Saunders, Jurys Doyle Clinch $14M Deal With City For New Boston Hotel

BOSTON— Local hoteliers The Saunders Hotel Group and Ireland-based Jurys Doyle Hotel Group, who have forged an alliance to develop the landmark former police headquarters building here into a 220-room luxury hotel, presented a symbolic check for $14 million June 27 to Mayor Thomas Menino to seal the deal for the city-owned property. Speaking at the morning ceremony held on site at 154 Berkeley St. in the Back Bay section, Jeffrey Saunders, president/CEO of SHG, told the assembled crowd: “In keeping with our Saunders Hotel Group culture, our tagline of ‘Protecting the Past and Preserving the Future,’ could not be more appropriate for this project. This beautiful building will be restored to its original splendor with an additional two floors and 220 rooms, to further support the needs of the city in supplying hotel rooms for corporate demand, leisure demand, and of course, the new convention center. The building could have been redeveloped into condos, offices or retail, but the Mayor had the foresight to recognize the need for more hotel rooms in this city. “ The project also is expected to help unify two of the city’s neighborhoods, Back Bay and the South End, as the property straddles both neighborhoods. Pat McCann, chief executive of Dublin-based JDHG, noted “we’ve been here many times on business; we’re now coming back to take anchor in the city… we will protect and honor the building because it has great historical value to the city and we understand a lot about that, particularly from our development in Europe where we have a number of historic buildings in our portfolio. So we understand what’s needed, even at this stage.” Currently Jurys Doyle is the largest hotel group in Ireland and has 37 properties open/under construction. McCann expected to start work on the building in September and stressed “Everywhere we operate a property, we become part of that community because we feel we owe something to the community that we take something out of.” The proceeds of the sale, which was handled through the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development, will be dedicated to affordable housing for the area. The division is overseen by Charlotte Golar Richie, who also serves as chief of housing for the city. In her address to the crowd, she noted: “It’s truly a banner day for affordable housing… Never before has our Mayor made such an enormous contribution of a piece of valuable, city-owned property to support the cause of affordable housing.” She added the $14 million check represented only a part of a $33 million commitment by the Mayor of city resources to that housing effort. “Getting to this day has not been easy,” said Richie. “In addition to the twists and turns this project has taken over the past couple of years, the entire sale was put at great risk because of the events of Sept. 11. The event made the travel industry too risky to finance such a project. But we, and the Saunders-Jurys team persevered. We found solutions to unexpected problems. We worked with neighboring residents, community groups and businesses to ensure that the project contributed to the quality of life in Copley Square. We worked out solutions to the financing crisis from Sept. 11, and today we see the fine results of our labor.” “Not only does the sale create revenue to investing housing,” said the Mayor, “it also creates 200 jobs and 220 much-needed hotel rooms, not to mention the revenue it will create in property, hotel and mails tax for a year. This sale really is a success for all of us.” Menino noted the Saunders-Jurys Doyle effort also would see the creation of a “mini-museum” incorporating police memorabilia and artifacts to commemorate the “proud history of building and the Boston police.” The Mayor noted the hotel was the third lodging project in the city in as many months. “This doesn’t happen in any other city in America; it only happens in Boston,” he boasted, “because it’s an attractive city to develop in, because t