Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | Roxbury

Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

^ +1

The bronze color and minimalist mullions play well with the Victorian Gothic of the Alexandra. I wonder what Frank Furness or John Ruskin would have to say about it...
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

As much as I hate facadectimies... this one isn't so bad.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

I like that mesh screen and would love to see it make the final cut.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

We should have gotten something this good at Kenmore North.

Damned shame.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

If this gets 5 floors knocked off thats going to be such a fail. This needs to stay as is, its great, build..
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

Well, it's about time that they decided to fix up this building! It's been sitting there rotting & dripping with pigeon crap for eons!! :eek:
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

If this gets 5 floors knocked off thats going to be such a fail. This needs to stay as is, its great, build..

The economics of the restoration are such that they likely need the height.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

Like the design but am sad that the building can't be saved.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

What building cant be saved?
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

Well, it's only a facadectomy, so most of the building will be razed.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

admittedly, i could be misreading the plans, but it looks to me like a good portion of the floorplan within the alexandra remains with this new construction.

a facadectomy is when *only* the facade is preserved (ugly case in point: the littlest bar) and -- again, maybe i'm misinterpreting the plans -- well more than just that will remain from the original structure in this new development.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

You may be correct, from the PNF:

6.2 Impacts to Historic Resources
Potential urban design and shadow impacts of the new construction on nearby historic resources were considered and are summarized below.
6.2.1 Demolition of Historic Resources
The Project involves the replacement of the Alexandra’s compromised interior structural members but includes no demolition of historic resources.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

Anybody know how long the upper floors have been vacant and rotting? 40 years?
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

The Proponent proposes to retain and restore the façade of the existing Hotel Alexandra, and construct a new, approximately 150 room, twelve story boutique hotel with ground floor restaurant and café space, and a rooftop level bar/restaurant.

http://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/alexandra-hotel

And from the PNF:
The Project will retain and restore the façade of the existing building and will recreate and/or refurbish the original historic design elements. Due to the decades of neglect and extensive water infiltration, the existing structure is no longer viable and will accordingly be replaced. Behind the façade and on the adjacent vacant parcel, a new, approximately 150 room, twelve story boutique hotel will be constructed with approximately 66,000 sf.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

certainly back to at least the late-'80s when i was walking by that place often. there was still a wig shop on the first floor (or maybe it was just the signage), but the top was definitely vacant back then.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

Thanks Justin!
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

The city has belatedly determined that the hotel is in Roxbury, and now some Roxbury residents are up in arms about there not being enough consultation with Roxbury residents before the project was approved.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...ins-roxbury/9AE1BSM1UybH4Ci8BKCl4N/story.html

Byron Rushing, who represented Roxbury and the South End in the Legislature for decades, said the confusion is exacerbated because the area was a marsh and there was no clear delineation when Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1868.

But, he said, the widely accepted, modern boundary, based on the most recent zoning maps for the city and the historical reaches of Boston’s black community, is Massachusetts Avenue, where many of the old jazz clubs were located in the 1940s and 50s.
 
Re: Alexandra Hotel Renovation | 1769 Washington St | South End

They werent hiding this project, it shouldnt have been a surprise to anyone regardless of what neighborhood they called it in. There are plenty of worthy minority groups in the south end that will benefit from the $100k the developers are giving.

I sympathize with them on the Marriott issue but these two projects shouldnt be conflated.
 

Back
Top