New owner of large East Boston eyesore says it's ready to rebuild it as soon as city grants final permits

The Zoning Board of Appeal today granted the owner of East Boston's infamous eyesore at 155 Porter St. another year to begin turning what is now just a hulking shell of a building into an actual hotel.

Jamsan Hotel Management's lawyer, Richard Lynds, however, said the project could begin sooner than that, because the company is "ready to start construction" and is only awaiting final review by ISD before beginning. Zoning permission for the proposed 123-room hotel was set to expire March 15.

The former factory was gutted in 2016 by a previous owner, which then stopped work and left the interior exposed to the elements as plastic sheeting separated and began to flap in the wind. Jamsan did get rid of the flapping sheeting and boarded up the building, Lynds said.

The zoning board gave Jamsan more time in 2018 to complete the project, after it bought the building from the Loftel hotel chain. Lynds said Jamsan ran into issues related to moving telecommunications equipment on the roof of the structure.