Roslindale Square could get daily jazz - and lettuce wraps

The developers now turning a one-story storefront building on Poplar Street in Roslindale Square into a four-story, nine-unit condo building say they are also fitting out the first floor for what would be the neighborhood's first jazz club and a "low-carbohydrate, low-triglyceride" cafe focused on sandwiches made with lettuce wraps instead of bread.

Under plans by Ridley (in right photo) and Joshua Johnson and Thomas Reyes of Greystone Property Development, the Privé club would feature live jazz between 4 p.m. and midnight along with "a culturally diverse menu that includes a variety of tapas, all complemented by a selection of specialty cocktails," they told the West Village Neighborhood Association on a Zoom call last night.

The music would be "curated by Berklee alumni and local musicians," including Zachary Rochester, Ridley Johnson said, He said they're hoping for something like the experience of a Scullers or Wally's Cafe - in a neighborhood that has seen its nightlife blossom from nothing a few years ago to include frequent performances at the Substation, comedy at the Roslindale Square Theater and music and comedy at the Square Root Cafe.

The feel will be very "loungey," Johnson said, adding the three are also hoping to make it - and basement space - into a neighborhood gathering spot that will also feature everything from chess tournaments to weekly gatherings of local entrepreneurs and business owners, known as "business mastermind" gatherings.

Johnson added that Roslindale residents would be able to get 10% discount cards.

They're hoping to open Privé early next year. They'll need an all-alcohol license - which the city now has three of for restaurants in 02131 - with another six to become available over the following two years. They'll also need an entertainment license, which, unlike with liquor licenses, the state legislature has never set a limit on how many Boston can offer.

In addition to the jazz club and the nine condos with a roof deck, the trio are also planning a separate cafe next door that will serve sandwiches, coffee and the like. But LetUs Wraps will ban the bread, serving all of its sandwiches on lettuce, instead, they said.

The building, between Seymore Green and Shaking Seafood, is the latest in Roslindale Square to have floors added after they were torn down when Roslindale Square collapsed as a business district in the 1970s and 1980s. The three bought the building, which formerly housed a barbershop and a hair salon - and before that a West African restaurant - for $1.1 million in 2022, according to Suffolk County Registry of Deeds records.

During last night's meeting, one resident asked about parking - especially if the city follows through on a proposal to turn Poplar Street between the proposed club and Adams Park into a pedestrian way and if the city decides to revive a proposal killed a couple years ago to build housing atop the Taft Hill municipal parking lot. Another resident, who has held and been to events at the Substation with as many as 180 people, however, said there's never been a problem with evening or nighttime parking in the square.