According to The Bulfinch Companies, Inc., the city planning board has approved an amendment to the Master Plan Special Permit for 400,000 s/f that will include two new office/bioscience/laboratory buildings, a 456-car parking garage, and an urban, contemporary, 150-room hotel at Cambridge Discovery Park.
Cambridge Discovery Park, a 27-acre campus, is situated on Rte. 2 in West Cambridge and is near the Alewife MBTA Red Line Station. The master-planned park of 820,000 s/f consists of two office/bioscience buildings, a 650-car parking garage, and is home to Forrester Research's world headquarters, Genocea Biosciences, and the Harvard Smithsonian Institution. As the city's third largest campus, after MIT and Harvard, the Park will move into its final stage of construction that will include a modern, European-styled hotel which is anticipated to begin construction in the spring.
"With Cambridge being an extremely tight market, Bulfinch can deliver two new office, bioscience, and laboratory type buildings that are in high demand among innovative tenants looking to make Cambridge their home." said Robert Schlager, president of Bulfinch. "The urban-designed hotel will be a tremendous amenity to this world-class development and the community, and we look forward to completing construction of this final phase."
The revisions to the approved master-plan include a 4-story, 82,400 s/f, 150-room hotel situated along rte. 2 that will be designed for modern travelers looking for contemporary hospitality and amenities. The Planning Board's decision to approve the hotel also garnered positive feedback from the community. A new hotel at the Park will bring much anticipated amenities to both tenants at the Park and the surrounding community including guest rooms, restaurant, additional fitness space, meeting space, swimming pool, and more. Furthermore, hotel use demands less parking and lessens traffic during peak hours making a positive impact to the community.
During the hearings for the permit approvals, several Cambridge Planning Board members and Cambridge residents expressed their support for the hotel. With the closing of The Inn at Harvard two years ago and various renovations taking other rooms off the market, many noted that a hotel in West Cambridge was much needed. This new hotel will be a welcome edition to the neighborhood, leading one planning board member to comment: "I'm really excited. I've long awaited a [new] hotel in West Cambridge. Often times we have families visiting and it's really been a struggle to find a hotel in the area."
In 2000, Bulfinch acquired the former Arthur D. Little site in West Cambridge and transformed the 30+ acres of defunct industrial buildings along with an abundance of open air parking lots into an award-winning, state-of-the-art green campus along the Little River and theAlewife Reservation. Once complete, the development will consist of five 6-story office and laboratory buildings, 2 parking garages and a four-story hotel. Cambridge Discovery Park currently hosts numerous amenities including a fitness center and studio, a full-service cafeteria, Zipcar, Zagster (a bike-sharing program), bike paths, and a footpath and shuttle service the Alewife MBTA.