Jeff Saunders, president and chief operating officer of Saunders Hotel Group did not return calls by presstime but he is quoted as saying that the financing source is unconventional. Further details were not made public.

The project, which will cost an estimated $50 million, involves renovating a former police headquarters here into the 200-room hotel. The company purchased the seven-story, 73,250-sf building this past March for $14 million from the city. Proceeds from the sale will be used by the city's Department of Neighborhood Development to fund mixed-income housing in Boston.

Saunders still needs approval from the city Zoning Board of Appeals to add a four-story addition on the existing seven-story building and a 12-story rear addition, as well as to change the building's legal occupancy to a hotel and restaurant. Saunders' already operates the Lenox Hotel and Copley Square Hotel here and the new Comfort Inn & Suites Boston Airport in Revere.