Regions Northeast | Boston
Boston’s Ames Building to Be Reborn as Boutique Hotel
June 20, 2008
By: Paul Rosta, Senior Associate Editor

How do you freshen up a landmark 19th-century Boston skyscraper? One way is to give it a $75 million makeover and turn it into a boutique hotel.

Morgans Hotel Group Co., Normandy Real Estate Partners and Ames Hotel Partners said this week that they will open a 115-key hotel property in downtown Boston during the third quarter of next year. The subject of their transformation is the Ames Building, a 119-year-old structure near Beacon Hill and the Washington Street Mall. Containing elements of Byzantine and Romanesque styles, the Ames Building is still one of the East Coast’s tallest masonry structures.

Officials from Morgans and Normandy could not be reached for comment today, but in a statement this week, the developers cited the Ames Building’s landmark status and its location near popular attractions as Boston Common and Faneuil Hall as reasons for their interest in the property.

Announcement of the Ames project marks a second milestone this month for hotel owner and operator Morgans, which announced that it had obtained financing for a $760 million expansion of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Morgans is developing projects in Miami Beach, Chicago, Manhattan, and Palm Springs, Calif. As owner and developer, Morgans has a 35 percent stake in the project. UBS is providing a $46.5 million construction loan to Normandy, the project’s majority financial partner.

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