RESTAURANTS
Wahlberg brothers sued by longtime friends, business partners
Boston’s famous Wahlberg brothers, who founded their own burger chain to much acclaim, are being sued by their business partners and longtime family friends, who say they were shut out of plans to expand the Wahlburgers restaurant chain. William “Billy’’ Leonard and Edward St. Croix allege in a lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Plymouth County Superior Court, that Mark, Donnie, and Paul Wahlberg left them out of plans to develop Wahlburgers into a franchise operation even though they were central players in the creation of its Hingham flagship. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The 33-page complaint offers all the drama — and possibly more — than an episode of the reality TV show “Wahlburgers,’’ which is now in its seventh season of chronicling the family’s business escapades. “Ultimately, the three Wahlberg brothers — whose interpersonal relationships are dysfunctional — wound up as the sole managers’’ of the enterprise, the lawsuit states. “They then stole the most valuable franchise opportunities for themselves.’’ A spokeswoman for Wahlburgers Corporate Headquarters issued a statement Wednesday calling the complaint “frivolous and unsubstantiated.’’ “It’s obvious that this lawsuit, with its unbridled litany of false and misleading claims, was concocted to further the plaintiffs’ own personal agendas at the expense of the truth, the Wahlberg family and other investors,’’ the statement read. “Family, fairness, and integrity are at the core of the Wahlburgers brand, and we are prepared to protect the values for which we stand.’’ — MEGAN WOOLHOUSE
BOOKSTORES
Schoenhof’s Foreign Books latest to leave Harvard Square
It’s the final chapter for the iconic Schoenhof’s Foreign Books in Harvard Square. After 161 years of serving academics, students, writers, and customers from every corner of the world, Schoenhof’s said Wednesday that it will close its doors next month. It will operate as an online store. While online competition was a factor, rapidly rising rents in the square were the landmark’s undoing, said Madeleine Flanagan, executive director. The shop, owned by Illinois-based MEP Inc., has rented space on Mount Auburn Street from the Spee Club, one of Harvard’s final clubs. Attempts to reach the club for comment were unsuccessful. Daniel Eastman, Schoenhof’s director of marketing and sales, said the Spee Club “has been really kind with us. This should’ve happened three years ago, but they tried really hard to find some way to help us stay.’’ The self-proclaimed oldest and largest foreign-language-only bookstore in the United States was founded in Boston in 1856 but moved in 1983. The store, which has five employees, is expected to close March 25. The move was first reported by the Harvard Crimson. Flanagan said she would consider relocating in Harvard Square, but rising rents make that impossible at the moment. Schoenhof’s is the latest Harvard Square stalwart bumped out by rising lease rates as a development boom washes over the area. Proposed developments are also threatening to push out the Out of Town News and Crimson Corner newsstands, as well as The World’s Only Curious George Store. — KATHELEEN CONTI
TOURISM
Boston delegation off to China next month to lure visitors
A record number of Chinese tourists visited Boston last year, dethroning the United Kingdom as the No. 1 source of overseas tourists for the first time, according to initial estimates. And next month, local tourism officials are leading their first sales mission to China to attract even more. The number of Chinese visitors to the area has more than doubled over the past four years, to an estimated 230,000 last year, according to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. The surge came as airlines added nonstop routes to Boston from several Chinese cities and new visa policies eased travel to the United States. The visitors bureau is aiming to more than double the number of Chinese visitors to the city to half a million by 2021. The effort to boost Chinese tourism in Boston comes amid concerns that the Trump administration’s travel ban for certain countries’ residents, currently on hold by the courts, has sent a message that the United States is not a welcoming place for foreigners. Online booking websites around the country have reported a decline in the number of flight searches from cities abroad since President Trump announced the ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. In Boston, Chinese tourists far outspend those from other countries — with those 230,000 visitors shelling out an estimated $273 million last year. The 224,000 visitors from the United Kingdom, on the other hand, are estimated to have spent $88 million. — KATIE JOHNSTON
OFFICE SPACE
Amazon leases two floors in Back Bay
After years of building a large presence near Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Amazon.com Inc. is planting its flag in Boston. The Seattle e-commerce and tech giant confirmed Wednesday that it plans to expand into the new Back Bay offices of WeWork Cos., which leases space to startups, freelancers, and outposts of larger companies. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on any additional details about the WeWork lease, including the amount of space it is renting or how many workers will be located at the building. The company did say it will retain its Kendall Square office in Cambridge. A person familiar with the deal said Amazon was leasing two floors at the WeWork location, on St. James Avenue between Arlington and Berkeley streets. The WeWork deal adds to Amazon’s already significant footprint in the Boston area and reflects shifts in the market for high-tech office space around the city. Amazon currently leases about 171,000 square feet in Kendall Square, including 1½ floors the company added in August, according to county property records. Amazon’s Cambridge offices include a speech-science division working on the company’s Alexa voice-assistant products, a key part of Amazon’s efforts to sell its own personal technology devices. But commercial real estate in Kendall Square has become much more expensive in recent years as biotech and pharmaceutical headquarters have increasingly sprouted up. — CURT WOODWARD
REAL ESTATE
Condo prices in city reached new highs in 2016
Condo prices in Boston hit fresh highs last year, thanks to sales at several new high-end buildings and the continuing demand for living in the core of the city. The median price of a condo in central Boston — neighborhoods from the Fenway to downtown to South Boston — jumped 16.2 percent last year, to $790,000, according to the real estate data firm LINK. The median price for a unit in a high-end, full-service building climbed almost twice that fast, to more than $2 million. The luxury market was driven, in part, by a few big new buildings, such as Millennium Tower, which opened last year downtown. Millennium’s Grand Penthouse is now home to the globe-hopping private equity billionaire Jonathan Grayken, who spent $35 million on the place in August. The broader market is being powered by a combination of young professionals, suburban empty-nesters, and some international buyers, all of whom are drawn to Boston’s growing job base and urban life, said LINK’s president, Debra Taylor Blair. — TIM LOGAN
