D Street was always going to play an outsized role in South Boston's changes. The corridor is supposed to connect the thoroughly transformed waterfront (think the Seaport District and its Fan Pier, Pier 4, etc.) with the neighborhood's more traditional interior. The two hotels approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority on Thursday, the ones across from the convention center, are a big part of that connection.
The hotels are comprised of a 330-room Aloft and a 180-room Element, per Casey Ross in The Globe. The $137 million twin development is part of "a broader expansion that would include another hotel of up to 1,000 rooms, public parks, and a doubling of the convention center's exhibit space." Construction is supposed to start before the end of the year.
The hotels join not only a bunch of new inns going up Hub-wide but ongoing and recently completed developments specifically on or around D Street. These include the 225-unit West Square apartment building; the two-building 411 D Street, with 197 apartments; the 236-unit Waterside Place; and Liberty Wharf at the head of D.
· Hotels Approved for Convention Center Area [Globe]
· Inn D-mand! More Development Along Crucial Southie Corridor [Curbed Boston]
· Connecting Southie—Brought to You by the Letter D [Curbed Boston]
· New-Hotels Heatmap: Checking Inn On Hub's Hospitality Boom [Curbed Boston]