Hotel Plan Raises few Concerns
by Melina Schuler
Courant News Writer
The community raised few concems about the proposed development at 275 Albany Street at the project's first public meeting, which about 30 people attended.
The design firm proposed a dual function hotel with a three-story parking lot at the vacant site that is bordered by East Berkeley and Traveler Streets.
On the East Berkeley Street side the planners from ADD Inc. outlined a nine-story extended-stay hotel with about 198
rooms featuring stuclio kitchens, meant for guests who want to stay for a week or more.
Tamara Roy, a senior assistant principal on the project, said the proposal calls for a cutout on East Berkeley Street to make room for a lobby drop-off area. An additional driveway from the street would give access to an approximately 137-car parking lot. Neighborhood resident Sandi Silk said she was concerned that "traffic on East Berkeley Street would be exacerbated," especially during off-peak hours when parking is allowed on both sides of the street and would like to see that addressed as planning progresses.
On the Traveler Street side the planners pitched a 16-story select service two-star hotel with approximately 2l0 rooms and a restaurant at the Albany Street corner. According to James Gray, the ADD Inc. principal in charge of the project, the Indigo in Newton and the Aloft/Element in Lexington are examples of the type of hotel that would fIt that description.
"The demographic tends to be more pro gressive, green ... more contemporary," Roy said.
The two high-rises would be linked along Albany Street by a three-story build ing and?share a pool. Union Park Street resident Jay Hargis expressed concern about filling the rooms and project funding.
Gray said that the extended-stay hotel targets convention exhibitors, and he said South End residents had expressed a need for short-term affordable options for visit ing friends and family.
Newman Flanagan with Normandy Real Estate Partners, one of the building's developers, said the company is "currently in conversations with operators" about the site but would not disclose which ones. A Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) representative added that due to the lessons from the Filene's site, the agency "won't approve anything until the developers prove that there is funding."
The project is a joint venture of Blue Hawk Investment LLC and Normandy Real Estate Partners and has an estimated price tag of $115 million. There is no construction timetable yet.
