A proposal to construct a 139-room hotel facility at 200 Second Street, positioned behind the Mystic Mall, is encountering resistance from municipal leadership as a Planning Board hearing approaches on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
City Council President Leo Robinson announced his intention to oppose the initiative at the upcoming Planning Board session. “I just don’t think it’s the right area for a hotel,” he said. “We have a lot going on there. You have the students there and the traffic there and I don’t even know if the site is big enough for the use. I think if we hold off and look for an alternative use, we might be better off.”
“fblikebutton_button”
Baywood Hotels, led by Neil Patel, has submitted the proposal with an estimated construction cost of approximately $18 million. The location at 200 Second Street formerly served as the base of operations for Dave El, a limousine service previously owned by Scott Solombrini.
City Manager Tom Ambrosino has expressed cautious interest, previously indicating conditional support contingent upon postponing the building permit application until 2018. His hesitation stems from concerns about oversaturation in the local hotel market and a desire to observe the progress of the new Broadway hotel situated along the Chelsea/Revere border before additional accommodations are developed.
According to Robinson, certain planning initiatives must reach completion before the city should authorize hotel development in this predominantly industrial and commercial sector. “For me, it comes down to me feeling like this is spot zoning,” he said. “We have the Waterfront Study going on and the Re-Imagining Broadway study going on and we have a housing study out as well. My call last January was for us to do a Master Plan. I think we need to put some things on hold until these studies are done and then we can start putting the Master Plan together so we have an idea of what we are looking for and not be in a position of jumping at the first thing that comes our way when maybe we can get something better.”
The Planning Board will convene at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24 in City Hall to review the hotel proposal. By Seth Daniel