Omni to Develop 1,050-Key Hotel on Boston’s Waterfront

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Molly Phillips, Omni Hotels and Resorts

Omni Resorts and Hotels has been chosen by the Massachusetts Port Authority Board of Directors to develop and build a 1,050-plus room hotel on Summer Street in South Boston’s Waterfront District.

“We would like to thank the Massachusetts Port Authority Board of Directors for their decision, as well as all our partners involved,” Molly Phillips, Omni Resorts and Hotels’ ‎corporate director of communications, told Commercial Property Executive. “We are looking forward to the next steps to making this development a reality as we believe it will continue to help elevate and enhance the already great city of Boston. We will have further details to share in the near future.”

The hotel will be situated on two acres and will consist of two towers with 1,054 total rooms. It will feature a spa and fitness center, an event terrace, elevated pool deck, a fine dining establishment, casual dining, bar, and a variety of retail venues. It will boast more than 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including a 25,000-square foot grand ballroom, the largest in any hotel in Boston. There will also be 40,000 square feet of retail space and a pedestrian bridge between the hotel lobby and the South Boston Waterfront Transportation Center.

The project is located directly across the street from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Omni Resorts and Hotels was one of six proposals being considered after was among three finalists. A selection panel reviewed and ranked the proposals based on a number of criteria and Omni’s proposal came out on top.

The company worked with a team of highly experienced local real estate professionals from New Boston Hospitality to create a proposal featuring an innovative hotel and mixed-use design concept. The concept is focused largely on public amenities, along with a pioneering investment structure for non-profits and minority and women owned-businesses and individual investors that will share in the revenues of the new development.

According to Phillips, Omni will make a $550 million investment in the project, which is expected to bring 700-1,000 permanent jobs to the area, not including the expected 1,100 construction jobs.

“As Boston’s Seaport continues to develop and bring new economic growth and prospects to the City of Boston, we look forward to what this important project will mean for the neighborhood,” Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said in a prepared release.

The hotel is expected to open in early 2021 and will be a one-of-a-kind, two-tower, luxury Omni property.