Place
In the not so distant future, the Back Bay neighborhood
of Boston could soon see an exceptional new fixture grace the
Boston skyline. Located at the corner of Stuart and Clarendon
Streets near the border of the Back Bay and South End, this
potential development is to be named 40 Trinity Place. The renowned
hoteliers Gary and Jeffrey Saunders are behind the project along
with developer Jordan Warshaw. These three men have
enthusiastically envisioned a 33-story glass tower which will have
mixed-use purposes.
Some 227 top notch hotel rooms, 115 luxury
condominiums and 3 tasteful restaurants are proposed to be within
this building to be located on the same site as the Boston Common
Hotel & Conference Center, in addition to a section adjacent to the
University Club of Boston. Jeff Saunders, the President of the
Saunders Hotel Group, came forward to comment that, We spent over a
year traveling the country and beyond, visiting four- and five-star
hotels of all shapes and sizes. We arrived at a vision of what
would be perfect for a new hotel-residential building on the edge
of the Back Bay and South End.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has seen quite the
impressive array of proposals come across his desk as of late for
spectacular projects spread throughout all of Boston, is thoroughly
impressed with these plans. Menino most recently spoke on the
matter by saying, Right now, its a proposal that will go through
the neighborhood process, but something has to be done with the
existing building. I like the design, the design is very nice, but
we have to make sure that the community and the Boston
Redevelopment Authority accept the proposal.
Just last week the development team submitted their Draft
Project Impact Report to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. This
filing addresses all hesitations about the project that planners
and activists initially have had about this tower being directly
across the street from the John Hancock Tower. Some plan
alterations have been made as of late with the amount of
condominiums being reduced by 27 to the total 115 number mentioned
above. One fascinating feature of the project will be that the
lobby of the hotel will actually be located on the top floor to
allow for panoramic views of the city in addition to a three-season
roof deck off of it for all to enjoy. It was only two years ago
when the team tasked with this project purchased the property for
$22.6 Million from the John Hancock Life Insurance Company.
Ultimately, the expectation is that after the expected approval has
been granted, construction should commence before the end of 2013;
a very exciting proposition for the city indeed.
More Information: Boston Business Journal
(Article 1), Boston Business Journal
(Article 2)