Limited-service Hotel Project | 73 Essex St | Chinatown

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dirtywater

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According to Banker & Tradesman, a letter of intent was filed with the BRA yesterday for a new 17-story hotel in Chinatown:

A New York developer is proposing a 17-story, limited-service hotel at in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood.

The site has served a mix of industrial and retail uses in the past, according to a letter of intent submitted to the Boston Redevelopment Authority on Oct. 6 by attorney John Rattigan Jr. of DLA Piper LLP.

The applicant is an affiliate of San Francisco-based Westbrook Partners, a privately owned investment company. The proposal for 225 rooms at 73 Essex St. will be subject to a large project review by the BRA.

Westbrook has deployed approximately $10 billion toward $40 billion in real estate transactions, according to its web site. It’s bidding on 47 Hall St., an industrial property in Brooklyn, New York valued at more than $300 million, according to the Real Deal, a New York real estate web site.
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Re: 73-79 Essex Street

Rick said:
Has anybody heard anything of this project that filed a letter of intent:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-projects/73-79-essex-street
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Rick if you read the letter it says they want to build a limited service hotel [think Marriott Guest Quarters] with about 225 rooms in the middle of Chinatown -- my guess is that would be a 15 to 20 story building

Tracked down later -- story in the BBJ a few months ago

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/r...-group-proposes-17-story-chinatown-hotel.html
New York group proposes 17-story Chinatown hotel
Oct 7, 2015, 2:22pm EDT
...Westbrook Partners intends to build a 225-room hotel in the heart of Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood....
17 stories at 73-79 Essex St. a corner lot at the intersection of Essex and Oxford streets
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Re: 73-79 Essex Street

It's a handsome building that stands there now, too bad it wasn't proposed for an empty lot.
 
Re: 73-79 Essex Street

Rick said:
It's a handsome building that stands there now, too bad it wasn't proposed for an empty lot.
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I agree....looks like they may take the whole block. Down the end was a terrible fire in a smaller building that opened up that little triangle of property.
 
Re: 73-79 Essex Street

Rick said:
Has anybody heard anything of this project that filed a letter of intent:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/projects/development-projects/73-79-essex-street
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This project was added on 10/7/15. The thread title is (Limited-service Hotel project/73 Essex St/Chinatown)

Could the MOD merge please?


As a point of reference I took a couple of photos of the site in question.
https://flic.kr/p/CFowUSLooking E.

https://flic.kr/p/CHCMmMLooking W along Essex.
 
Re: 73-79 Essex Street

There's already a thread for this here.

Could a moderator combine these?

Edit: Ninja'd by BeeLine...
 
It's a pretty safe bet that if they don't preserve the existing buildings (or their facades) this will be one of the cheapest, ugliest buildings to rise.

(1) Limited-service (read: cheap) (2) hotel by a (3) New York developer (where cheap hotels are built daaaammmmnnnnn cheap) in (4) Chinatown (a non-prime neighborhood that doesn't tend to attract architectural gems these days).

Here's hoping like hell that they keep the existing buildings rather than put up some alucobond-shoebox crap.
 
I rather they fill the parking lot just down the street than replacing 73 Essex St.
 
KentXie said:
I rather they fill the parking lot just down the street than replacing 73 Essex St.
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Seems too late for that. The developers have already displaced the businesses in 73-79 Essex.

FYI, this proposal does not include the Chau Chao City building, 83 Essex, so it does not extend to the parking lot.
 
Damn. I like this building; it has character.
 
If we keep allowing garbage like this to happen, then someday in the future the most historical building left in Chinatown will be the Archstone Apartments. Here's hoping all relevant approval agencies deny this one.
 
If they just force a facadectomy I would honestly be pretty happy I don't care if they add a tower on top but it would be nice if they kept the facade especially because it would probably help save the street interaction that the replacement will probably not replicate well.
 
DZH22 said:
If we keep allowing garbage like this to happen, then someday in the future the most historical building left in Chinatown will be the Archstone Apartments. Here's hoping all relevant approval agencies deny this one.
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The existing building certainly looks worthy of preservation and you may be proven right, but before we label a proposal as garbage shouldn't we at least see it first?
 
dirtywater said:
The existing building certainly looks worthy of preservation and you may be proven right, but before we label a proposal as garbage shouldn't we at least see it first?
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The main "garbage" that I speak of is the slow but steady destruction of historical Boston.
 
citylover94 said:
If they just force a facadectomy I would honestly be pretty happy I don't care if they add a tower on top but it would be nice if they kept the facade especially because it would probably help save the street interaction that the replacement will probably not replicate well.
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I'm looking at Googlemaps and I cannot fathom what "street interaction" you are referring to.

The back is just horrific, https://www.google.com/maps/@42.352...4!1sbnyHkAX_TyN5tfnkz0hCfg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The Oxford Street side is a fortress/wall https://www.google.com/maps/@42.352...1lUxAzNY-lAc6dGorg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

and the Ping On Street side is just as bad, if not worse.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.352...S-YalGzAoHFwTz8lhQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

Essex Street has/had something with the Dim Sum restaurant and the 88, but that is all.

Meanwhile, 225 rooms will add quite a but of pedestrian activity to that corner and perhaps liven up what is now a very dreary streetscape. Of course, having a restaurant at street level, like it does now would be optimal.

The building has great bones and some nice detail - - the best thing to hope for is a facadectomy.

However saving "the street interaction" that it currently has? No thanks!
 
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Also, put in underground parking in the new hotel and turn the two small surface parklots next to it on Ping On and across the street (little triangular one) into pocket parks.

Then accentuate that Oxford Street alley into a great place for ground level/basement hole-in-the-wall type clubs or bars.

Do that, and this dreary street becomes pretty nice and lively without affecting the funky character of Chinatown.
 
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