BOSTON
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is closing a deal to take by eminent domain land in Boston’s Seaport District where it seeks to build hundreds of hotel rooms, the first step toward a sizeable expansion of the massive convention complex, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.
The authority would spend more than $30 million to take a rectangular lot for the new hotel rooms, across the street from Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the source said. The 5.5-acre parcel is owned by Intercontinental Real Estate Corp.
Officials with the authority have long argued that the lack of hotel rooms around the convention center is keeping large trade shows from booking there because their sponsors want attendees to be able to stay close to the Seaport complex.
The development of the hotel rooms would pave the way toward a broader $2 billion expansion of the convention center complex that would also include another large hotel and a doubling of its exhibit space.
Courtesy of The Boston Globe
