Sept. 16–A Woburn firm plans a $30 million, 90-room boutique hotel in the Bulfinch Triangle area near North Station, adding to the boom of approved and proposed development there.
Somnath Hospitality wants to replace a vacant one-level former bank branch at 104 Canal St. with a new 15-story, luxury hotel with six two-story penthouse suites.
“We think that’s a great location because it’s near TD (Garden), it’s near Faneuil Hall (Marketplace), it’s near Mass. General Hospital,” said Vincent Cortina, a Somnath representative. “It will not only get business travelers, it will get tourists. There’s plenty of amenities in the neighborhood for guests.”
The hotel would have a lobby and small cafe on the first floor, with a guest fitness center below, and valet service for off-site parking.
Bounded by Causeway, North Washington, Market and Merrimac streets, Bulfinch Triangle is a popular area for development now, with plans for other nearby hotels already approved. In December, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved plans by Delaware North Cos. and Boston Properties for the $950 million redevelopment of the old Boston Garden site to include almost 500 housing units, a 25-story office tower, 306-room hotel, a Star Market and other retail. Boston Development Group’s plans for The Merano project, across from TD Garden, include a 210-room Courtyard Marriott and housing. Nearby, the $2.2 billion, 2.9 million-square-foot Government Center garage redevelopment calls for housing, office and retail space, and 200 hotel rooms.
“It’s a great time to be building hotels in Boston, and that area continues to be an up-and-coming part of the city,” said Matt Arrants, executive vice president of Pinnacle Advisory Group, a Boston hospitality consulting firm. “Boston (hotels are) performing at record levels, so it can certainly use more rooms.”
Somnath owns and manages a Hampton Inn in Cambridge and Comfort Inn in Woburn.
Somnath’s new project has the blessing of the Downtown North Association, a neighborhood group. “This development involves a crucial and visible Canal Street site, located on the main Bulfinch Triangle thoroughfare that will soon link the major developments … approved for … the former Garden and … Government Center garage,” it said in a letter to the BRA last week. “From both an urban design and a community perspective, it is important that this location be more fully redeveloped for a higher and better use, and the proposed hotel use clearly qualifies.”
