Group Secures Financing For Hotel On Washington Street In Woburn

WOBURN, MA -- The hotel that will anchor the redevelopment of the former W.R. Grace site on Washington Street in Woburn closed on $53 million in financing. The 235-room hotel will be dual branded by Hilton. The joint-venture equity financing for construction of the hotel was arranged by Colliers International’s Boston-based Capital Markets.

The property is being developed Madison Holdings. A Red Robin restaurant has already opened on the site and a Chik-fil-A is under construction and scheduled to open next year. Colliers said the location at the junction of Routes 93 and 95 offers high visibility for a hotel project.

Woburn City Council has already approved one restaurant for the hotel, but last month Madison requested a revision to the plan that would call for two smaller restaurants. That renewed concerns of traffic congestion in the busy Washington Street corridor.

Madison wants to replace a previously approved restaurant with 110 Grill and a Blaze Pizza location. At the City Council meeting on Nov. 21, Alderman led by Ward 5 Councilor Darlene Mercer-Bruen, whose district covers the development at the former W.R. Grace site on Washington Street, raised concerns over traffic from the revised proposal.

"In the 12 years I've been on the council, I've never seen a traffic report come in to us that said there's going to be a traffic impact," Mercer-Bruen told officials from Madison Holdings, which is building a mixed-use development on the site. To date, the only project completed on the site is a Red Robin restaurant. A Chik-Fil-A restaurant is also under construction at the site.

In 2015, City Council approved a 250-room hotel and restaurant on the site. The Chik-Fila-A was added to the plan in 2016. Now Madison Holdings wants to change the plan from one additional restaurant to two additional restaurants, including Blaze Pizza, which Councilors said seemed to fall under the city's classification for fast food restaurants.

A traffic engineer for Madison Holdings said the revised plan would not change the previously projected traffic impacts. He conceded, however, he had not done a complete analysis of to update the previous traffic study.

Ward 2 Alderman Richard Gately asked why Madison Holdings couldn't stick with its original plan.

"I'm sitting here again on Madison Holdings trying to change the uses," he said. "I don't have the time in my life to keep addressing this."

The public hearing on the new proposal was continued and will be reviewed by City Council's subcommittee on special permits.

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Photo of Proposed Woburn Hilton by Colliers International

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).