Boutique Hotel | 1154 Broadway | Teele Square | Somerville

[stick n move]

Updated plans propose a bigger boutique hotel going up in long-undeveloped Teele Square ‘Pit’​

“A proposal to develop a long-empty “Pit” has returned to Somerville’s Teele Square, now a political issue in City Council elections for a neighborhood eager to see improvement after years of frustration.

Plans for a 75-room hotel approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals in 2018 didn’t come together despite excavation being announced in 2022. Updated plans for the site shown at a May 28 public meeting with property manager Binoj Pradhan and then-Ward 7 councilor Judy Pineda Neufeld show an expansion to eight stories from six, now with 99 rooms, valet parking and ground- and top-floor restaurants.

“With the increased cost of land and construction, unfortunately the only direction to go to make these projects viable often is vertically,” said Will Chalfant of Khalsa Design. The architectural firm is working with Anuj Pradhan and the 1154 Broadway Realty Trust, the property’s owners since 2015. The Pradhans are brothers.

The hotel would be “backed by Hilton” but be a “boutique hotel,” Chalfant said.
Documentation has been submitted to reinitiate the permitting process; a presubmittal meeting will be scheduled, likely followed by a formal application, the owners said………”

Updated plans propose a bigger boutique hotel going up in long-undeveloped Teele Square 'Pit' - Cambridge Day

A proposal to develop a long-empty “Pit” into a hotel has returned to Somerville’s Teele Square. it's now a political issue for a neighborhood eager to see improvement after years of frustration.

www.cambridgeday.com

 

[type001]

Um, it’s not boutique anymore, And probably really wasn’t in the first iteration.

 

[stick n move]

Um, it’s not boutique anymore, And probably really wasn’t in the first iteration.

Yea I was just going to put hilton for obvious reasons, but came across this quote in the article:

“The hotel would be “backed by Hilton” but be a “boutique hotel,” Chalfant said.”

So I just said screw it, for now ill go with what they said.. and Ill change it later if need be.

 

[type001]

Oh, that wasn’t a shot at you, Stick. Just to be clear. I was referring to the article itself.

 

[stick n move]

No worries I didnt take it as a shot, I wrestled with the same thing when I was making the title of the thread because it clearly says hilton on the building but they really wanted to point out that its a boutique hotel, so I was like alright then boutique it is.

 

[Stlin]

No worries I didnt take it as a shot, I wrestled with the same thing when I was making the title of the thread because it clearly says hilton on the building but they really wanted to point out that its a boutique hotel, so I was like alright then boutique it is.

Hilton has a ton of "soft brands" - Think of the Curio or Tapestry collections that feature "original hotels" that happen to participate in the HHonors system. As part of that, its been a big thing for corporate america generally, but especially hotels for them to do more "local inspired" "authentic" hotels instead of the every Garden Inn comes out of the same factory cookie cutter. As one offs, as far as a company like Hilton is concerned, they're boutiques - they even describe Canopy as a boutique chain. They're also aggressively expanding those soft brands - they have 24 brands today, up from 18 in 2022. Those new ones include Motto, Tempo, NoMad, Graduate, all of which are suffixed "by Hilton" and have tiny property counts.

Globally, theres a single NoMad, 8 Tempos, 10 Mottos, and 34 Graduates. If I had to bet, Graduate, their college town brand, is the one I'm thinking. Boston is a notable hole in the network, and those properties are one-offs... and for a new build to expand a brand, companies like Hilton will totally finance one of those in-house.

Inspired by the dynamic college towns that we call home, Graduate is a collection of welcoming, one-of-a-kind hotels rich with local history, charm and pop culture nostalgia.

 

[DBM]

a long-empty “Pit”

Just how long "empty," one might reasonably wonder? Glad you asked! I went on Google Maps and discovered this site morphed into the now-infamous "Pit" no later than July 2012, so it has turned 13.

[In contrast the far more infamous/celebrated Filene's site "Pit" in DTX took a mere half-decade to begin eliminating...]

 

[chumbolly]

Kee Kar Lau (the Chinese restaurant that was in this block) burned in October, 2013. The rest of the building was torn down sometime shortly after that.

 

[chrisbrat]

Kee Kar Lau (the Chinese restaurant that was in this block) burned in October, 2013. The rest of the building was torn down sometime shortly after that.

Actually, that'd be 2011. Maria's Italian Cold Cuts next door was at least as big of a loss.