"Come in with your hoodie. Come in with your street shoes," Dan Yonah Marshall told Brookline.News in September, while standing behind the old teller's desk at 429 Harvard Street. "Once a person is here, this is their playground and their open canvas to paint on, as long as we all respect each other."
He was talking about the closed Citizens Bank on Harvard Street. On November 1 it becomes the Brookline Community Center for the Arts. It's one of several changes on this stretch of Harvard Street this fall, and they all share a pattern. Each new arrival moved into a space someone else had already left. The one run by a longtime Brookline resident is open only until the building comes down.
A bank lobby with a dance floor
Marshall has run arts nonprofits in Brookline and Cambridge for years. He signed a lease on 429 Harvard Street starting in August and has been renovating it for the November 1 grand opening. The bank's first floor and basement add up to about 6,000 square feet. He's planning a sprung-wood dance floor with a performance stage, a room for martial arts and yoga, a recording studio, and a media lab with high-end servers and editing equipment.
According to Brookline.News, the class list covers dance of all kinds, martial arts, DJing, independent film, computer building, jewelry and gem work, silk screening, and community-focused artificial intelligence. Teachers will be able to set their own rates and split the proceeds with the organization. The center will be fully ADA-accessible and open to walk-ins.
Some neighbors will remember an earlier version. Marshall's organization used to rent a building on Green Street in Coolidge Corner and lent space to hundreds of artists who taught classes every week. That lease ended in 2005, and since then he has moved between spaces in Brookline and Cambridge. He still has the 40-foot sign from the Green Street building and hopes to put it up on Harvard Street.
Why the arts center is temporary
The building isn't permanent. Oak Hill Properties owns the site and plans to tear down the bank. Marshall calls his lease "very charitable." It runs at least two and a half years and as long as five, while the developer works through permitting and waits for economic conditions to improve. Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert, an attorney for Oak Hill, told Brookline.News that the short lease answers neighbors' worries about an empty building and also gives the owner "some relief from the carrying costs."
The town's Zoning Board of Appeals agenda describes what would replace the bank. It's a six-story, 72-foot mixed-use building with 40 apartments, 20% of them income-restricted at 50% of area median income, plus 3,055 square feet of retail and 12 parking spaces, all on a 9,853-square-foot lot. The comprehensive permit hearing under Chapter 40B opened on October 9, 2025. It was continued from September 9 to October 14, 2026, so the applicant could revise its plans. The hearing materials and updates are posted on the town's project page.
That means the arts space is open while the permit process continues. Anyone signing up for a silk-screening class this winter is using a building that is already scheduled to become housing.
One walk, numbered by address
Going north from Coolidge Corner, the street looks like this. Some businesses have been here for decades, some opened this fall, and one is temporary.
- Zaftigs Delicatessen, 335 Harvard St. Its Brookline location opened in 1997, according to the deli.
- Wonder, 392 Harvard St. A multi-concept food hall next door to Congregation Kehillath Israel. It opened to the public on September 24, 2026.
- Yu Yue Bar & BBQ, 406 Harvard St. Grilled fish and barbecue, taking over the former KaoJiu space.
- Kupel's Bakery, 421 Harvard St. Family-owned and operated for more than 48 years. Its challah has been a staple since 1978, per the bakery.
- The Butcherie, 428 Harvard St. Directly across the street, with weekly hours and ordering on its store page.
- Brookline Community Center for the Arts, 429 Harvard St. Grand opening November 1, in the former Citizens Bank.
- Livewell Animal Hospital, 481 Harvard St. Opening November 2 in the former Massage Envy space.
The numbers make the layout clear. The temporary arts center sits two doors from a bakery that has made challah since 1978, and right across from The Butcherie. The two new national operators are on either side of that block.
The national names took rooms that were already empty
When Brookline.News reported in January that Wonder had filed a health permit, 392 Harvard Street was an empty storefront. A Wonder spokesperson would only say that details would come closer to opening. The opening came in late September. Brookline Record reported that it's Wonder's 21st location across Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and that the ribbon-cutting included two other Harvard Street businesses, Brookline Booksmith and Vinodivino. Wonder's Brookline page offers dine-in, pickup and delivery from about 30 concepts, among them Bobby Flay Steak, Streetbird by Marcus Samuelsson, Di Fara Pizza, Tejas Barbecue, SriPraPhai, Maydan and Dabba Indian Kitchen. One order can include several of them, which suits a household that can't agree on Thai or pizza.
Livewell Animal Hospital, opening further up the street, is the first Massachusetts location of a national chain. Brookline.News reported that 481 Harvard is the 50th clinic for parent company Mission Pet Health and its 17th new one this year. The founding veterinarian is Beth Waisburd. She has been a Brookline vet and resident for close to two decades and is nearing 30 years in veterinary work. Services will include routine care, an online pharmacy and emergency care, and the building has dental and surgical suites.
At 406 Harvard, KaoJiu's closing leaves room for a new restaurant. Brookline Record reported that Yu Yue Bar & BBQ is operated by URBANTASTE LLC. Its license application lists 46 indoor seats, 24 outdoor seats, and hours of 10 a.m. to midnight every day. The Planning Board reviewed its new façade sign in July. The restaurant's own site lists the Harvard Street address and leads with signature grilled fish.
Of these three, only Yu Yue replaces a restaurant with another restaurant. Wonder took a storefront that had been vacant, and Livewell took a massage studio. The arts center also moved into an empty room, but its lease was written as short-term from the start.
The first weekend of November
The two November openings fall on back-to-back days. The arts center's grand opening is Sunday, November 1, at 429 Harvard. Livewell's doors at 481 open Monday, November 2. Pet owners can join a waitlist on the hospital's website now, and the office will contact them once online booking opens.
The two are about 50 street numbers apart. Picking up a loaf at Kupel's on Sunday morning puts you two doors from the grand opening. Marshall's lease there, which began in August, runs at least two and a half years and as many as five. While it runs, the 40B application will decide what the block looks like afterward.
If you're watching how changes at 429 Harvard and nearby addresses could affect your own property on this side of Brookline, Muncey Group can go through it with you. We follow these corridors storefront by storefront, and we're happy to talk through what's planned near your block. Schedule a Consultation whenever you're ready.
