Brown’s Boston Hotel Project Likely To Get City Approval

BOSTON— Robin Brown, who served as manager of the Four Seasons hotel here for 13 years, is now trying his hand at developing. Since leaving Four Seasons in 2000, Brown has been working on his proposed 168-room mixed-use hotel project, which is expected to get Boston city approval to be one of the last pieces of the 40-year-old Prudential Center development puzzle.  The project— which includes a hotel, condos, apartments, and retail stores— is still several months from chosing a flag, but Brown told The Boston Globe, “Clearly, the idea is to do something spectacular… We want to do something unique.” The Globe reported that the project is not expected to be a Four Seasons.  Two years ago, Brown joined up with mega-property-owner Stephen Weiner and Chestnut Hill Mall developer Julian Cohen to form CWB Boylston LLC, which has since been seeking to build on 430,000 square feet of space on Boylston Street, where concrete and blacktop have prevailed along a gaping hole in the streetscape for decades. Brown said he expects to start construction in six to nine months.  With 168 rooms, the planned hotel could be considered “boutiquey,” said Brown. The rest of the two towers is to be given over to 48 condominiums, 58 rental units, and 51,000 square feet of first- and second-floor retail space along Boylston Street.  SOURCE: The Boston Globe