Davis Square Hotel

[pbockelman.livejournal.com]

For those of you interested in the proposal by the city to solicit bids for a hotel in Davis Square, a neighbor has set up a web site that tries to collect information in one place. It is http://www.herberthotel.net

An extensive discussion took place in this group here: http://davis-square.livejournal.com/3091944.html

I believe an advisory committee - made up of some really good people - is supposed to meet this week to review proposals.

According to the RFP, the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen are supposed to make their decisions in February/March. But Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said there will be a full community process and that a decision isn't likely until May! That seems reasonable.

UPDATE:
The Davis Square Hotel Technical Advisory Committee had a first meeting Friday, 2/22.The committee agreed that it would be important to hear from residents about their top priorities with respect to the hotel development before recommending a developer to the Mayor and full Board of Aldermen.

The first community meeting is scheduled for:
TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2013 at 6:00 -- 7:30 pm at the COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH on COLLEGE AVE.

PLEASE HELP GET THE WORD OUT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.

Comments

[ron_newman]

friendly moderator note

If you edit your post to put http:// in front of the website, LJ will turn it into a live clickable link.
(Like this: http://www.herberthotel.net )

[laryu.livejournal.com]

If I read the website correctly, it was setup by someone who is on the Mayor's technical advisory committee. And the site states the committee's charter as "The Mayor has appointed a 'Technical Advisory Committee' to evaluate the bids and select the one that best meets the criteria spelled out in the RFP." Just want us all to understand that the site's owner will be helping to pick a development option - not helping to decide whether development should happen in the first place.

[ron_newman]

The HerbertHotel.net website was created by my across-the-street neighbor at the corner of Day and Orchard, Rebecca Chase. She is now on the advisory committee because she insisted that there be neighborhood input. She and I were among the local citizens who showed up at the outdoor "pre-bidder's conference" on January 15.

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

So Somerville is getting 2 hotels now that are less than a mile apart? The one on Beacon St (Beacon and Somerville Ave) sounds like a done deal by the way...

More info:

http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BeaconSt369-371.pdf

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

They're both going to be relatively small, and both close to the Cambridge line, so I believe the market can support this fairly well (and from experience in various jobs, Cambridge has a serious shortage of hotel rooms for about half the year).