New England Development Consortium Buys Taj Boston Hotel

The Taj Boston in the city’s Back Bay will retain its name.

BOSTON—Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has closed on the sale of the Taj Boston hotel to a consortium that includes New England Development. Other members of the consortium that acquired the 90-year-old 273-key hotel include: Eastern Real Estate, Rockpoint Group, Lubert-Adler and Highgate. No financial details of the transaction were released by either the buyer or the seller. The consortium reached a sales agreement to acquire the hotel earlier this year. On May 16, Indian Hotels Co. in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., stated that its Board of Directors that day approved a proposal to allow United Overseas Holding Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the company in the United States, to sell its interest in the Taj Boston “at a consideration not being lower than US$125 million to a third party, subject to negotiations and execution of suitable agreements.” Taj Hotels acquired the former Ritz-Carlton Boston in late 2006 for $170 million. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces will retain its brand presence in Boston and will continue to manage the hotel through a long-term management services agreement with the new ownership. New England Development, Eastern Real Estate and Highgate will serve as asset managers of the property. Rakesh Sarna, MD and CEO, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces says that the sale was in line with Taj’s global business strategy: “The U.S. remains an important market for us and we are committed to our presence which we have built over the past decade in key cities like New York, San Francisco and Boston,” he says. “We are excited about our relationship with our new partners, who are all recognized leaders in real estate development and have deep roots and expertise in this market.” Stephen R. Karp, chairman of New England Development, adds “We are thrilled to join with Eastern Real Estate, Rockpoint, Lubert-Adler and Highgate in acquiring this legendary hotel property—located in one of the country’s most famous shopping districts. Taj Boston is an internationally acclaimed hotel due to its rich heritage, superb location and grand architecture. We look forward to making further improvements to this legendary hotel so it becomes the focal point of Boston’s cultural activities.”