South Boston is about to end its change-ingest year ever, and a lot of that change has come along D Street. Think about it: There's the West Square, which promises 225 units with 255 parking spaces and which takes the entire block between C and D streets, from West 1st to West 2nd. And the two-building 411 D Street, which would add 197 apartments. And then there are the hotels planned by the convention center as well as the 236-unit Waterside Place at D and Congress streets, one of the tallest new residential developments in Boston. And there's the new Liberty Wharf at the head of D.
Now! Per Patrick Rosso at Boston.com, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority wants to build two hotels on 5.6 acres at 371-401 D Street, with each holding 250 rooms, plus shared retail and parking. One hotel would be extended-stay, one your regular business-traveler/wedding lodge.
The hotels, which still have to be reviewed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, fall along not only a busy D Street development-wise, but a busy D Street that's crucial to Southie's change precisely because of such development (got it?). D Street's development solves the riddle of linking the ballyhooed coming of the Seaport District with Southie's more traditional interior. Take the development away and you have the makings of two distinct neighborhoods rather than the evolution of one.
· Two Hotels Proposed for D Street [Boston.com]
· Connecting Southie—Brought to You by the Letter D [Curbed Boston]
· The Departed: South Boston to Change Forever This Year [Curbed Boston]
· 411 D Deal Blows Two-Building Southie Project Wide Open [Curbed Boston]
· South Boston to Get Hundreds of Manhattan Apartments [Curbed Boston]