BOSTON — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is developing a dual-branded hotel complex in Boston, which will feature its Aloft and Element brands. The 330-room Aloft Boston Waterfront and 180-room Element Boston Waterfront will be located on D Street directly across the street from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
“We look forward to opening this dual-branded Aloft and Element hotel complex as part of the ongoing redevelopment of the South Boston Waterfront, the city’s fast-growing business and innovation district,” says Brian McGuinness, senior vice president of specialty select brands for Starwood.
Aloft Boston Waterfront will include more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, a pool, fitness center and Re:fuel by Aloft, a grab and go food and beverage area. Element Boston Waterfront will offer extended stay lodging, with studios featuring fully equipped kitchens and spa-inspired bathrooms. Facilities will include a fitness center, a pool and approximately 1,000 square feet of meeting space.
The 13-story Aloft Boston Waterfront will be separated from the eight-story Element Boston Waterfront by a hotel drive that runs perpendicular to D Street. The Aloft and Element will share a 120-space parking lot and each hotel will include more than 8,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space.
The hotels are set to open in 2016. Construction on the $158 million project is already underway. RBS Citizens Financial Group and Santander Bank are providing $97 million in financing for the project.
A partnership between majority equity partner Ares Management-controlled funds and CV Properties will own the property, which will be developed on a 5.2-acre site leased from the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA). Starwood Hotels & Resorts will operate the hotels.
“These two highly-anticipated Starwood hotels will create 175 permanent jobs and 510 additional hotel rooms to help meet the rising demand for affordable, high-caliber lodging within walking distance of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center,” says James Rooney, MCCA’s executive director. “This is one of several projects underway that will help keep Boston in the list of top meetings and convention destinations in the world.”
Aloft and Element Boston Waterfront will be less than three miles from Logan International Airport. The dual hotel will be the second Aloft-Element dual hotel development in the Boston area. Aloft and Element Lexington opened in 2008.
The stock price of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide closed at $80.80 per share on Thursday, June 5, up nearly 23 percent from $65.77 per share on June 5, 2013.
— Danielle Everson