The 234 Apartment

Development Aug 21, 2017   Share Pizza Fire opening to come as first Eighth South condo closing looms authors William Williams The four retail spaces at soon-to-open Melrose-based mixed-use building Eighth South are fully leased, with the final announced tenant an Ohio- based pizza chain . Bobby Kirby, a member of the development group that undertook the project, said Pizza Fire has signed a lease for about 3,000 square feet of space in the building. The eatery — with the franchise to be the state’s first — could open “soon,” he said. The lease comes as the owners prepare to close early this week on the sale of first of the building’s 52 condominiums. “We’re excited to have Pizza Fire,” Kirby said. “They are a very cool restaurant concept that will be new to this market. The time is perfect,” he added, noting up to 12 condo closings could be finalized by this week’s end. Eighth South’s ground-level retail, in addition to Pizza Fire, will feature restaurant Holler & Dash (te...

Kwame Onwuachi (Rey Lopez) Ever since the Shaw Bijou closed in January after three turbulent months, chef Kwame Onwuachi has lived with a constant visual reminder of one of the fastest crash-and-burns in recent restaurant history . “It’s right there on the corner,” said the former “Top Chef” contestant, as he gestured to the window from his Shaw high-rise apartment at his maiden venture, once one of the most expensive restaurants in the city and slammed by critics before its demise. “I still have to wake up and make eggs and see this building.” And he did, every day for a month after it closed, when he was in what he refers to as his “ Netflix rabbit hole ” period. Seemingly everyone saw the closing of the Shaw Bijou coming except for the 27-year-old chef, who was blindsided. He got plenty of job offers in the aftermath, but he spent those days contemplating whether he should quit forever. [Another restaurant closes. That doesn’t mean the industry is headed for a crash.] Onwu...