W Hotel | 100 Stuart St | Theater District

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Re: W Hotel

Ron Newman said:
Whether or not this loan was a good idea, that street corner was blighted.
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The intention of "blighted" designation is intended to improve districts, neighborhoods, or at least reasonably large swaths of land. Eminent domain takings, abatements, loans and other goodies intended to improve blight are, as far as I'm aware, not intended to improve street corners.

The area of town where the W sits is not blighted. A 7-11 eyesore is not a blight. A boarded up row of buildings, as exists in other districts, is blighted.

The creative redefinition of the word "blight" to improve a street corner would be as much of a manipulation of intention as the BRA's recent application of a "Planned Development Area" (PDA) to spot zone a single project. These are addictive candies that the BRA has been using subjectively over the past decade on an increasing frequency to enhance individual projects while ignoring others in same vicinity.

I'm convinced a judge would agree, particularly a judge hearing from an attorney representing a blighted district that had systematically been allowed to deteriorate.
 
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Re: W Hotel

From 1/1

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Re: W Hotel

Why dont Boston ducks or geese fly south for the winter? How do they survive?
 
Re: W Hotel

jass said:
Why dont Boston ducks or geese fly south for the winter? How do they survive?
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My assumption has always been that the ones around here in the summer do fly south, and the ones that around here in the winter are from northern New England/Canada. Just my guess, though, I came up with that theory when I was like 7, so it has no real basis... :p
 
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I heard shaq bought the whole top floor of the W is that him up there ^^^
 
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Is it just the condos that are doing so poorly? The hotel is a success, no? I spent Christmas weekend with a Starwood executive who had high praise for the W Hotel, but I'm wondering if he was full of shit? The hotel floors (the lower ones) seem to be fairly occupied, while the condo floors are just black.
 
Re: W Hotel

Lrfox said:
Is it just the condos that are doing so poorly? The hotel is a success, no? I spent Christmas weekend with a Starwood executive who had high praise for the W Hotel, but I'm wondering if he was full of shit? The hotel floors (the lower ones) seem to be fairly occupied, while the condo floors are just black.
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The hotel is fine. It's just the blacked out condos that are a flop. At this point they should just furnish them and rent out the rooms (upper levels at a higher rate?). Suites? Potential for executive rentals too?? Problem is the W has no money to do it.

W NEEDED a Boston presence though. We were pretty much the only major city without one.
 
Re: W Hotel

Ruling staves off foreclosure for W hotel developer

Clears way for firm to offer plan to repay creditors
By Casey Ross
Globe Staff / February 1, 2011

A Bankruptcy Court judge yesterday rebuffed Prudential Insurance Co.?s efforts to foreclose on the developer of the W Boston Hotel and Residences, which filed for bankruptcy protection last spring after being unable to sell most of its condominiums in Boston?s Theatre District.

Judge Joan N. Feeney ruled that the finances of SW Boston Hotel Venture LLC are improving and that the developer should be able to continue operating without the threat of foreclosure by Prudential.

The insurance giant provided a $192 million loan for development of the W hotel and 123 condominiums on Stuart Street in Boston and is the primary creditor in bankruptcy proceedings.

SW Boston ?has shown sufficient progress during this Chapter 11 case to support the conclusion that there is a reasonable possibility of a reorganization within a reasonable time,?? Feeney wrote in a 51-page decision.

A spokesman for Prudential declined to comment.

The ruling clears the way for SW Boston, a subsidiary of Sawyer Enterprises, to present a formal plan this spring to pay off its creditors. The developer ran into financial trouble even before finishing construction of the striking 26-story tower at Tremont and Stuart streets. It struggled to pay for furnishings and high-end finishes guests expect from the W brand, which emphasizes luxury amenities. Eventually the City of Boston stepped in with $10.5 million loan that allowed SW Boston to finish a spa and restaurant on the property, along with a theme bar that still has not opened, according to Feeney?s ruling.

The company?s cash-flow problems worsened after the W?s October 2009 opening, with SW Boston selling only a handful of its condominiums as the recession ate into the demand for expensive housing and hotel rooms. Typically, developers of large, luxury hotels rely on the quick sale of condominium units to help support the early operations of the hotel.

But business has picked up during the past several months. SW Boston has now sold 29 condominiums, up from 12 at the time of the bankruptcy, and has another seven under purchase-and-sale agreements, said Kevin Ahearn of Otis & Ahearn, which is marketing the W units.

?The timing was difficult for this project, but it?s sort of all coming together now,?? Ahearn said. ?The hotel and the restaurant are doing great, and that really drives the value of the residences.??

Sawyer Enterprises is run by Carol Sawyer Parks, daughter of taxi magnate Frank Sawyer, former owner of Checker Taxi Co. of Boston. Sawyer had been trying to develop a hotel complex on the Stuart property since the 1990s, but the project suffered through several false starts before finally moving forward in 2008.

Feeney found that SW Boston owes about $154 million to Prudential and another $6 million to the City of Boston.

During testimony in the bankruptcy case, real estate specialists estimated the W will be able to sell its condominiums over the next three years and provide payments to Prudential of between $116 million and $118 million. Another $2.5 million will be raised from renting 25 percent of the units in the complex.

?This is an important decision that lays the foundation for the company?s emergence from Chapter 11 in the spring,?? said attorney Harold Murphy of Murphy & King, which represented SW Boston. ?We couldn?t ask for a better result.??

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I think this building would have looked a lot better if it was twice as tall, half as wide, and only clad like the side facing the common.

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It would have been better if they stuck with the original design and didn't strip it of everything interesting.
 
Re: W Hotel

New England School of Law building - proof that not only postwar architecture has contributed to streetscape-killing dullness.
 
Re: W Hotel

czsz said:
New England School of Law building - proof that not only postwar architecture has contributed to streetscape-killing dullness.
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I doubt the building was originally configured that way.
 
Re: W Hotel

I just went back and read through all 49 pages. Such a fun project to watch going up! I remember taking many trips down there to watch the construction the first two years of college.

It's just too bad that it fell short of what could have been spectacular inside and out. The lobby is rather bland for a W and the elevators are even more of a bore. W usually has a play on light (ex. NYC) or has decorative panels (ex. Atlanta) in their elevator cabs. As a whole, it just doesn't speak favorably of what the W brand has to offer. I think that people who love the W Hotel chain really might not enjoy the W Boston. It's the small details that set W Hotels aside from the rest. Honestly, you can get the exact same interior experience (if not better) at the Westin BCEC and that's not a good thing.

Here's one of my favorite shots from a trip to NYC:

W Hotel - Times Square elevator cab

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Instead we got laminate wood walls and fluorescent lighting...
 
Re: W Hotel

Boston02124 said:
new years
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A fine establishment in the bottom left of that image. Why are there not more clubs downtown? Try going into Centerfolds on a Saturday night and there is a line out the door...I will not comment on Glass Slipper, it goes without saying.
 
Re: W Hotel

^ The city geographically constrained "red light" zone type businesses to the combat zone and has been encouraging demolition and redevelopment of the area over the years. Now there is much less of these businesses compared to when I arrived in Boston in 1993.
 
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