RFQ Issued for Davis Square Hotel

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Tim Jackson

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City moves ahead in plan to attract hotel to Davis Square

Mon Sep 08, 2008, 11:29 AM EDT

Somerville -

The following is a press release from the city of Somerville.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone today announced the city of Somerville will release a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on Sept. 15 for the development of a hotel and public parking garage on one or more surplus City-owned parcels in Davis Square.

?The issuance of the RFQ is an important step towards the development of a much needed hotel in Davis,? said Curtatone. ?Davis Square is home to a thriving business district and the creation of a hotel with a public parking garage will be key to the economic growth and continued success of this area. The RFQ and subsequent processes will also allow us to identify a developer who will engage in a public process with all of the stakeholders in Davis Square.?

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz agreed. ?It?s very important that whoever bids on this project understands that this will be a community process and they will need to build that component directly into their plan. Davis Square is the thriving place that it is today because residents have worked together with developers and business interests to meet the needs of everyone in the community.? She continued, ?I look forward to working together with the mayor, his staff, and members of the community to facilitate the development of an environmentally friendly hotel in Davis Square.?

Following the RFQ process, the Davis Square Hotel Technical Advisory Committee will evaluate each application and make recommendations to Mayor Curtatone. Mayor Curtatone will then select up to three developers to participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The preferred developer will be selected based on the RFP submissions. The Davis Square Hotel Technical Advisory Committee will include staff from the Mayor?s Office, the Purchasing Department, the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, two community representatives, the Ward 6 Alderman and one Alderman At Large.

The proposal to develop a hotel in Davis Square came from a 2006 study, conducted by Pinnacle Advisory Group, evaluating the feasibility of a new hotel in Somerville. The study identified Davis Square as a preferable location for hotel development.

The surplused City-owned parcels are the Buena Vista Garage at 56A Holland Street, the Day Street/Herbert Street Parking Lot, and the Grove Street Parking Lot adjacent to the Rite Aid and Community Path. All proposals must replace the current parking, provide for hotel-related parking required by zoning ordinances, and create as much additional parking as possible.

The RFQ can be obtained from Rositha Durham, Purchasing Director, City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, Somerville, 02143, rdurham@somervillema.gov, beginning September 15, 2008 and submissions are due by October 31, 2008. For more information contact Rositha Durham at 617-625-6600 x 3410.
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I've gone to a few meetings where the city has presented this in the past. The Grove Street parking lot is quite small, and any developer would likely have to also buy and demolish Rite-Aid to make that site feasible. Rite-Aid is an unremarkable one-story building that formerly contained a New England Telephone exchange.

There is an ironclad 50-foot, 4-story height limit in Davis Square, and the hotel developers will be required to present proposals that remain within that limit.
 
Ron Newman said:
There is an ironclad 50-foot, 4-story height limit in Davis Square, and the hotel developers will be required to present proposals that remain within that limit.
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One big footprint coming up ...
 
The city and the residents are willing to entertain taller height limits in Union Square, where extensive redevelopment of old industrial areas will likely accompany the Green Line extension. But not in Davis, where the neighborhood is essentially 'complete' and only piecemeal development is likely to occur in the future.
 
If they arn't idiots they will allow the hotel to exceed 4 stories. It's ok to have a nice hotel be a focal point in a center.
 
None of these three locations would be focal points, as all of them are on the periphery of the commercial district, abutting residential areas.

Davis Square already has its focal point: the Somerville Theatre and the brick plaza across the street from it, which is always full of people.
 
I think a better location would be the parking lot between Day and Dover Streets, behind the new CVS/BSC, It's a lot bigger of an area, and would mask the giant brick wall on the rear of the CVS building.
 
I'd love to see that lot developed. But it's privately owned. This RFQ is for developers interested in buying parking lots that the city owns.

One issue with developing the Day/Herbert parking lot is that the weekly farmer's market now uses it, and would need to be relocated elsewhere in the square.
 
Ron Newman said:
I'd love to see that lot developed. But it's privately owned. This RFQ is for developers interested in buying parking lots that the city owns.

One issue with developing the Day/Herbert parking lot is that the weekly farmer's market now uses it, and would need to be relocated elsewhere in the square.
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Good point. I love that market
 
I think it should go on the parking lot next to the Health Center at 40 Holland. That spot is large enough for a hotel, and already has the relatively "tallish" health center next door. Plus that parking lot kills the street level activity.
 
That's one of the three proposed sites. The press release calls it the 'Buena Vista Garage'.
 
Come now. Could this really be viable limiting it to four stories?
 
The neighborhood has successfully developed and improved for many years with a 50-foot height limit in place. I see no compelling reason to change it now.
 
I have to agree with Ron Newman, there really isn't any reason to mandate that the height restriction be lifted. I find that many neighborhoods don't need height and that shorter buildings are better. This sentiment does not apply to the Back Bay, Financial District, Seaport District, etc., but many areas around the city are actually better off remaining more 'human scale.' Davis Square is one of those locations.
 
Destination Davis Square: First hotel eyed Nearby Porter Square has proposal in works
By Scott Van Voorhis
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Davis Square is not only hip, but someday it may have a hotel as well.

The home of the Somerville Theatre and Johnny D?s is being targeted by city officials for its first hotel.

Somerville officials next week will issue a request for qualifications from developers interested in building on one of three city-owned lots in Davis Square.

The aim is to find a developer willing to build a hotel and parking garage, either on one or more of the lots.

The interest in putting a hotel in Davis Square comes as plans take shape in nearby Porter Square, within Cambridge city limits, for a small hotel there.

One factor driving the interest is a tight Boston-area hotel market that has kept rooms filled and rates high, even amid a slow economy.

But the proposed Davis Square hotel is not only likely to attract business travelers and parents of students at nearby Tufts University, but also tourists interested in soaking up the Somerville neighborhood?s ambience.

?It has become a destination,? said Patrick Moscaritolo, head of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, pointing to the Somerville Theatre and the square?s restaurants. ?I think that is why the hotel development proposal has legs.?

So far, as many as 75 hotel chains and developers have requested information on the upcoming auction, said Monica Lamboy, head of strategic planning and community development.

The decision to put the Davis Square parcels out to bid comes two years after a report by a local hotel industry consultant, Pinnacle Advisory Group. The study found pent-up demand in the Boston area for more rooms and Davis Square to have potential as a location for a modest-sized hotel in the 100-room range, Lamboy said.

?The creation of a hotel with a public parking garage will be key to the economic growth and continued success of the area,? said Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.
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http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1118050
 
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City pushes for hotel in Davis Square

By George P. Hassett

A hotel is coming to Davis Square. But don't worry, city officials promise the development will replace and create as much parking as possible in the already congested square.

This week Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced that the city will solicit developers interested in building a hotel and a public parking garage on one or more city-owned parcels in Davis Square - the Buena Vista parking garage at 56A Holland St., the Day Street parking lot and the Grove Street parking lot next to the Community Path.

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said, ?It's very important that whoever bids on this project understands that this will be a community process and they will need to build that component directly into their plan.?

An advisory committee - made up of staff from the Mayor's Office, the Purchasing Department, the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, two community representatives, Gewirtz and Alderman At Large John M. Connolly -- will evaluate applications and make recommendations to Curtatone. The mayor will then select up to three developers to participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

?Davis Square is home to a thriving business district and the creation of a hotel with a public parking garage will be key to the economic growth and continued success of this area. The RFQ and subsequent processes will also allow us to identify a developer who will engage in a public process with all of the stakeholders in Davis Square,? Curtatone said.
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Davis Square needs a vertical accent; it's too much all horizontal. The footprint of this vertical accent should be small. In olden times, this would have been provided by a church steeple or a cupola on a municipal building; presumably the height limit also bans a proper church spire.

Anyway, since no one builds churches anymore, a small-footprint commercial building might fit the bill in a way that is respectful to Davis Square's scale. This could be a hotel.

Downtown Quincy sets a good example in that regard, with the Granite Trust Company:

0300.jpg
 
I agree entirely. A ten-story building is not going to upset the human scale in any way, and would accomplish the need for a vertical accent very nicely. It's not the height that should be the issue; it's the quality of the design and the site planning.

Seriously, a four-story hotel in a dense urban environment that has to include neighborhood parking is just not going to work. A building like the above would look very appropriate for Davis Square provided the right site is chosen.
 
One of my "if I had a zillion dollars" projects is to buy the dominos pizza, chicken wings places over by Rosebud and put a 8- 10 story clock tower there.
 
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