Troy Boston (formerly Albany St Hotel) | 275 Albany Street | South End

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http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2008_06_18_hotel_story/srvc=home&position=also

One of the first mid-priced hotels to be built in the Hub in years would take shape across the street from the Boston Herald under a proposal by a local developer.

Newton-based BH Normandy is proposing a 265,000-square-foot hotel that would include 110 parking spaces, according to an initial proposal filed with City Hall. The hotel would be built on a surface parking lot at 275 Albany St., bounded by Traveler and East Berkeley streets.

The hotel plan is one of a number of proposals for a longtime industrial pocket of the South End now seen by some as one of the city?s last big development opportunities.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Normandy is the same group doing the Hotel Indigo in Newton and the Ames Hotel in Boston. I bet they'd like to do another luxury hotel, but that location ain't luxury.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

265,000 square foot hotel? Sounds like quite a large building.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Kinda sucks that it's juuuuuuust far enough away from the Red and Silver lines to make it a chore to use either one to access the site.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

^ True. This project will probably have all the urban qualities of the Fenway HoJo. However, due to the size of the building, it should at least get up to seven stories, probably more.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

This site is on the other side of 93 opposite the Macallen Bldg, and a short walk from Broadway station. It's a pretty huge lot on the edge of the former NY Streets neighborhood, now pretty much an industrial wasteland. The area has the potential to be something great in the future.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Short walk does not mean easy walk.

Take a stroll to Broadway Station via Google Street View. Not fun, especially for tourists.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Better wayfinding signs for pedestrians, at both ends of the Broadway Bridge, would help. So would some markings on the sidewalk and crosswalks -- maybe footprints and circle-T symbols. The basic problem is that you can't see clearly from one side of that underpass to the other, even though you're walking a straight line.

The former pedestrian path under I-93 from Haymarket to the North End may give some useful ideas for what is needed here.

(As for the Silver Line bus -- this is a very short walk from it.)
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Last Frontier, Last Frontier.
isn't that what they are saying about Fort Point / Seaport District.
Friggin Newspaper reporters. ha ha
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Being "close" to the Silver Line in distance is not the same as "close" in your mind. I have walked that walk too many times, and the distance between the empty lot and Washington Street seems like a journey of a thousand steps. It's closer to 600 feet, based on what Google Maps shows. Meanwhile, the Broadway T-stop seems to be only 800 feet away.

The proximity to the Silver Line is a moot point, of course, since if you were traveling to the airport, you'd have to endure a 45-minute commute by way of bus, bus, and bus.

Thank god there's an express entrance to the airport, just across the street. Yay for the automobile!
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

JimboJones said:
Yay for the automobile!
Click to expand...

Amen bro. I hope the price of gas goes higher so it clears off more traffic. Open things up a bit, you know? Imagine having billions of dollars of roadway pretty much to yourself? I can't wait!
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

There is a lot of valuable land in this area and it would be nice to see it developed with a master plan. Sort of 'mini' city with mid-rises, 20 stories. Right now the south end is a sort of an island. The connection south to Roxbury is poor, Melina Cass and lots of vacant land. East to South Boston and Newmarket(they are getting thier own master plan) is terrible because of Rt 93 and Menia Cass. West to the Back Bay is mixed because of the turnpike(Columbus Center). The north connection to down town is a no man's land. This would be a tremendous opportunity to create a new neighborhood.


http://www.boston.com/business/arti...d_publisher_looking_to_print_paper_elsewhere/

Boston Herald publisher Patrick Purcell has held talks to print his newspaper elsewhere, which could free up his six acres of South End land for development but lead to layoffs and pose geographic challenges for the paper.

Purcell had previously disclosed his discussions with Dow Jones & Co. to use its plant in Chicopee, at least 90 minutes west of Boston, though a Dow Jones manager there, Leo Leone, said those talks are still at an early stage.

Today, The Boston Globe confirmed it had also met with Purcell but ultimately decided not to complete a deal similar to ones it already has to print papers including The Patriot Ledger of Quincy and The Enterprise of Brockton.

??We appreciated the opportunity to consider printing the Herald but, in the end, determined that making that commitment was not in our best interests at this time,?? said Globe publisher P. Steven Ainsley.

Purcell referred questions to a Herald spokeswoman, Gwen Gage, who would say only, ??We are having discussions with several vendors about outsourcing production?? but declined to go into detail. ??Pat Purcell?s goal is to keep the Herald alive and make sure there are two voices in Boston,?? she said.

This week?s edition of the Boston Business Journal reported that Purcell is moving to print the paper in Chicopee and, according to an unnamed union official, is eliminating the jobs of 150 printers, electricians, and other workers.

More than a half-dozen unions represent various groups at the Herald, and yesterday leaders of the largest union said they didn?t have more information except that Purcell has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday. ??The subject is ?the future of the Herald?,?? said Tom Hiltz, administrative officer of the union that represents about 185 editorial and advertising employees.

A deal to use the Chicopee plant would put Purcell back in business with Rupert Murdoch, the press baron who bought Dow Jones from the Bancroft family last year and also owned the Herald before selling it to Purcell in 1994 to clear the way for a television station deal.

It also would add expensive trucking and fuel costs to bring the papers to the Boston area, and raise tricky logistical issues since editors would have less time to squeeze in late-breaking election results or sports scores.

??The real issue will be the deadlines,?? said Stephen Burgard, director of Northeastern University?s school of journalism. ??I think you?d have to factor in that one of the remaining strengths of the Herald is its sports pages, so you have to ask, will this affect their ability to deliver late scores and stories???
Click to expand...
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

project grows larger:
Normandy Real Estate Partners wants to build add 85,000 square feet to a proposed hotel project in the South End.

Last May, Normandy submitted a letter of intent with the Boston Redevelopment Authority outlining plans to build a 265,000 square foot hotel at 275 Albany St. Now the New Jersey-based development and acquisition group wants to build as much as 350,000 square feet on the site, according to a new filing with the BRA on April 16, 2009.

The project site is a 55,485 square-foot parcel that was previously used as a 150-space parking lot for Teradyne Inc. Normandy said it ?current plans envision hotel use give the site?s proximity to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Click to expand...
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/04/20/daily12.html

They haven't even pdated thier web site:
http://www.normandyrealty.com/norma...2/ctl/ViewProperty/mid/427/id/46/Default.aspx
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

This doesn't strike me as being within walking distance of the convention center (for most people, anyway).
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Walkable for only the most intrepid.

I'm sure there are 2 or 3 22-passenger buses in the project budget.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Wow, that's gonna be some walk - underneath the highways, through the railyard, the projects... Maybe the developer should take a drive up from Jersey and actually look at the area, not just the map.
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

It's like Kevin Garnett said:

ANYTHING IS WALKABLE!

/rimshot
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

too lazy to look for the thread,took these next two pix's from 93 so.
034-9.jpg
036-9.jpg
don't know the name of either project except they're on Albany st
 
Re: new hotel proposed- Albany St

Any updates on this?

Also, can anyone point me to more information on the "NY Streets" neighborhood? The name of it makes it un-googleable.
 
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