A beloved New England chain restaurant’s last Boston location may close as developers eye the lot around it for future apartments at Charlestown’s Bunker Hill Mall. 

Universal Hub first reported the news that the 99 Restaurant on Austin Street could shutter as part of a proposal to replace much of the site with a six-story, 240-unit apartment complex. 

A spokesperson for the restaurant said the 99 has been at its 31 Austin St. location for 33 years.

“We are aware that the owners of Bunker Hill Mall property are considering a redevelopment of the entire site, and as such, we are exploring our options to remain in this community far into the future,” a spokesperson said. “We will continue to serve our loyal guests in our current location as long as our lease remains in place.”

The property owner, New England Development, originally proposed a plan in 2021 that would build apartments around the 99 in a U-shape design, according to previous documents and members of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council who spoke to Boston.com. But the neighborhood council development chair Nancy Johnson said the community had a hard time envisioning that design.

Since then, a key zoning change has reshaped the project. In late 2023, the Boston Planning Department changed the Bunker Hill Mall site’s zoning from neighborhood shopping to mixed-use, clearing the way for residential builds. New England Development now proposes replacing the 99 entirely, with construction to be finished by 2028.

In a statement, New England Development said the restaurant “will remain in operation through at least the end of 2026.”

“The residential development, which adheres to zoning, will provide needed housing, and also complement and support the existing grocery and commercial uses with no reduction in parking for those businesses,” the statement read.

In a March meeting, some public comments opposed the project because of the likely shuttering of the 99. 

“The 99 is one of the few family-friendly restaurants in Charlestown,” said one commenter. “We have celebrated numerous end-of-season sports events there. We need these kind of community spaces in Charlestown.”

Residents also raised broader concerns about the development, including parking and the potential loss of retail in addition to the 99. It isn’t immediately clear which stores will stay. A draft project impact report filed this year indicates redevelopment would only be considered after the “expiration of long-term retail leases.”

But along with zoning changes, Boston’s planning department approved a modification to the urban renewal plan to allow for the residential build. Johnson said the community is worried it could mean less retail stores at the site, which is the opposite of what the community wants. 

The Bunker Hill Mall currently includes a Whole Foods, CVS, an Ace Hardware, and other stores. The 99 and a Dunkin’ are the last remaining restaurant spaces on site — the 99 being the last full-service option. The mall previously housed a Papa Gino’s and a Friendly’s.

The Charlestown Neighborhood Council expressed frustration mostly with the Boston Planning & Development Agency over the lack of a community process during the 2023 zoning change and a subsequent update to the site’s urban renewal plan. 

“We want our neighbors and other residents to have good, affordable housing that’s safe and well-made,” Johnson said. “But you have to plan for the future, and a neighborhood is going to need retail spaces.” 

The 99’s long history in Charlestown includes a 1995 shooting that killed four people. More recently, the chain has maintained a loyal following: It topped a Boston.com reader poll in 2020 and drew a wave of praise from readers in 2024 reacting to a Reddit post declaring the chain was underrated.

If the Charlestown location ultimately closes at the Bunker Hill Mall site, the closest 99 locations to Boston proper would be in Revere and Quincy.

Katelyn Umholtz

Food and Restaurant Reporter

Katelyn Umholtz covers food and restaurants for Boston.com. Katelyn is also the author of The Dish, a weekly food newsletter.

A lawsuit that alleges the City of Boston is inflating the assessed value, and taxes, for commercial properties that file abatements will be taken up by Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday.

The alleged practice has been slammed as retaliatory and unlawful by the Pioneer New England Legal Foundation, a watchdog group that filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of a commercial property owner last December. The property is 148 State St., a Seaport office building.

The city filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in February, arguing that the case does not qualify as one that should be considered by Superior Court, given that the plaintiff “has an adequate legal remedy at the (state) Appellate Tax Board.”

City Hall attorneys will be asking the court to grant the motion at Wednesday’s 2 p.m. hearing.

“Plaintiff failed to exhaust its mandatory administrative remedies; indeed, plaintiff and the city are involved in a pending administrative action that will address some of the excessive valuation claims raised in its complaint,” the city’s motion states. “Plaintiff chose not to appeal the remaining excessive valuation claims raised in its complaint.

“Contrary to its argument, plaintiff’s claims do not fit into the exceedingly narrow exception that would permit the Superior Court to hear its claims for declaratory and injunctive relief under extraordinary circumstances,” the city’s motion states. “As a result, the court is without jurisdiction to entertain the complaint, and it must be dismissed as a matter of law.”

The Pioneer New England Legal Foundation filed an opposition to the city’s motion to dismiss last month that argues against what it sees as the “essence” of the the motion, which is that “the court must decline to hear the case because the statutory abatement and Appellate Tax Board process is mandatory and exclusive.”

“Defendant’s framing baldly misstates what the complaint actually pleads and what this action seeks to remedy,” the Pioneer filing states. “Contrary to the premise of the city’s motion, this action is not a routine dispute over the valuation of a single parcel.

“Plaintiff alleges a deliberate, systemwide retaliatory practice: when a taxpayer exercised the right to petition by pursuing an ATB appeal, the city used an add-back or override methodology to inflate the property assessment at issue artificially, and ostensibly to ‘stabilize’ the taxpayer’s value at prior-year levels.

“Similarly-situated taxpayers without ATB appeals did not receive the same treatment. Plaintiff further alleges that this practice is reflected in the city’s own property record cards and operated as a hidden penalty on protected petitioning activity,” the Pioneer filing states.

Pioneer’s attorneys added, “At the pleading stage, those well-plead allegations must be credited as true, and the city cannot obtain dismissal by trying to recast the complaint as nothing more than an ordinary overvaluation claim.”

The lawsuit is seeking restitution, for the city to repay the plaintiff commercial taxpayer, along with others who may join the filing, the amount they were overcharged in property taxes, due to the city’s alleged overvaluation.

Despite reportedly agreeing privately to stop the alleged overassessment practice as part of settlement negotiations, the city has publicly dismissed Pioneer’s allegations as “baseless and full of misinformation,” per a prior statement from Mayor Michelle Wu’s office.

Frank Bailey, Pioneer’s president and a retired judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Massachusetts, has said Pioneer estimates as many as 200 commercial properties have been overtaxed by the city practice.

If the suit is successful, those properties could be owed restitution at a time when the city’s finances are hampered by declining commercial property values tied to vacant office space that one City Hall watchdog has projected may lead to a $1-2 billion budget shortfall over the next five years.

Say bonjour to the return of “Beauty and the Beast.” The national tour has been in Boston before, but this is the first time in 25 years that Disney is behind the production.

Kyra Belle Johnson stars as Belle, the bookworm who doesn’t quite fit into her quiet village.

“I think part of treating her like a real person is finding the humor and finding the faults and breathing and being present on stage every night,” Johnson said. 

As Mrs. Potts, Kathy Voytko embodies the beloved teapot.

“When I was talking to my daughters about, ‘How do you feel about mom being gone for the better part of a year?’ They said, ‘Well, geez, mom, we’re gonna miss you, but it’s Mrs. Potts,’” Voytko explained. 

The actors told WBZ-TV that Disney’s involvement in this tour makes a noticeable impact, with Voytko saying, “There is nothing like a Disney-produced Disney production because the magic in the show, the attention to detail, the loving recreation of the movie that we all know and love, plus some elements of surprise.”

Johnson added, “They care about this piece of art so much… And they’re really precious with it, but at the same time, they’re open with it.”

 Book writer Linda Woolverton worked with the cast in the rehearsal room to make sure the piece felt modern.

“She literally changed some scenes and lines specifically for us and our versions of these characters to make it seem grounded and real,” Johnson explained.

And Johnson gained extra insight into Belle’s life by visiting the Alsace region of France, which inspired the original Disney animators.

“Walking in the town and having like a storefront and then the leaning building that was this like blue and the wooden windows and somebody leaning out of it talking to somebody on the street. These are real places, it’s not just like a made-up place in your head.”

The wonder she felt is echoed in the audience’s response.

“This is a gate for a lot of new theater lovers. We get a lot of people who this is their first show,” said Johnson.

“It’s for everybody,” added Voytko. “It’s for adults, it’s for married couples, it is for a date night, it for a pack of pals who just want to see something nostalgic from their youth and it makes it a thrill for us every single day.”

You can see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Citizens Opera House in Boston through Sunday.