Boston’s Seaport is getting yet another big hotel, this one a 15-story, 438-room tower directly across D Street from the Thomas M. Menino Convention and Exhibition Center, rounding out what developers are calling a multi-hotel campus beside the existing Element and Aloft properties. Plans call for street-level retail, a landscaped Anchor Street entry plaza, an indoor-outdoor lobby bar and a rooftop amenity, with city and developer filings saying the building will be designed to meet LEED Gold standards and support hundreds of construction and permanent jobs.
The Boston Zoning Commission voted 7-0 on Feb. 11 to adopt the Third Amended and Restated Development Plan for Planned Development Area No. 50 at 371-401 D Street, moving the proposal through another key step in the city’s approval process, according to the Boston Zoning Commission meeting minutes. Planning staff and the design team walked commissioners through the proposal, and supporters including the Carpenters Union and the Massachusetts Lodging Association spoke in favor before the commission closed the hearing and carried the motion.
Project approved near the Menino Center
The developer’s filing outlines a roughly 15-story, 160,000-square-foot hotel with about 438 guest rooms. Parking would rely on the existing surface lot at the site, rather than a new garage, according to local coverage. WCVB highlighted the size of the building and its location directly beside the convention center. The application materials frame the project as a companion to the neighboring hotels instead of a standalone tower.
Part of a larger hotel campus
The plan also calls for a modest rework of the adjacent Element hotel, adding up to roughly 20 more keys there. Combined with the Aloft and Element properties, that change would bring the three-hotel campus to about 968 guest rooms, according to real-estate coverage of the filings. The Real Deal detailed the ownership structure and noted that the parcel has long been earmarked as part of the convention-district hotel strategy.
Design, sustainability and neighborhood benefits
Developers say the project will come with pedestrian upgrades that go beyond the front door, including wider and improved sidewalks, new street trees and a landscaped entry plaza on Anchor Street, along with that indoor-outdoor lobby bar and a rooftop amenity space, according to reporting that summarized the permit filings. The Boston Herald reported those public-facing design promises. City planning documents also list sustainability commitments, including an all-electric building designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, indoor bike parking and space for quarterly community meetings.
Jobs and city contributions
The Planning Department’s summary of the application estimates that the project would support roughly 163 construction jobs and about 102 permanent jobs. It also cites roughly $1.8 million in linkage funding toward affordable housing, plus contributions for workforce training and bikeshare improvements. The submission spells out additional public-realm upgrades along D Street as part of the community benefits package, according to the Boston Planning Department.
Why the rooms matter
Consultants advising the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority have told state and city officials that Boston needs several hundred more hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center before a major Boston Convention & Exhibition Center expansion can be justified, and the new Seaport hotel would move the city closer to that target. The Boston Globe recently outlined consultant recommendations calling for roughly 800 to 1,000 additional committable rooms to underpin any expansion.
Who’s behind it
The project is being advanced by DGH Hotel Partners JV LLC, a joint venture that includes Global Hospitality Investment Group and a global investment manager, on land controlled by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority under a long-standing agreement. The Real Deal reported the ownership and ground-lease context. In media statements, developer Kevin Colket has said the hotel will bring economic activity, jobs and another lodging option for both the city and the commonwealth, according to coverage of the company’s comments carried by the Boston Herald.
Next steps
With zoning in place, the developers now shift to securing remaining approvals, locking down financing and navigating building-permit reviews before any shovels hit the ground. The commission’s minutes record the 7-0 vote but do not list a construction start date, and the development team did not offer a public timeline at the hearing.
