DGH Hotel Partners Plans Third Hotel Near Convention Center

DGH Hotel Partners already operates two hotels in Boston’s Seaport district. Why not a third?

The company, which owns the adjacent Aloft and Element hotels, filed a letter of intent with the city’s planning department to build a 438-key hotel at 391 D Street, the Boston Business Journal reported.

The site of the proposed 15-story, 160,000-square-foot hotel is next to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and is owned by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, from which DGH leases its existing two hotels. The city has been looking to add up to 1,000 hotel rooms to the area to support plans to expand the convention center.

“The project will enhance the block with economic activity, improved pedestrian connectivity, and local job opportunities,” DGH said in a statement.

The joint venture behind the hotel proposal includes Global Hospitality Investment Group, according to Banker & Tradesman. GHIG is run by Kevin Colket, a former executive at Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group.

Should the proposal be approved, the hotel would dwarf the size of each of the other two hotels DGH operates in the area. Together, the two hotels offer 510 rooms — though this proposal would also add another 20 rooms to the properties. The new hotel would be the 13th-largest in the entire city.

Other hotels are coming to the area. At the end of last year, Rockpoint, Highgate and hotelAVE landed a $115 million financing package for the Renaissance Boston Seaport Hotel at 606 Congress Street. Barings provided the financing for the 471-key luxury hotel, a deal arranged by Eastdil Secured.

The Greater Boston area saw revenue per available room finish 2024 about 17 percent higher than 2019, according to HVS Boston. The occupancy rate was 74.1 percent, slightly ahead of 2019’s rate.

— Holden Walter-Warner