still do the full-robust process, but get it done in six months – in exchange for building a new school or the adoption of a major school project,” said Connolly during the Boston City Council’s Wednesday meeting. He added that projects would still get rejected, and those developers would not have to build a school or adopt a project. Through recent budget hearings, Connolly said that Boston Public School (BPS) long-term facilities plan “is in development”, and that $ 1.8 billion in new construction needs have been identified, as well as $ 640 million in needed renovations and repairs, and $ 500 million in deferred maintenance costs. Connolly said that New York City has built schools on the site of developments through the NYC Department of Education Educational Construction Fund. He added that wasn’t supporting that idea, but that it was an option. He added he’s talked to some developers who loved the idea of being able to go through a six-month process compared to a three- to five-year process, whether they get the project greenlit or not. “…and red lights will still be given. And if given a ‘yes’ – they get a new school or a major renovation. That’s the way we should be doing partnerships with schools,” said Connolly. The matter was referred to the Committee on Education for a future hearing. The Boston Redevelopment Authority, Department of Neighborhood Development, BPS families and staff, as well as developers, will be invited to speak at the hearing, said Connolly. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch