Developer Revives Long-Planned 15-Story Hotel Project In Bulfinch Triangle
An 8-year-old plan for a hotel in Bulfinch Triangle that was never built has been brought back to the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
Woburn-based Somnath Hospitality filed a Small Project Change form last week asking for the agency to reapprove its 2014 proposal for a 15-story, 47K SF hotel, Banker & Tradesman first reported.
The only change to the initial proposal would be an increase in the number of guest rooms from 90 to 98. The hotel's amenities would include a small café and a basement fitness center.
The hospitality developer received BPDA approval in 2014 and secured building permits in 2015. After not moving forward with construction, the developer came before the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal in 2019 to seek a one-year extension for the approval, Universal Hub reported at the time.
The developer's attorney said in 2019 that it sought the extension in part because it had trouble finding an operator for the building, but it later struck a deal with Choice Hotels to open a second Cambria Hotel. In this newest filing, it isn't clear if the hotel will be operated by a major chain.
The project was halted again in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, with the zoning board granting another extension until February 2022, according to BPDA filings. With that extension expired and the hotel market finally bouncing back, the developer has filed for reapproval.
Somnath bought the property, including a one-story building that formerly housed Bank of America, for $3M in January 2014, according to the Boston Business Journal. The developer owns two other hotels: the Hampton Inn across from Lechemere Station and the Comfort Inn in Woburn.
The West End neighborhood has seen major changes in the past seven years with HYM Investment Group's One Congress and Boston Properties and Delaware North Cos.' The Hub on Causeway. The RMR Group also has plans to add a 700-foot office tower in the area.
