Update: Sally’s Apizza says it’s still coming to Acton, contradicting developer
The property owners told the town that “they are actively” looking for a new sit-down restaurant tenant.
A day after a developer said Sally’s Apizza’s would-be Elm Street storefront was up for grabs, restaurant brass insisted they’re still coming to Acton.
“They are still taking that space,” Sally’s spokesperson Jessica Rosen Klein told The Acton Bridge Friday.
Sally’s previously announced plans to occupy a 5,000-square-foot storefront where the Papa Razzi trattoria once stood.
Chipotle, Citizens Bank, and Starbucks opened at the redeveloped commercial strip last year. The Sally’s spot stayed vacant, and a real estate listing dated March 10 announced that the site was available.
Crosspoint Associates built and owns the plaza.
Sally’s had its space under lease, Crosspoint Director of Development Kerry McCormack told the Bridge Thursday. “Unfortunately, it’s back out for lease,” he said.
McCormack said he couldn’t “get into too much detail,” but they’re “currently not scheduled to take the space.”
The Bridge attempted to contact multiple Sally’s representatives on Thursday but didn’t hear back. On Friday, Klein said she’d been in touch with members of the Sally’s corporate team, which said they still have the Elm Street site under lease.
Sally’s officials expect to start construction in April, May, or June, Klein said. They aim to open their Acton restaurant by the end of this year, she told The Bridge.
Klein said she wasn’t sure why the space was advertised as on the market.
McCormack didn’t respond to phone calls or emails seeking an update late Friday afternoon. Listings were still live, advertising the spot as “available,” as of around 7 p.m.
The property owners told the town that Sally’s “was no longer going to move into the space and they are actively looking” for a new sit-down restaurant tenant, Town Planner Elizabeth Hughes told The Bridge on Thursday.
Expansion plans
Sally’s first opened in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1938. It now boasts seven outposts, including two in Massachusetts, and has been teasing expansion in several other states.
Acton Public Health Director Melanie Dineen said her team worked with Sally’s last fall on their food plan review for an Elm Street store.
“We approved that, and they were ready to apply for a building permit,” Dineen said.
Papa Razzi closed in 2023. Crosspoint bought the site through an LLC in 2024, real estate records show. Crews demolished the familiar eatery that year to make way for redevelopment.
Developers faced questions about traffic effects in the area, but eventually won town approval. “Hopefully, the town is happy with how it turned out,” McCormack said. “We worked really hard to make the design fit.”
The revamped Papa Razzi parcel is next to a new Dunkin’ and Acton’s former Best Western hotel, which is currently closed.
Owners have considered redeveloping the hotel, but were leaning toward keeping its current use as of late 2025.
This breaking story has been updated.
