Largest Seaport hotel to add 1,000 rooms across from convention center

The Massachusetts Port Authority’s board on April 13 approved plans for a hotel complex on state-owned land at D and Summer streets in the Seaport District just across from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

The development is due to have more than 1,000 rooms as well as a 25,000-square-foot ballroom—Boston’s second-largest, behind only one in the convention center itself—and possibly a skating rink above street level, per the Globe’s Jon Chesto.

The $550 million project, which Omni Hotels & Resorts will spearhead in partnership with local developer the Davis Cos. and hotelier Robin Brown, will also include 120,000 square feet of meeting space, 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and an 8,500-square-foot spa and fitness center—all in two 20-story towers.

Such a complex is expected to enliven that stretch of D Street considerably—which is one of the aims of the Elkus Manfredi-designed project—and it also solves a nagging problem for the convention center: a dearth of nearby hotel rooms. The hub has been losing trade shows because it can’t promise lodging within walking distance.

The shortage of rooms has also been helping hold up a long-planned expansion of the center.

The hotel, which will be connected to the convention center by an existing tunnel, is scheduled to open by early 2021, with construction commencing in 2018.

• Massport clears way for 1,000-room South Boston hotel [Globe]
• Hotel Shortage Means No Boston Convention Center Expansion for Foreseeable Future [Curbed Boston]
• New Boston convention center hotel appears to move forward [Curbed Boston]