PROCON GC
Residence Inn Watertown First New Hotel in 50 Years
(l-r) Boylston Properties principal Mark Deschenes; Watertown Town Council president, Mark Sideris; Boylston Properties president, William McQuillan
Boylston/PROCON team
Exterior of new Residence Inn
Watertown, MA – In September, the Residence Inn by Marriott Boston/Watertown, located at 570 Arsenal Street in Watertown, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting. Boylston Properties of Boston and Stonebridge Companies of Denver, Colo., are the joint-venture owners of the 108,000sf hotel. PROCON of Manchester, N.H., was the construction manager, Stantec Architecture (a/k/a ADD Inc.) of Boston was the designer, and Group One Partners, Inc. of Boston was the interior designer.
Boylston Properties president William McQuillan and principal Mark Deschenes were joined by the president of the Watertown Town Council Mark Sideris, Watertown officials, and business executives. McQuillan opened the event by welcoming the attendees and thanking all the participants in the success of the project. Sideris stated, “This is a welcome addition to Watertown and a product that has been lacking for many years.”
Six stories feature 150 spacious studios and one- and two-bedroom suites with separate living and sleeping areas with fully equipped kitchens. Guests may enjoy other onsite amenities such as an indoor saltwater pool, 24-hour fitness center, meeting room, full lobby/bar, fireplace/entertainment areas, a 24×7 sundries market, laundry facilities, and a covered drive-under entrance. Wi-Fi connectivity is also available throughout the hotel for busy travelers to stay connected. A ground patio area for mix and mingles completes the outdoors, along with onsite parking. William McQuillan envisioned a bold contemporary design to complement the neighborhood’s architecture.
The building’s exterior was a combination of color reflective masonry and panels with lighter toned upper floors highlighted by recessed faux wood accents.
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Established in 1630, Watertown is part of Greater Boston and is considered one of the fastest growing towns in Massachusetts, according to a 2014 census. The Residence Inn is Watertown’s first extended-stay all-suite hotel, and the first hotel built in the town in 50 years. Guests will have the bonus of shopping, restaurants and community activities at the nearby Arsenal Project – Watertown’s iconic mall. The sprawling 50-store complex is a part of several properties acquired by Boylston Properties as part of a masterplan to re-envision the area as a live-stay-play campus.
This collaboration was PROCON’s first with Boylston Properties – a connection that spun out of a long-term acquaintance between the two companies. Mark Deschenes and William McQuillan and the CEO and Chairman of PROCON Mark Stebbins have talked about working together since 2013. Deschenes stated, “When we decided to build another hotel, we wanted to work with PROCON as their reputation for building this kind of hotel was second to none.” “Without PROCON none of this would have been possible. The PROCON team Mark Stebbins brought onto this project was just spectacular, and they have delivered an AAA+ job all the way,” added William McQuillan.
Work on the LEED Silver designed project began in May 2015 with its duration lasting just over a year. PROCON’s Senior Project Manager reflected back on the project, “I’ve really enjoyed working with Boylston Properties on this job! But, we’ve also had a great experiences with many subcontractors on this project but specifically our framing contractor team JPI Construction (c/o Wallace Building Products Corp.), who’s Framing Superintendent (Raffael Fernandes) was outstanding, solid, organized and worked extremely hard to get this project slightly ahead of schedule working into the winter months.”
Mark Deschenes echoed those opinions adding, “An excellent team makes all the difference between a good and a bad project. PROCON’s Project Manager and Project Superintendent’s made sure that everything was kept on target, under budget and excellently put together.” It was a fitting narrative for the successful partnership that together, brought the project to the finish line ahead of schedule.
In the mid-afternoon of August 31, the Residence Inn welcomed its first guests. It was a satisfying moment for the owners. Deschenes was asked what he hopes his guests will take away from their experience. He was quick to say, “We certainly hope that they enjoy the design, the accommodations, and the building’s quality. But most of all, we hope they have a great and comfortable stay. We wanted to build something that our company and Watertown could be proud of.”
