Cornerstone Is Getting a New Name and Murals. It's the Smallest Change on Route 110 This Fall.

"Cornerstone at Westford checks every box we look for: a proven grocery anchor, a durable tenant mix, and a supply-constrained trade area."

Sean Mirkov, a vice president and market officer at Regency Centers, said that when his company bought the Market Basket plaza on Littleton Road this summer. The first two items on his list describe the plaza itself. The third describes the land around it, and that is where most of the change on Route 110 is happening.

Over the next few weeks, shoppers will see crews putting fresh paint and murals on the buildings, and a new name on the plaza after fourteen years as Cornerstone Square. The bigger changes are a few hundred yards away. A hotel that has stood empty for years is set to become 300 rental homes. Kimball Farm has approval for an arcade and restaurant. A Vermont café chain has opened on the corridor. Taken together, they explain why a national shopping center owner paid $74 million for a grocery plaza next to Interstate 495.

What $74 Million Bought

Regency Centers, based in Jacksonville, Florida, closed on the roughly 236,000-square-foot center on July 14, 2026. The deal went through a joint venture with the State of Oregon. The total price was $74 million, and Regency's own share was $15 million.

The seller was RA Ventures, the Westford-based firm that developed the plaza. It opened in 2012 as one of the largest commercial projects in town, bringing a new Market Basket plus retail, restaurant and medical office space to Route 110. According to the Boston Business Journal figures WestfordCAT cited, the property covers about 31 acres. It was about 98% leased at the time of sale.

So a local developer built it, filled it almost completely, and sold it to an owner whose business is holding grocery-anchored centers for the long term. When WestfordCAT covered the sale in mid-September, no changes to tenants or operations had been announced. Regency was buying a plaza that already worked. Its stated reason, the "supply-constrained trade area," points to everything outside the parking lot.

The Makeover Is Paint, and the Planning Board Still Had Questions

The new property manager brought the rebrand to the Planning Board on September 14. The plan is new exterior paint and murals, with about 45 days of work. Market Basket and Burtons Grill & Bar won't be repainted because of existing arrangements with those two tenants. Regency's property page already uses the new name, Cornerstone at Westford.

WestfordCAT reported that board members generally supported the look. Their follow-up requests were about the plaza's surroundings, not its colors. The board asked for:

• A review of the Route 110 Master Plan by the architects for guidance on materials
• Coordination between Assistant Town Manager Jeff Morrissette and Town Planner Joe Giniewicz on parking and traffic during construction
• Careful management of overnight lighting, given the research facilities nearby
• Advance review of any future sign changes
• A look at vehicle access and safety on the internal road through the center, including whether restriping could keep large vehicles from blocking it

Every item on that list concerns traffic, lighting or the corridor's planning framework. Nearly all of the plaza's storefronts are already leased, so the open questions are about its neighbors and the road out front.

The Neighbors Are the Bigger Story

Three projects within a short stretch of Littleton Road show what Mirkov's "supply-constrained trade area" looks like on the ground. Here is where each one stands as of early October 2026.

The hotel site

The old Regency Inn hosted vacationing families, proms and wedding parties, as the Lowell Sun recalled in August. It has been vacant for a long time. Westford was one of five communities to share $15.3 million from the state program, alongside projects in Boston, Dedham, Springfield and Worcester. Town Manager Kristen Las said the project had been in the works for at least four years. If Redgate starts on schedule, demolition will happen this fall, around the same time the paint goes on across the way. The 2029 opening date is the developer's target.

The homes will sit within Westford's MBTA Communities multifamily overlay district. Voters adopted that overlay at the 2024 Annual Town Meeting. The first project filed under it is a 530-unit rental development at 37 Powers Road, on the former Westford Earth Materials site in one of the town's main industrial areas. That project is planned in two phases, 330 units and then 200. No construction start date had been confirmed for it as of this writing.

The farm

Kimball Farm is already one of the busiest stops on Route 110 in warm weather, and the arcade and restaurant would give it another draw. During the March 2 hearing, engineers estimated the restaurant could add about 19 vehicle trips per hour on busy weekends. That is just under the threshold that would require a formal traffic study. Board members raised concerns about peak-season congestion on Littleton Road. The applicant said large-event traffic could use an alternate unpaved access from Great Road in Littleton if needed, and committed to monitoring and returning to the board if problems come up.

The café

The Works Café was founded in 1988 in Manchester, Vermont, and runs cafés across New England. Its Westford grand opening featured a "Crunch for a Cause" bagel created with Irene Li, a James Beard Award–winning chef and co-founder of Mei Mei Dumplings. Part of the proceeds went to Project Bread's Walk for Hunger. A regional operator choosing Route 110 for a new location fits the same pattern as Regency's purchase.

Two Open Storefronts and a Plan Still Being Written

The Planning Board's requests come back to the Route 110 Master Plan. Westford's Comprehensive Master Plan implementation guide calls for encouraging commercial investment along Routes 110 and 40, updating and carrying out the Route 110 Master Plan, and building the sidewalks it recommends. Planning Board minutes from May 2026 describe the discussions about Route 110 improvements as still "very preliminary." The road itself hasn't changed yet, even as private owners invest along it.

The plaza is in a good position for that. Regency's leasing roster lists more than thirty tenants. Besides Market Basket, Marshalls & HomeGoods and Petco, there are restaurants such as Evviva Trattoria, The OkiPoke, Godly Smoothies, Five Guys and Panera Bread. Service tenants include Pure Barre, WellBeing Fitness, Westford Wine & Spirits and the three Westford Veterinary practices for emergency, neurology and specialty care. The same page shows two available spaces: 3,100 square feet in Unit C2 and 2,360 square feet in Unit B800.

Those two units will be the first leasing decisions under the new owner. Mirkov said he valued a supply-constrained trade area, and the neighboring sites are about to add hundreds of homes and a new attraction at Kimball Farm. Whoever signs for Unit C2 or Unit B800 will be the first clear sign of what Regency expects Route 110 to become.

The new Route 110 also matters to homeowners who live near it. If you're wondering how a new owner at Cornerstone, construction at the old Regency Inn site and a busier Kimball Farm might affect the value of your home, Colleen Murphy and the St. Martin Team can walk you through it based on decades of local experience. Request your complimentary home valuation, and we'll include what's planned along the corridor near you.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.