Pandemic won't last forever, right? Developer proposes new hotel on James Hook site, in a city that now has hundreds of empty hotel rooms

SKW Partners today said it will file plans to replace the current James Hook seafood outlet on Atlantic Avenue with a 305-foot-tall hotel.

In a letter of intent filed with the BPDA, the developer said a hotel is just what the currently "underutilized parcel" needs to help liven up a dreary part of the Harborwalk along Boston Harbor. Developers typically submit these letters a month or so before filing more detailed plans.

The letter says nothing about James Hook, but over the six years SKW has been trying to figure out what to put on the site, it had talked of keeping the lobster purveyor on the site, where it currently occupies a relatively small building following a 7-alarm fire that destroyed its previous building there.

The proposed hotel would have no parking on site, but a valet would ferry cars to a nearby public parking facility, according to the letter, which says it is anticipating most guests will use the hotel to explore Boston by foot or public transit.

After the state declared the current Covid-19 emergency, most hotels in Boston shut down. Several later re-opened as pandemic dorms for nearby colleges, including the W Hotel and the Westin in Copley Square. Others have re-opened, but with reduced capacity. Before the pandemic, Boston planners had said the booming city had a shortage of hotel rooms.

Hook Wharf letter of intent (61.2k PDF).