A public meeting on development at 1154 Broadway – a vacant lot in Teele Square nicknamed “The Pit” – was held Monday as a first step in the process of securing permits for the site’s use for an eight-story, 99-room hotel.
It will be the second round of permitting for the site under the same owners since the origins of The Pit in 2011, when fire devastated several buildings at the site. Plans for a 75-room, six-story hotel on the site were approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals in 2018 but timed out.
The development team was represented on Monday by architect Will Chalfant, attorney Adam Dash and property manager and applicant Binoj Pradhan. The meeting was sponsored by councilor at-large Kristen Strezo, who took on the project after Judy Pineda Neufeld stepped down as Ward 7 councilor on June 30.
Pradhan is brother to Anuj Pradhan, who alongside 1154 Broadway Realty Trust has owned the deed to the property since 2015. Laxmi Pradhan and Jharana Pradhan are trustees.
Parking, bike use and Hilton
The project’s development team presented plans May 28 for the resized hotel with top- and ground-floor dining and valet parking. In an update of the plans on Monday, Chalfant included details of a basement garage with the capacity to fit 35 cars via a set of lifts that would be operated only by valet staff.
Room for outdoor bike parking, a city requirement, was also added. In the basement will be bikes – probably branded with the hotel’s name – for guest use, Chalfant said.
The development team is in conversation with Hilton as a potential operator of the site, Chalfant and Dash said, though the hotel might not get Hilton branding. A partnership with Tufts as part of Hilton’s graduate hotel line could be in consideration too, they said. No deal has been finalized.
Residents express concern
Several residents said they were excited to see development moving along. “Frankly, anything is much better than having a pit in Teele Square,” said one resident, Ronald McCollam. The hotel would benefit nearby businesses too, McCollam said.
But some residents disapproved of Hilton’s involvement, which they said clashed with the development team’s characterizations of the building as “boutique.”
“The Hilton will call the shots there. It will not be a boutique hotel,” said Andrew Puglia, who served as Ward 7 alderman from 1974-1983.
“I will submit a zoning amendment that will tie this project up every meeting of every month of every year, and if necessary, I will litigate it,” Puglia said, though he said that he doesn’t currently have standing to sue. Puglia was disbarred as an attorney after conviction in a 1990s embezzlement case.
Dash said that the two new floors are necessary to make the project “financially feasible.” That makes Hilton a necessity: “There aren’t a lot of hotel operators, I think, who would operate an eight-story hotel who’s not a chain,” he later said.
Variances and special permits
Some residents expressed concern that the increase to eight stories is unnecessary or unattainable. The area is zoned for a four-story limit. The development team will not seek to amend that – something discussed in May – and will instead seek two variances for the height difference, Dash said.
Five total variances will be sought for the site, as well as two special permits and site plan approval, he said.
Chalfant estimated a minimum of 12 months for construction. Construction would follow permitting, which executive director of the Mayor’s Office for Strategic and Community Development Tom Galligani estimated in May would take six to 12 months.
“After 10 years of owning it, I’d prefer they go for something that’s more of a safe bet that we can count on,” said Michael Murray, a candidate for Ward 7 councilor whose campaign focuses on The Pit, in a Tuesday Instagram post.
Candidate for Ward 7 Wilbert Pineda also posted that he was present at the event. Councilor at-large candidate Ari Iaccarino was also present.
Further studies on traffic, soil
Residents expressed concern that the hotel would increase traffic, limit parking availability and obstruct or endanger bus stops and crosswalks.
Dash and Chalfant said that they expected most hotel guests to arrive via rideshare, limiting the need for parking beyond the hotel’s valet. A traffic study was performed in April 2018; they said it would be revised or replaced in the course of permitting.
In parallel, the city will conduct roadwork along Broadway between Clarendon and Alewife Brook Parkway; construction was to begin in late summer, city staff said in June. The project will include the consolidation of North Street and Stop & Shop bus stops, installation of bike racks and benches, and more signs for bikers.
Dash also said that an environmental study would be conducted once approvals were granted, responding to concerns raised Monday and in May that the former presence of a dry cleaner on the site had made the soil toxic.
The process ahead
The development team will use community feedback to craft an application to the Urban Design Commission, Dash said. The commission will facilitate a meeting for community viewing, though feedback won’t be allowed. A second neighborhood meeting allowing feedback will be held later, when the results of the commission process is presented.
An application for city approval will follow. The Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board will eventually also hold public meetings focused on the requested variances and permits, respectively.
The development team is taking inquiries via the project’s website and said meeting materials would be posted there as well.
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