Nearby Casino Deal Close, Patriot Place Expanding, and More Regional Business News

Governor Deval Patrick and the Mashpee Womponoag Tribe reportedly close to finalizing an agreement for a $500 million casino 10 miles from Easton on the intersection of Route 140 and Route 24 in Taunton.

Patrick said Thursday that his administration has reached an agreement-in-principle on a revised casino compact with the Mashpee Womponoag tribe, according to the Boston Herald.

Art and Soul Tattoo Offers a History in Ink

Anna Michener started the Art and Soul Tattoo shop three years ago, but she said her love of art has gone on a lot longer than that.
“I’ve always drawn my whole life,” she said. “There are a lot of artists in the family, so I was always encouraged.”

She said she started her tattoo career at the Altered Images shop in Cumberland, Rhode Island, but she said the work was less than creative.

“I apprenticed at the bottom,” she said. “You clean toilets, go on coffee runs and do all the things that aren’t the glamorous parts of the job you don’t see on TV.”

She said she practiced all the time on whatever she could find, which was usually an orange or a grapefruit.

“Every apprenticeship is different,” she said. “It depends on the person, basically however much you impress your teacher will help get you get to the next phase.”

She said she also sometimes did her early work on some extremely good friends.

“They’re still good friends, so that’s a good sign,” she said.

Kraft Group Presents Plans to Expand Patriot Place

Expressing a desire to expand its business opportunities at Patriot Place, Kraft Group representatives unveiled plans to the planning board Thursday to add a second hotel, “quick-serve” restaurant and a “daily needs” retailer adjacent to Route 1 complex's North Marketplace.

Dan Krantz, the Kraft Group’s director of site development, briefed the board Thursday on plans to develop an approximately 4,500 square foot "quick-serve restaurant," a 14,000 to 16,000 square foot “daily needs retailer," and a 125 to 150-room hotel in the parking lot adjacent to Route 1 just south of the existing Renaissance Hotel. The quick-serve restaurant won't require a liquor license.
The plan, according to Foxborough Town Planner Sharon Wason, would reduce game day parking by roughly 900 spaces but the company’s traffic monitoring plan submitted in December “indicates that it should not be an issue.”

The purpose of the meeting was to give the town advanced notice of the Kraft Group’s intent to file site plan approval documents for the three proposed buildings adjacent to Patriot Place's North Marketplace.

Wason said the Kraft Group will “complete leasing arrangements, finalize designs and plans and return to the planning board for site plan approval within a 30 to 60 day window.”

Business Spotlight: The Halfway Cafe

The Halfway Cafe, located at in the Cobbs Corner Shopping Plaza right across the border in Canton, usually has some new great deal up its sleeve.

Whether the "8 Meals for $8", Tasting Tuesdays or another 5K Road Race in June, the Halfway Cafe always comes up with something new and fun for customers.

Canton Patch sat down with Tom Cahillane, manager of the restaurant's nearby Cobbs Corner location to find out more about the restaurant and what the eatery was planning for St. Patrick's Day festivities this year.