They could call it Potemkin Square

that many in Roslindale blame the moribund condition of Birch and Corinth storefronts on the landlord, Stavros Frantzis. I've seen people blame his 28-page, shopping mall-style lease for scaring away tenants.

I find that remarkable, and wonder how such a putative situation developed, considering that Frantzis is elsewhere given credit for the area's revival.

One person who’s taken a particularly active role in revitalizing Roslindale is commercial developer Stavros Frantzis, a resident of Jamaica Plain who purchased two buildings in the middle of the village in 1998. After making significant renovations to the now-beautiful two-story brick buildings, he rented out several storefronts to boutiques.

That beautiful courtyard area that I am so fond of, which used to be a dank and deserted alley? Frantzis planned it.

Frantzis wants to convert a courtyard behind one of his buildings into usable outdoor space for concerts, patio dining, and basic chilling. Plans have been stalled for several years because owners of the buildings bordering the courtyard have been reluctant to cooperate. But Stavros (“S-T-A-V-as-in-Victory-R-O-S,” he says helpfully) Frantzis isn’t having it. “If nothing happens by the end of the summer,” he says, “I will spend my own money and I will convert the part that belongs to me. I am hoping that I can call the attention and solicit the attention to change this area to a jewel in Roslindale Square.”

So has Frantzis gone over to The Dark Side? After spending years and dollars and energy trying to improve the area - at the request of the community?

" Horrible, " is how Stavros Frantzis describes the street when he bought the property three years ago. " Birch Street was not on the map at that time. It was a marginal street. "

Many of the storefronts were empty. The others were occupied by services, a hair salon, real estate office, an accountant who did little to improve or distinguish the area, Frantzis said.

He was entreated by the community to buy the land and fix it up.

" The people in Roslindale, especially Main Streets, knew the work I had done in Jamaica Plain, " he said. " I have taken properties that are underutilized and brought in good tenants. They convinced me to buy it, twisted my arm. "

Or is he just waiting for new tenants he approves of, after the failure of several of the botiquey stores (which seemed to sell little to nothing) that previously occupied Birch Street?

The secret, he said, has been patience, waiting for the right store to approach him.

" I try to create a theme of nice stores, so I'm patient, " he said.

Stavros Frantzis' name is splashed all over the empty storefronts, so it's perhaps a bit easy to target him as the problem. I don't know everything, but it does appear to me that, at least at one time, he was also part of the solution. So maybe putting too much blame on his shoulders isn't right.