Developer revives plans for hotel near Broadway T stop

A downtown developer is asking the Boston Planning Department for permission to modify and revive its dormant plans for a hotel at 246-248 Dorchester Ave. in South Boston - in a change request that says the revised plans would make it easier to re-develop a neighboring lot.

The then BPDA approved plans for a, eight-story, 159-room hotel on what is now a car-rental parking lot a couple blocks south of the Broadway Red Line stop in 2018. In a "notification of project change," the Cincotta Co. is asking for permission to put up a slightly narrower building with two floors - with the same building height, however - and ten more rooms and to change the hotel's focus from catering to short-term travelers to an extended-stay hotel.

Based on changes in the hospitality market due to the pandemic, interest rate increases, and construction cost increases, the Proponent submits that the Approved Project must be revised ... in order for its construction to be feasible.

Cincotta adds that by shrinking the building's footprint would create "a more efficient massing and reduce foundation cost" - and let it assign a part of the lot to property it owns next door at 220 Dorchester Ave. - making redevelopment of that parcel more economically feasible. Aiming the hotel at the extended-stay market would also free up some space for the new rooms by eliminating the need for event space in the original plans.

The plans still call for 60 parking spaces.

In the period between 2018 and this year, the Zoning Board of Appeal has granted several extensions beyond its original two-year approval for construction to begin. Because of the proposed changes, Cincotta will have to seek new variances from the board, because of the proposed building's height, density and distance to its rear property line.

An impact advisory group set up by the planning department holds a Zoom meeting on the proposed changes at 6 p.m. on Oct. 30.

246-248 Dorchester Ave. notice of project change.
246-248 Dorchester Ave. filings and meeting schedule.