After nearly four years dark, the historic former railroad station beside the Newton Centre Green Line stop (70 Union Street) is set to become a restaurant again. The new restaurant will be another Lockheart, like the southwestern-style taco-and-cocktails spot of that name in Wellesley, according to Newton permit and licensing records.
The 19th-century station last held a restaurant when Jamie’s on Union closed in 2022. It had replaced the long-running Deluxe Station Diner in 2020 under the same ownership. The MBTA sold the building in 2012, and the building changed hands again last year.
A full interior buildout has been underway since early 2024, including a demolition permit that January, a roughly $1.2 million restaurant fit-out that March, and in June 2026, a fire-protection system acceptance test, which is typically one of the last steps before opening. The plans describe 86 indoor seats, a seasonal patio, and restaurant hours running as late as 1AM.
The names behind it
An application for a liquor, common victualler, and entertainment license was filed in April by Union Depot LLC, doing business as Lockheart. The application lists the owners as Anthony Killough (the company’s manager), Mark Hicklin (a partner in the Wellesley Lockheart), Aaron Chamberland, Ruben Garza, and two investment firms. A company that Killough manages (70 Union LLC) bought the station building for about $2 million in September 2025.
One name associated with the project is not on that ownership list. A June 11 Newton fire-safety filing for the building names Derek Brady (founder and owner of Lockheart in Wellesley) as the property owner and emergency contact. Brady owned The Draft Bar and Grille in Allston, which shut down in January 2026 after its liquor license was revoked. He previously worked with Killough as manager of Centre Group, LLC, which ran the Union Street Restaurant in Newton Centre’s Piccadilly Square. By 2020, Brady was the sole manager of the Union Street Restaurant, and it closed in 2023.
As reported in the Swellesley Report, the Wellesley Select Board approved a license for the Wellesley Lockheart in 2021 after a lengthy discussion of concerns about violations of overcrowding and serving underage patrons in other bars associated with Brady. At that hearing, neighbors vouched for Brady’s commitment to the community and Brady characterized the proposed Wellesley Lockheart as very different from the other bars that had issues.
Newton’s Board of License Commissioners will meet on June 16 to consider the liquor, common victualler, and entertainment license.
Fig City News has sought comment from Union Depot LLC through its attorney and from Derek Brady and will update this article with any response.