Project has been in the works since well before Covid
In October, developer and former Board of Health member Robert Scarano brought forward an extensive landscaping plan for a long-delayed hotel at 937 North St. The approximately three-acre lot is at the corner of International Drive and North St., across from the entrance to Raytheon. He returned in January for an extension to that permit. That lot, with the permitted use, is is now listed for $2.2 million.
What’s being called “The Residences of 937 North Street,” is a proposed commercial hotel project that has permits in hand for a five-story, 92,000 square foot,132 room hotel. However, the zoning allows for numerous other options, including office or biotech/R&D.
The hotel as planned would include an inground pool, conference center, and 142 off-street parking spaces.
“The original permit was for a business hotel,†said Scarano in October, but market changes drove a shift in focus to “more of a suite.â€
The hotel, first proposed in 2016, was set to be a Hilton property but was long tied up in court. In 2017, an abutter, Marilyn McDonagh, sued, citing traffic and saying the project would devalue her property. Despite having special permits in hand, the build stalled. Then Covid hit. Scarano said the court has found no standing for the litigant related to traffic concerns and cleared the way to restart the build.
Scarano said late last year that he has two potential buyers in the wings and believes a rezoning action at Town Meeting that expanded uses for adjacent properties, though not this lot, may bring out additional interested parties.Â
Lorna Garey
Lorna is a past and current Malden resident, U.S. Army veteran, and longtime tech and community journalist who has written for organizations ranging from the DIA to InformationWeek. In her previous hometown she founded a hyperlocal news site, the Tewksbury Carnation.
Oh yes, let’s just stick a FIVE story hotel on North St. so it can loom over the surrounding RESIDENTIAL neighborhood homes even taller/bigger to match the abomination of the shoehorned development on the corner. The ‘highway ramp sprawl’ continues to creep beyond Andover St. now and infiltrates residential North St. When does it end? Not to mention the person ‘in control’ of this lot is the same one who’s left the Lee House unfinished with empty promises to Town residents that go back over 20 years! Plus we certainly DON’T need another hotel attracting more crime down there. Police cars fly by my house en route nightly and I wish I were exaggerating. With uses BEYOND a hotel allowed there, HERE IS WHERE our Economic Development Committee should STEP IN. The Town should be aggressively marketing /seeking a less disruptive and better alternative/fit for this ‘neighborhood’ lot rather than a hotel! How about the afore mentioned biotech/R&D ? Something that would blend in with both the neighborhood and Raytheon that already exists across the street. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE a 5 story hotel! WE NEED AN ECONOMIC MARKETING PERSON EXPERTISE!
It does seem large for the lot. The design and plantings he described sounded nice, and it might be another badly needed event space, but agree R&D would be a better use in terms of jobs for the town. The success of the Hilton might be a factor.