A Flotel Could Anchor At Boston’s Seaport

In the quest to breathe life into a dilapidated pier on the edge of the Seaport, one proposal calls for hotel rooms with arguably the closest waterfront views in town. 

The Boston Planning & Development Agency is looking to revitalize Dry Dock No. 4, an unused pier behind the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion. It was pitched as an ideal spot for a helipad in Boston’s quest to land General Electric’s headquarters, but those plans fell through after neighbors complained of potential noise pollution. Entrepreneurs Brent Johnstone and Tim Allcott have established the Boston Dockside Group and propose docking a cruise ship next to the pier and outfitting it with 300 to 500 hotel rooms, the Boston Globe reports. 

“We’re going to try to get as creative as we can to make sure that we make it a fun place for people to go,” Johnstone told the Globe. “It will provide stunning views of the city.”

The proposal calls for converting the pier into a marine terminal with water taxi service as well as space for recreational boating. The Trustees of Reservations had floated a proposal of parkland at the pier in 2017 but have since focused efforts on the other side of the neighborhood in Fort Point. Boston Dockside’s proposal still encourages open space via an extension of the Harborwalk. 

The hotel on a ship proposal comes as the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, the operator of the nearby Boston Convention Center Authority, has called for more hotel rooms in the area to accommodate conventiongoers. A 1,054-room Omni Hotel is going up across from the convention center, which is said to be losing business due to a lack of hotel rooms within walking distance of the facility.