WOBURN, MA—A partnership of the Davis Companies of Boston and the Rubicon Companies has acquired the 344-key Hilton hotel here on Forbes Road. The new ownership plans to spend approximately $15 million on upgrades.
Construction is to begin sometime in the fourth quarter of 2016. The Davis-Rubicon partnership reportedly acquired the hotel from Columbia Sussex Corp. of Crestview Hills, KY for $32.1 million, according to a report in the Boston Business Journal, which cited public records.
The new ownership has hired Boston-based Pyramid Hotel Group to manage the hotel. JLL managing director Jeff Davis and managing director Gilda Perez-Alvarado listed the property. CBT Architects and hotelier Robin Brown, a long-time manager of Boston's Four Seasons Hotel and co-developer of Boston's Mandarin Oriental and Verb Hotel, will be working with Davis-Rubicon to reposition the property. One of the planned upgrades will be to "reimagine the hotel's large glass atrium into a central hub." The companies say that the new atrium will feature contemporary restaurant and lounge that will serve as the hotel's social epicenter. Other planned amenities at the eight-acre property will include an indoor pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, executive lounge, complimentary shuttle to nearby attractions, and an 18,000-square-foot function room and ballroom. The hotel is open and will remain open during the renovations, which should be completed within a year.
"We are thrilled to join with an experienced operator like Rubicon and apply our repositioning expertise to transform this prime hotel into a favored destination within the community, as well as a go-to hotel for business travelers, visitors and events," says Mark Bush, senior vice president of asset management for the Davis Companies. "We are excited about our partnership with Rubicon and Robin and believe that this choice property will generate long term value."
"At the hotel, we see a spectacular renovation opportunity to improve the guest experience for travelers as well as local social functions and meetings. We also had the ability to enhance management with Pyramid Hotel Group. We look forward to working with the team to bring the new and improved hotel to reality," states Marc Gordon, principal at Rubicon. The New York City-based company was founded in 2011 by Gordon, the former president and director of Morgans Hotel Group.
The Davis Companies point to other significant repositions it has performed at other properties in its portfolio. For example, the firm is transforming the 500,000-square-foot landmark Union Trust Building in downtown Pittsburgh. Recently, the company successfully transformed The Xchange in Bedford, MA and The Center at Corporate Drive in Burlington, MA into office campuses that feature a "work-life" environment.
In October an affiliate of the Davis Cos. acquired two office buildings on Main Street in suburban Waltham totaling more than 300,000 square feet for $52.5 million. The firm also reported it had sold the Tower Point office complex in the Seaport District of Boston for more than $62 million.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
