February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Dublin-based O’Callaghan Hotels has purchased the 14-story Ames building, once the tallest building in the world, located in Boston’s financial district. It is registered as a Historic Landmark.
The Boston Globe reported that the company bought the former office building for $15 million in January. They also estimated about $20 million will be spent on restoration and renovations.
The company is planning to turn it into a four-star “boutique” hotel, so titled because of the small number of rooms and specialized services compared with larger hotel chains.
This is the seventh property in the O’Callaghan portfolio.
The company has another hotel in Annapolis, Md. Aimed at luring business travelers between the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore corridor, the O’Callaghan Hotel Annapolis has 120 bedrooms.
The company owns four luxury hotels in Dublin, one of which, The Alexander, also offers self-catering apartments. O’Callaghan also has a hotel in Gibraltar, The Elliot.
This is the second Irish hotel to settle in Boston. Jurys Doyle Hotels, Ireland’s largest hotel group, opened a Boston outpost last summer.
The 220-room hotel, situated in Boston’s Back Bay, is housed in the former Boston Police headquarters. Jurys spent $60 million on that building’s restoration.