Fenway HoJo's Redevelopment | 1271 Boylston Street | Fenway

[palindrome]

Fenway Howard Johnson owner plans new hotel, housing
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, October 15, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo
Photo by Nancy Lane

Days after the Howard Johnson Hotel celebrated its 50th anniversary, its owner announced plans to replace the two-story lodge behind Fenway Park [map] with a 275-room Hilton.

?We want to get the hotel permitted so when financing becomes available we?ll be ready to go,? said Robert Sage, the 83-year-old HoJo owner.

Under the plan that has yet to be filed with the city, Sage has partnered with Weiner Ventures and Samuels & Associates for a mixed-used development on the 60,000-square-foot parcel at 1271 Boylston St.

Construction could begin as early as next fall to replace HoJos with a 195-room Hilton Garden Inn, 80 Homewood suites, Hilton?s extended-stay brand, and more than 100 condominiums or apartments.

Adam Weiner, of Weiner Ventures, developer of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, said it is premature to talk specifics, including the building?s height.

?That section of Boylston Street is a special area and we want to be a small part of its success,? he said. ?But this requires collaboration with the neighborhood and the Boston Redevelopment Authority.?

Samuels, who has almost single-handedly engineered a rebirth of that gritty section of Boylston Street from Ipswich Street to Brookline Avenue, has won praise from residents and Mayor Thomas M. Menino for 1330 Boylston St., the $100 million project that features 215 apartments and the new home to the Fenway Community Health Center. That project came on the heels of Samuels? nearby Trilogy development, the $225 million mixed-use project with 576 rental units and ground floor retail.

William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association, said there is broad support for HoJos? redevelopment.

?This will be another step in the transformation of Boylston Street,? he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1204776

is there a thread on this already? i don't remember one.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Hopefully good riddance to an eye sore.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=...=TbbUKM_i213sX3cUPWbr7g&cbp=12,343.71,,0,0.64

I wonder what the Sox will say about the height?

 

[Lurker]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Aaaaaaaaaand here comes the opposition from anti-condo subsidized rental crowd wanting to the live in a new 'luxury' building on someone else's dime.

 

[kz1000ps]

Re: Fenway HoJo

palindrome: no. They'd been getting dumped in the Fenway Area Development thread.

 

[czsz]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Yes! Die Die Die!

Midtown Hotel: You're on notice.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Midtown Hotel: You're on notice.

We can only hope.

Hopefully they can do something about the wretched McDonald's across from the proposed development site too.

 

[Justin7]

Re: Fenway HoJo

McDonald's is already dead, no?

 

[Lurker]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Awaiting financing for a Trilogy like development. Pretty much the same as what's going to replace the Goodyear dealership down the street.

 

[Lrfox]

Re: Fenway HoJo

The owner of this is 83 years old. This may sounds crass, but what are the chances he's alive by the time this gets the funding/approval to get off the ground?

 

[Lurker]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Well, not to be ghoulish, one assumes he has a large life insurance policy to carry on the family legacy in the worse case scenario.

 

[Lrfox]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Well, not to be ghoulish, one assumes he has a large life insurance policy to carry on the family legacy in the worse case scenario.

I'm sure he does. However, I'd be concerned that whoever this gets passed on to wouldn't have the same ambitions with regards to building here. That's my beef.

Anyway, I'm unfairly digging the man a grave. I'm hopeful something positive can happen here.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Re: Fenway HoJo

I'd be concerned that whoever this gets passed on to wouldn't have the same ambitions with regards to building here.

Fair concern, but I wouldn't exactly classify a Hilton Garden Inn and some apartments as a difficult level of amition to match . . .

 

[palindrome]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Fair concern, but I wouldn't exactly classify a Hilton Garden Inn and some apartments as a difficult level of amition to match . . .

Lol, in this day and age you would be surprised.

 

[Lurker]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Bring on the beige baby

 

[Ron Newman]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Is 'Hilton Garden' considered a luxury or upscale brand? I don't follow the hotel industry much.

 

[Beton Brut]

Re: Fenway HoJo

^^ If you go by the pecking-order at the bottom of the Hilton webpage, the Hilton Garden Inn is between the Embassy Suites and the Hampton Inn. Hilton's top-tier is the Conrad -- the one in Tokyo is amazing.

 

[kennedy]

Re: Fenway HoJo

Hilton Garden Inn isn't much of an improvement over the Howard Johnson, but it's something.

 

[Lrfox]

Re: Fenway HoJo

I'd put the Garden Inn on par with Four Points by Sheraton for comparison sake. It's O.K. I don't see the problem with it though. It's Fenway... a mid-scale hotel is just fine in this location.

 

[kennedy]

Re: Fenway HoJo

I guess I just have a bias against them; there's one off the highway near where I live. It's in the middle of a low rise office park. The building itself looks like every single other no-reservations-required hotel off the side of a highway. Not that I don't want a mid- or low-range hotel in the Fenway area (we need them all over Boston,) but architecturally I doubt it will be an improvement over the Howard Johnson.

 

[Justin7]

Re: Fenway HoJo

The Howard Johnson here is about as appealing as gas station. Hilton Garden Inns are nothing special, nor are Homewood Suites, but this will be a significant improvement.

Construction could begin as early as next fall to replace HoJos with a 195-room Hilton Garden Inn, 80 Homewood suites, Hilton?s extended-stay brand, and more than 100 condominiums or apartments.