A local real estate developer has started construction on a building that will house 30 luxury condos and ground floor retail space in the heart of Wellesley.

The flurry of new activity is music to the ears of town officials and neighbors that have bemoaned the hole in the ground known as the former Wellesley Inn since the old hotel was demolished to make way for a development that never happened.

The parcel at 576 Washington St. has been vacant since 2006, when the inn was demolished to make room for a 19-unit luxury condo project that fizzled out when the Great Recession hit, and condo developer Spaulding and Slye’s plans tanked when the credit markets froze.

"The Belclare is an important part of a healing process by bringing back to life – and adding to – a vital part of our town center," Wellesley Town Executive Director Hans Larsen said of the formerly abandoned, fenced-off site in a statement.

The developer, The Noannet Group LLC, is partnering with ELV Assoc. Inc. and Abbey Road Advisors LLC to build what the companies claim are the town’s only condos. The $35 million project will include 9,500 square feet of commercial space, likely to house retail shops or restaurants.

The Wellesley Inn was originally purchased by New York’s Westbrook Partners, which brought in the former Spaulding and Slye group as a partner. No rooms were rented after February 2005 and the restaurant at the inn closed in June 2005. Then Westbrook purchased the property from the family that had owned the former inn for 40 years for $8.78 million. The property was finally purchased earlier this year.