Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1292368
106 years ago, in an effort to invigorate downtown metropolitan areas, like Boston's Seaport District, developers began implementing what's called a Live/Work/Play model. In robust collaboration with the public and private sector, they built urban neighborhoods with stylish loft living, mixed-use workspaces, restaurants, retail shops, hotels, health clubs, and outdoor spaces for recreation, entertainment, and wellness. The concept offered an attractive way to blend the conveniences of a city with the comforts of home. Now, developers are bringing this same Live/Work/Play template to the suburbs in a movement called "hipsturbia," as noted in Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2020, from the Urban Land Institute and Price Water- house and Coopers & Lybrand. It's a brilliant concept appealing to millennials, young professionals and empty-nesters, who want an affordable and convenient alternative to big-city living, particularly during this time of COVID-19. Take Tuscan Village in Salem, New Hampshire, for example. Joe Faro, founder and CEO of Tuscan Realty Holdings LLC, Tuscan Brands Hospitality, and e Artisan Chef Manufacturing Company, is masterminding this multi-functional destination, targeted for completion in October 2022. "My original vision for Tuscan Village was a mixed-use concept with maybe a hotel and some apartments on the established Tuscan Kitchen and Tuscan Market site, which is ten acres on Main Street in Salem, New Hampshire," says Faro. After a proposed casino project on the adjacent Rockingham Park racetrack site fell through, community leaders encouraged Faro to expand his vision to the 170-acre site, then gave him the green light to do so. In addition to lush gardens, a six-acre lake and beautiful stonework, Tuscan Village will have over 1,200 residential units, two hotels, and 1 million square feet of office space. Two medical facilities, including Mass General Brigham, will also grace the site, along with shops like Williams Sonoma, and multiple eateries, including Faro's own Tuscan Kitchen and Tuscan Market. What's more, the entire complex lies only 30 minutes by car to down- town Boston and Concord, New Hampshire. "What's amazing about Tuscan Village is that it was kind of predesigned for CO- VID-19," says Faro, who made his first fortune selling his homemade pasta and pasta sauce company to Nestlé for 13.9 million dollars. "We have a 22,000-square-foot outdoor lawn set up for outdoor weddings and social gatherings, we have open-air shopping and all the restaurants have roof decks. What's more, we are already doing things, like touchless elevators, so we're very well situated for the post-COVID new normal." Ironically, so are Faro's two newest restaurants, including Newburyport's Tuscan Sea Grill & Bar, whose rear portion opens up to a 2,000-square-foot deck overlooking Newburyport Harbor Marina. Toscana Italian Chophouse & Wine Bar in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will offer patrons an expansive back patio when it opens this October. "I see Tuscan Brands coming out of this pandemic stronger than it was before," says Faro, "which is a tremendous testament to the amazing men and women who make up the Tuscan team." Another developer who has been improving and enlivening public spaces through his PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF TUSCAN BRANDS (TOP), BY DOUG LEVY (BOTTOM AND OPPOSITE PAGE TOP), COURTESY OF LUPOLI COMPANIES (OPPOSITE PAGE BOTTOM LEFT, BY LUXE LIFE PRODUCTIONS (OPPOSITE PAGE BOTTOM RIGHT) A rendering of Tuscan Village in Salem, New Hampshire. Left Joe Faro is the founder and CEO of Tuscan Realty Holdings, LLC Right, Sal Lupoli is the CEO of Lupoli Companies— he is standing in front of The Pavilion at Riverwalk in Lawrence, which will open in 2021. Bottom, and The Heights in Haverhill was developed by Lupoli Companies. Twenty