News
The Penthouse Hostel
January 18, 2011
| Backpackers who stay in hostels may be on modest budgets, but when they come to Boston's new Hostelling International facility in 2012, they'll find accommodations in a $42M, newly renovated historic landmark building in the heart of the midtown cultural district—walking distance from just about everything. |
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| As Bliznow 2011 wound down Thursday, dozens of hearty Bostonians and guests gathered for the ceremonial start of construction on Hostelling International's new outpost at 25 Stuart St, which it calls the Hub of Boston. We snapped HI's USA board chair Mark Skender and HI New England's executive director Deborah Ruhe marking the start of about 13 months of construction. Suffolk will manage the job that will transform the Dill Building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) into the third-largest hostel in the US. The group expects 46,000 visitors a year, about 60% of them holding foreign passports. (The remainder should be whoever is playing the Red Sox.) |
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| During the reception we snapped HI USA director of hospitalityAaron Chaffee and the adaptive re-use design team: Bergmeyer'sMichael Davis, Stegman & Associates? Janet Stegman, and Bergmeyer's Michelle Stadelman. The new 450-bed building will nearly double Hostelling International's capacity compared to its current site on Hemenway Street. Destined to be the nation's first LEED-certified hostel,it'll feature a green roof, green elevators, and solar hot water heating. The building meets Mayor Menino's sustainability goals and is expected to generate $16M a year in visitor revenues. Meredith & Grew's Leigh Freudenheim repped Hostelling International in the $15M building purchase that closed Dec. 29th. |
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| Joseph Flatley, CEO of the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp leads one of eight entities, public and private, financing the project. They're using $21.5 M in bank financing, $13.7M in new market and historic tax credits, $4.6M in equity, and $2.5M from a capital campaign. To his right is the state secretary of housing and economic development Greg Bialecki, who says the hostel will help keep Boston connected to the world, especially to the youth. It also gives the area an opportunity to showcase its innovation economy clustered in Fort Point, around MGH and in East Cambridge. |
