Jan. 16–The hotel market is booming in the Boston area and developers are eyeing Brookline. The town's proximity to the Longwood medical district and colleges, its local retail areas like Coolidge Corner and affluent residents are all factors driving developers' interest.
Home to the Courtyard Marriott on Webster Street, the Holiday Inn on Beacon Street, the Homewood Suites on Boylston Street and the soon-to-open AC Hotel in Cleveland Circle, Brookline is fielding proposals for other hotels.
According to Economic Development Director Kara Brewton, the Hilton Garden Inn has been approved for a site on Route 9 by Brookline Avenue but has not yet pulled the building permit.
A proposal to build a hotel at the current Holiday Inn site has petered out, according to Brewton. This leaves two other proposals for hotels in the Coolidge Corner area.
Chestnut Hill Realty is proposing an Upscale Select Service hotel in addition to apartments at the Durgin Garage on Waldo Street — termed the Waldo/Durgin site — and another developer has proposed a hotel at 1299 Beacon St.
According to Margaret Murphy, a spokesperson for Chestnut Hill Realty, Coolidge Corner is a prime spot for a hotel given the proximity to retailers, public transportation and surrounding colleges.
When analyzing the need for a hotel in a certain area, developers also look at the type of hotel needed. Developers have a range of hotel-types to choose from, from hotels with grand ballrooms and restaurants, to ones with a smaller common space and food service, according to Murphy.
"You need hotels to support all kinds of things," said Murphy.
At the Waldo/Durgin site, Chestnut Hill Realty is proposing an Upscale Select Service hotel that will not offer large meetings spaces for events, but will likely have a small gym and a modest food service, Murphy said. She noted that the design is not yet finalized and the developer is working with the Coolidge Corner Study Committee.
While Coolidge Corner is attractive to developers, Brewton is doubtful of the need for two hotels there.
"I would be very surprised if a hotel opened up a both 1299 Beacon and Waldo Durgin," Brewton said.
Both proposals are still under review.
Brookline is not the only community seeing an increase in hotel proposals. According to Brewton this is happening all over the Boston area.
"The hotel market is at a highest point of construction phase," she said.
Hotels are a good source of revenue for Brookline — the town collects both a 1.6 percent real estate tax and a 6 percent hotel tax.
"The town really likes hotels because they pay a lot of taxes," said Murphy.
In addition, Brookline sees hotels as a way to boost daytime foot traffic in commercial areas like Coolidge Corner and Brookline Village.
"If we could increase daytime traffic to our independent retailers they could stay in business longer," said Brewton.
Hoping to take advantage of this, the town started writing zoning in 2009 to encourage hotel uses, Brewton said. The best way to do this was through the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) bylaw.
According to Brewton, hotels work well within height limits because, like residences, they can usually fit in another floor, which commercial spaces like offices can't do.
When it comes to evaluating the need for a hotel in a certain area, the town looks at the average room rate of other area hotels, the occupancy rate and market projections, according to Brewton. However, when evaluating hotel proposals, zoning is the best tool.
"That's the biggest leverage point that we have," said Brewton.
According to Brewton, the construction boom of hotels will eventually end. The market slowed a bit in the 2016-2017 period, but market consultants have said that the market is still very strong, Brewton said.
