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Pandemic won't last forever, right? Developer proposes new hotel on James Hook site, in a city that now has hundreds of empty hotel rooms

SKW Partners today said it will file plans to replace the current James Hook seafood outlet on Atlantic Avenue with a 305-foot-tall hotel.

In a letter of intent filed with the BPDA, the developer said a hotel is just what the currently "underutilized parcel" needs to help liven up a dreary part of the Harborwalk along Boston Harbor. Developers typically submit these letters a month or so before filing more detailed plans.

The letter says nothing about James Hook, but over the six years SKW has been trying to figure out what to put on the site, it had talked of keeping the lobster purveyor on the site, where it currently occupies a relatively small building following a 7-alarm fire that destroyed its previous building there.

The proposed hotel would have no parking on site, but a valet would ferry cars to a nearby public parking facility, according to the letter, which says it is anticipating most guests will use the hotel to explore Boston by foot or public transit.

After the state declared the current Covid-19 emergency, most hotels in Boston shut down. Several later re-opened as pandemic dorms for nearby colleges, including the W Hotel and the Westin in Copley Square. Others have re-opened, but with reduced capacity. Before the pandemic, Boston planners had said the booming city had a shortage of hotel rooms.

Hook Wharf letter of intent (61.2k PDF).

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Comments

in the long-running saga of Boston waterfront development.

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No, the pandemic won't last forever. Nothing lasts forever. Not a bad idea to begin working on this now. By the time the building opens, there could be a travel boom going on.

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Until the RK Greenway is completely walled in by high, high towers.

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hush, you'll upset the pro-density crowd

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Isn't there a city reg prohibiting blocking up the waterfront with tall bldgs Adam? pls research...

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That's exactly the area that should be built up and dense.

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hundreds?? I don't have a number but i would think the current vacancy is closer to 10,000 in metro boston.
events and hotels have been decimated this year

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Any new ideas? Obviously we need them by now.

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Someone's getting rich off this. But the rest of us lose when another unique, historic place gets replaced by a tower.

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While you will pretend you used to visit a fish retailer and will miss it. Let us know when you start visiting the fish warehouses in MIP to recreate the magic.

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The owners of the unique, historic (lol really? a lobster store?) are getting rich off of this. Good for them.

Downtown Boston is about as charming as Dayton, OH anyways, let the developers eat the city.

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The developers will get richer. That's why they're willing to pay the Hook family.

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