Change is in the "Aire"

Category: Eat in Diners

Published Date

Written by Randy Garbin

This tip comes to us thank to David Manning and the Boston Globe. The long-shuttered and rotting Bel Aire Diner closed in 2003, and since then we've heard of various plans to either sell and/or move the diner to another location. The Kallas family, in our opinion, let a true roadside gem and golden business opportunity slip away thanks to years of deferred mainenance and sub-par fare. Perhaps this news points to a new direction.

Hoping for a revival

Vacant Route 1 business sites trouble municipal officials

By Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff | December 6, 2009

PEABODY - Closed for three years, Bel-Aire Diner could become the star of a $2 million project to make an old truck stop once again a must-stop on Route 1.

The vintage diner, built in 1952, would be refurbished and moved on the 3.6-acre site, where a new building will house a gas station and a 24-hour convenience store. The project is the first proposed since industrial zoning was changed to allow for retail stores and restaurants to open on the two-lane roadway.

“A truck stop needs to be able to take advantage of a highway,’’ said John Kallas, 51, a second-generation owner who runs a Best gas station on the site. “The diner will be our centerpiece.’’

The new Bel-Aire would be a welcome change for the northern corridor of Route 1 in Peabody and Danvers. With a few exceptions, such as the new Sonic burger joint and Latitude sports club in Peabody, and DiLuigi’s Sausage Co. in Danvers, most major developments have stalled in the stubborn economy. “Very few people out there now are taking risks,’’ noted David Ankeles, a Peabody lawyer whose clients include the Kallas family.

A lack of financing scuttled plans for an 80,000-square-foot family entertainment center proposed for the closed Country Side Motel site in Peabody. Farther south, a Starbucks and a small retail strip was never built at a former Burger King site. Foreclosure claimed a 36,000-square-foot office building that once housed East West Mortgage, which moved to Worcester. The property, including old cubicles, desks, and chairs, is for sale for $3.5 million by Wainwright Bank of Boston.

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