Four Months After Demolition, Work Has Yet To Begin On "New Downtown" On Sparks Avenue

Four months after The Downyflake restaurant and several other buildings along Sparks Avenue were demolished to make way for the "new downtown" mixed-use development, the site remains vacant, with little to no activity.

To date, no building permits have been issued for the controversial project, which earned the approval of the Planning Board in November 2023 to develop the lots stretching from 18 to 26 Sparks Avenue. The plans call for a residential-commercial development across two buildings that will include 32 housing units, a restaurant, and an eight-lane bowling alley. A condition of the permit issued by the Planning Board stipulated that eight of the 32 housing units be restricted as affordable, year-round units. 

"A pre-construction meeting as required by the Planning Board as a condition of the special permit was held last Wednesday," Nantucket Planning & Land Use (PLUS) director Leslie Snell told the Current this week. "The developer has been in contact with PLUS about obtaining building permits for the project, and has requested, at a minimum, the issuance of building permits limited to foundation work only in order to get started. At this time, the developer is still working with various parties to secure the eight affordable units, and until we have assurance that the affordable units as agreed upon as a condition of the permit have been secured, no building permits will be issued. The developer has been working cooperatively with staff and the Affordable Housing Trust relative to the affordable units."

The lack of progress has led some to speculate about the status of the project, but developer Chris Fiumara tells the Current that island residents should soon see a flurry of activity at the site.

"We're going to have a foundation permit within the next two weeks," Fiumara said. "The site work will begin probably right after the holiday. We'll be in there rocking and rolling."

Fiumara said that the Robert B. Our Co. won the bid to be the site contractor for the project. The Harwich, MA-based construction firm, which recently acquired Holdgate Partners on Nantucket, has completed several large projects on the island and is currently working on the multi-year, multi-million-dollar sewer main replacement project for the town.

"I would say the full building permit, we will have that by mid-August or September 1st," Fiumara said. "We're in the process of dealing with the town with administrative stuff. That's what's holding it up now. We've got a tentative agreement in place with the (Affordable) Housing Trust, so that's all part of this, and once that's approved, we'll get the full building permit."

And, Fiumara emphasized, "the bowling alley is still on. We're not getting rid of the bowling alley. That's 100 percent happening."

Fiumara and his partner on the project, Daniel Najarian, are the co-founders of the Boston-based Crowd Lending Inc., a commercial real estate lender. Property records show their partners in the project include Jared Gerstenblatt and Christopher Grimaldi, managing partners of the New York brokerage firm Chimera Securities. Together, they spent $10.75 million to purchase the Downyflake property and three surrounding parcels on the west side of Sparks Avenue.

The mixed-use development was first proposed in 2021 and underwent years of regulatory hearings before the Planning Board and Historic District Commission.

Whether The Downyflake will ever return to the property after the development is completed remains an open question.