Brookline reviewing hotel proposed for Route 9

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By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

Bridgewater-based real estate firm Claremont Companies is seeking to build a Hilton Homewood Suites hotel at 111 Boylston Street that would cater to guests seeking lodging for several days.

Company president Elias Patoucheas appeared before Brookline’s Planning Board Thursday along with his design team for the hotel, that would be five stories tall along Route 9, but would step down to four and then three stories at the rear of the property along the MBTA’s Green Line tracks and a residential area.

Previous proposals by Leggat McCall and then GLC Development Resources LLC to build medical office buildings on the long-vacant site have both fallen through in recent years.

Patoucheas said that while the previous developers fell victim to a bad economy, that won’t be an issue for Claremont Companies.

“The cash equity to develop this project is in the bank,” Patoucheas said.

The hotel will cater to guests staying more than three days on average. Most of the parking will be underground, and the hotel will have a pool, meeting room, lounge and a fitness room.

To review the hotel proposal, Brookline’s Planning Board voted Thursday to establish a design advisory team including town officials and neighborhood representatives.

The team will begin is review in July. Planning Board members said they were encouraged by what they see in the preliminary design, though members suggested several alterations to the preliminary design, including some improvements to the façade of the five-story structure that will face Route 9.

“This is a terrific project,” said Planning Board Chairman Mark Zarillo.