Omni Boston Hotel At The Seaport

450 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210

Thesis

At the time of making this investment, the Boston hospitality market was performing very well and demand was being reinforced by the new development and growth taking place in the Seaport District, and more specifically the demand for rooms driven by the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC).
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority had announced plans to consolidate all of Boston’s convention business in the BCEC, which was also slated for expansion.
The addition of needed hotel rooms was required to enhance Boston’s appeal as a convention market on the national level thereby further reinforcing the demand for a new convention-oriented headquarters hotel.

Execution

In response to an RFP process initiated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort), we assembled a team of top tier designers, consultants, and contractors to build a 1,054-room new full-service hotel on land owned by MassPort across from the BCEC.
Our team included Omni Hotels & Resorts (Omni), a premier operator of high-end convention center hotels in the United States, which committed to invest 50% of the required equity for the project; a group of individual minority investors in the Boston community who invested in the joint venture assembled to develop the hotel; and a number of local minority- and women-owned businesses at all levels of the design, construction, and execution.
The convention center hotel RFP was the first implementation of the so-called “MassPort Model,” a public RFP process which bases a full 25% of its evaluation of a respondent’s submission on the strength of their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) program throughout the project capitalization and execution.
Based on the diversity of our team, the strength of our sponsorship, and the creativity of the design and program, MassPort designated our joint venture to develop the site.
We entered into a 90-year ground lease with MassPort and commenced construction of a 1,054-room hotel in two towers with a common meeting/events/amenity podium that includes 120,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space, featuring Boston’s largest hotel ballroom; 30,000 square feet of retail space; a spa, a pool, and outdoor and indoor lounge areas; covered access to both parking and public transportation; and an underground tunnel to the BCEC.
The hotel was completed and opened shortly after Labor Day 2021.

Asset Class

Other Investments

Fund

Fund III

Location

Boston, MA

Keys

1,054 Keys