A Boston hotel that was once described as a dump by a patron in an online review is getting a makeover.
The former Shawmut Inn near North Station will be transformed into a Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites. When completed later this year, the 5-story brick building will feature 72 rooms, a business center and a fitness facility.
?We were supportive of the property?s continued use as a hotel. We were very encouraged when there was interest from a significant hotel operator to do a Holiday Inn,? said Robert O?Brien, president of the Downtown North Association, a group of businesses, condominium associations and community organizations. ?The project is consistent with the upgrade of Causeway Street.?
In November, New York-based Gemini Real Estate bought the 54,000-square-foot building at the corner of Causeway and Friend streets in the city?s Bulfinch Triangle for $11.5 million. A $2.2 million renovation is under way to restore the 109-year-old building across from the TD Banknorth Garden.
And boy did it need it.
Atit Jariwala, Gemini?s managing director, said he stayed at the hotel before the company purchased it.
?Obviously, we were not buying it for what it was, but for what it could be,? he said. ?The hotel reflected a time when the area was not so nice. But as soon as the elevated Green Line came down, the Bulfinch Triangle began to change and we love what we?re seeing.?
While portions of the area remain gritty, Karla Lyon, the hotel?s general manager, said Gemini is bullish on the location.
?We see this as an up-and-coming neighborhood,? she said. ?We are in a great location across the street from the Garden and the Thomas P. O?Neill Federal Building.?
The Holiday Inn shares a portion of Friend Street with a handful of well-known Boston landmarks. Next door is Hilton?s Tent City, a purveyor of camping gear; the Greatest Bar, a city landmark that features artwork highlighting Boston?s great moments in sports history; and DJ?s at The Garden, one of the neighborhood?s favorite eateries.
The hotel project is the latest in a series of developments that are expected to revitalize a section of the city where several parcels have been created that once sat in the shadows of the elevated Green Line and Southeast Expressway.
First General Realty Corp., a division of Boston Development Group, is seeking approval for a 468,900-square-foot development overlooking the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The project, to be built at the corner of Causeway and Beverly streets, includes a pair of Marriott hotels, 209,500 square feet of office space and ground-floor retail.
Simpson Housing, a Denver-based developer, has been approved for 283 apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail and a restaurant at Valenti Way and Causeway, Beverly and Haverhill streets.
Raymond Properties Co. and Hines are moving ahead on Greenway Center, a 488,000-square-foot development at Valenti Way, North Washington, Canal and New Chardon streets. The transit-oriented development will include 295,000 square feet of commercial office or research and development space, a Stop & Shop Supermarket and 200 parking spaces.
Under construction on former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority land is Avenir, a project by Boston-based Trinity Financial that will consist of 248 apartments and retail shops.
?There?s no question that developers realize that the Bulfinch Triangle is at the epicenter of a tremendous wave of development following the demolition of the highway,? O?Brien said. ?Clearly the revitalized hotel will make a substantial contribution to the area.?