A Lynn Landmark has finally come to terms with the city on how to best address its financial needs and the needs of the surrounding community, writing the final chapter in what had become a difficult situation for all involved.

Christie’s Restaurant had been involved in a lawsuit for a number of years with the city over the owners’ proposal to lease their land to the CVS Corporation. The plan never made it past the proposal phase, because it faced heavy opposition.

The idea of a CVS wasn’t what neighbors had in mind when they envisioned the restaurant’s neon sign being replaced and the dilapidated, boarded-up buildings being torn down.

Working in concert with James Cowdell, executive director of the Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC), and Hal McGaughey, from the Office of Economic and Community Development, along with City Council President Tim Phelan, Councilor Richard Colucci, the Dean family, who have owned the restaurant for more than 80 years, came to an agreement that Cowdell described as a “home run for everyone involved.”

“We met with the Deans privately and got them to agree to work with the EDIC and Sasaki, the company that is involved in the waterfront. They dropped the lawsuit against the city, and now we can move forward,” Cowdell said.

That forward movement includes a number of proposals for the land that the restaurant is currently situated. “We are looking to develop a first class establishment on the first floor, a restaurant that would fit nicely, like an Olive Garden or a Bertucci’s,” Cowdell said. There would also be three levels of luxury living in the building adjacent to the restaurant. “Imagine the view you would have on that side,” he said.

Cowdell admitted the new ordinances being put in place for the waterfront helped with negotiations with the Deans. The proposed ordinances opens up the land to a plethora of developers and businesses with plans that otherwise perhaps wouldn’t have qualified.

Cowdell said everything he has been doing lately is with the waterfront in mind. He is optimistic when it comes to the re-invention of the downtown area.

“You are going to start seeing things happen, real things,” Cowdell said. “In the next two months, the apartment buildings will come down, and there will be building in the three more months at the Blossom Street Extension. You’re really going to see things happen.”