The new owners of the Watertown Mall showed plans to revamp part of the mall, which include creating a new space for a popular restaurant and creating space for a new retailer.
National Development, a Newton-based national real estate development and management company, purchased the property from Alexandria Real Estate in 2025 with plans to make improvements. The renovations will focus on the area between Target and Best Buy, which will include the Registry of Motor Vehicles, a 31,000 sq. ft. spot for a yet to be announced retailer, and a new location for the Chinese restaurant currently in the mall, Nick O’Connor from National Development told the Zoning Board of Appeals on April 22.
“We’ll relocate and expand Joyful Garden. We’ll provide them with a front entrance with some good visibility. I will note that we plan to keep him open during the relocation,” O’Connor said. “The two spots, they’re just adjacent to each other, so we’ll keep his existing restaurant open. We understand that he’s a huge community favorite and does a great business. He actually inherited, took over Old Country Buffet, so not exactly the most efficient restaurant for him, but we feel a new and improved space can do wonders for him.”…