JW Capital Moves Ahead With $250M Lewis Wharf Project

BOSTON—Locally-based JW Capital Partners has officially started the approval process with the Boston Redevelopment Authority for its ambitious $250-millon Lewis Wharf waterfront hotel redevelopment project.

Officials with JW Capital tell Globest.com that unlike past failed proposals by other real estate interests for the waterfront site, the plan that calls for the construction of a 277-room luxury hotel at the Atlantic Avenue site will also feature more than 4,000 square feet of meeting space at the hotel property, a significant amount of public open space, as well as expanded river-related amenities.

JW Capital filed its project notification form with the Boston Redevelopment Authority on Sept. 15. Development proposals at the site in the past have sparked local opposition and the latest by JW Capital will likely be no different.

Will Adams, partner with JW Capital, tells Globest.com that his firm's plan is different and will involve a significant amount of public space—125,082 square feet of public outdoor space, as well as a 54,480-square-foot waterfront park, a 3,122-square-foot addition to the Boston Sailing Center and 130 marina slips. The project will also feature a 379-car below grade parking garage that will replace an existing surface parking lot.

Adams tells Globest.com that at present the firm has not selected a flag for the new hotel but is talking with several hotel operators. He says at present the firm is focused on the permitting process and securing the necessary approvals to commence construction. He says the total project cost will be approximately $250 million, including land acquisition costs. JW Capital is currently in contract with Lewis Wharf LP to acquire the 9.03-acres site that consists of Lewis Wharf piers and pavement areas. A significant portion of the property is designated as “water sheet.”

According to previous filings with the BRA, the five-story hotel will consist of two separate buildings connected by an enclosed single-story pavilion. The hotel will total approximately 190,000 square feet.

The timing is right to move forward with the project, Adams says. “It is a spectacular piece of real estate on the Boston waterfront. The market is in the right position to build a project of this scale and at this location,” he adds. Another key factor that prompted the firm to move forward is the fact that the City of Boston is very underserved in terms of hotel offerings and rooms.

If JW Capital can win over stubborn neighborhood opponents, Adams expects the approval process with the BRA to run about 18 months, with initial site work beginning on the venture in either the first or second quarter of 2017 and project completion by the second quarter of 2020. One possible carrot for opponents is that by eliminating the suface parking lot, the project would clear the way for public green space and the waterfront park to extend from Atlantic Avenue across the site to the water's edge. In fact, a new 1,800-linear foot section of Boston's Harborwalk will signal the completion of a key Harborwalk connection between the North End and the Downtown waterfront.

Adams describes the venture as a “spectacular redevelopment and revitalization of an area that is used as a surface parking lot,” he says. “We are going to be taking a surface parking lot and create in excess of 1.25 acres of waterfront parks and spectacular access to the waterfront.”

JW Capital, which was founded in 2011, has been primarily a residential development firm having recently completed The Bradley multifamily development in Alexandria, VA. The company has recently bought and invested in multifamily properties in Brookline and Brighton, MA. The company has also acquired the commercial office building adjacent to the Lewis Wharf project site at One Lewis Wharf where the company maintains its headquarters.

The Lewis Wharf project is the first hotel project venture for the firm. Adams says that the company is looking to invest in other residential and hotel projects in the Boston-DC corridor.

According to figures supplied by JW Capital, the project upon stabilization, will generate approximately $2 million in annual property taxes on its hotel and restaurant spaces, approximately $1.9 million in hotel occupancy tax revenues, and approximately $90,000 in meals tax revenues for the city of Boston. Additionally, Lewis Wharf will generate approximately $850,000 in annual Convention Center tax. For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, JW Capital estimates the project will bring in approximately $1.79 million in hotel occupancy tax revenues and about $750,000 in state meals tax revenues. The project is expected to generate about $7.4 million in combined city and state taxes annually and linkage payments of $890,890.