Caltor McLean was inconsolable as he watched the commercial building that he owns on Bowdoin Street burn down on the cold winter’s night of Jan. 27, 2022. The fire destroyed three storefronts and, he thought, his financial future.

“As I stood across the street watching the fire bring down what I believed was all that I owned and had for my future generations and my children, I’m looking at a complete loss and all I can hear is the crackling of flames and sparks,” McLean told The Reporter in a recent interview.

“People are asking me questions and there’s commotion and I don’t hear any of it,” he said. “What I was faced with right there was 30 years coming down that I had been trying to build for future generations of my family.”

From that low point, McLean has since almost completely rebuilt his block at 7-9 Bowdoin St. in Four Corners. Gone is the laundromat, and McLean’s own Four Corners Pizza shop, but the restored building has a new “contemporary” look to it – with a fresh stone façade and bright lights splashing onto the intersection.

“It didn’t come quick, being content with this,” he said inside the storefronts. “I’m a spiritual man and it took me three days to get out of that and as a spiritual man that was a significant number to me,” he said, noting the three-day Christian Resurrection story.

“When I came up, I was able to see it as a blessing from God and I had to move forward with that mindset for almost three years. The truth is that’s a real story. It’s not Hollywood and it’s not pretty,” he added.

Codman Square NDC is in the final stages of development of its mixed-use building on Bowdoin Street in the heart of Four Corners. The corporation expects to have residents moving in some time in December and is negotiating with an exciting restaurant expansion for one of the commercial spaces.

The inside of what will be the Fun Time Academy Day Care space at 9 Bowdoin St. that is expected to open in early 2025. Seth Daniel photos

After a lot of toil and $2 million in investments and loans, the three storefronts are back with new plumbing, HVAC, wiring, and larger windows. The new tenants will include Gillian Niles, who will operate Mum-Mich Caribbean restaurant and Hair by Gillian in two of the spaces, which are expected to be open by the end of the year. Fun Time Academy Day Care, operated by Shamonda Bennett, will occupy the larger space at the corner of Claybourne Street. All have more than 20 years in business and will bring a different vibe to the building that McLean has owned since 1994.

“When you see what’s going on at Ashmont and down Dorchester Avenue going to Savin Hill, you see that contemporary look in the storefronts,” he said. “I wanted to bring that here.”

Because his insurance company didn’t declare the building a total loss after the fire, which reduced the payments to him, McLean took on the role of project manager and learned on the fly as things went well – and things went wrong, such as the front brick façade nearly collapsing while being repaired. But the result has been satisfying, he said.

Marcos Beleche, director of Four Corners Main Streets, commended McLean for being yet another catalyst for the district. “Caltor has been very engaged in letting everyone know the status of the property,” he said. “I have to commend him because he could have simply re-built it the way it was. He did more than many expected. He did a lot, and our community deserves good things like what he did.”

Across the street, the one-story Down Home Delivery restaurant owned by the Webster family has filed to build a seven-story apartment building with a newly envisioned Down Home Delivery on the first floor. Next to that is the long-standing Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation’s (CSNDC) mixed-use building on what was a vacant city lot that no one could figure out how to develop for decades. That building is now approaching completion.

“We are down to the wire in obtaining a Certificates of Occupancy by the end of this month,” said Codman Square NDC’s Marcia Thornhill. “The lease-up will begin shortly thereafter. Our property management company is currently working with prospective tenants, some of whom will begin to move into the buildings in December.”

One of two commercial spaces – about two-thirds of the total space – is under negotiation with a nearby restaurateur looking to expand from a take-out operation into a sit-down space. The other space doesn’t have a tenant identified yet.

Beleche pointed to several new mixed-use buildings constructed on Washington Street over the last few years, including one where his organization is based. Most are built on formerly vacant city-owned lots. He said there are now only four of those left in the district and “there are a lot of moving parts that we’re excited about.”

He added: “Caltor and others like Down Home Delivery have weathered a lot here and held the space for us to envision a more active and thriving Four Corners. The businesses coming will create more foot traffic…and change the perception of safety in the neighborhood. What’s coming is adding some vibrancy to the district and that’s a plus.”

McLean envisions something bigger for his property. He said the new storefronts are only a “placeholder” for a larger project in the future.
“I have a whole block and I have to go up,” he said. “The area is primed for development now and the community is asking for it. You have Dot Block to the east, and you have all the development on Morrissey Boulevard and all that’s happening at Ashmont. All of that is coming this way to Four Corners and we’re squarely in the middle of that.”

In the present, he has hopes of using the corner space – dubbed Cornerstone Lot – for outdoor dining and events, maybe even for a jazz festival to push the area as a dining and music district. However, he will never forget the reasons he went into business beyond making money, and that was to add to the community. During this interview, there was evidence that people appreciate that sentiment. Multiple people stopped him on the sidewalk to say how much they liked the building, and several called out his name as they drove by and gave the thumbs up.

“That happens two or three times a day,” he said, “and you can’t forget your mission in business and it’s that.”

It’s also why he and others have decided to sink their future into Four Corners. “There was a lot that happened here in the 1980s and 1990s, but now I think there is a chance and opportunity for the community to feel great,” he said. “I feel this is the right opportunity. I feel so strongly about it that I’m putting my money and my future behind it. That says a lot.”

McLean will hold a grand opening for the community at his commercial building on Sat, Nov. 23, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.