Boston Chinatown OPPOSES a new hotel at 15-25 Harrison Ave

Dan Polanco (dan.polanco@boston.gov)

Boston Chinatown OPPOSES the proposal to replace the vacant building at 15-25 Harrison Ave in Boston’s Chinatown across from Phillips Square with a new 25-story (277/300 ft) hotel high-rise with approx. 106- guest rooms.

We will not allow our neighborhood to be overshadowed by this commercial venture.

Chinatown already has too many luxury high rises that have caused extreme real estate speculation and gentrification. We need to protect Chinatown from continued gentrification!

Similar to an eroding seashore, the borders of Chinatown are most vulnerable to erosion. Because the proposed hotel is at the northern border of Chinatown -- closest to Downtown and the Financial District -- we must protect this edge from encroachment and over-commercialization.

15-25 Harrison is historically and culturally significant. It was one of Boston Chinatown's last standing Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings, and has been important as housing for Chinatown’s immigrants.

Before the building was condemned, its last use was housing, providing one of the remaining affordable housing options in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, under the previous owner, conditions of the building were not always up to code. In 2012, 40-50 tenants who were living there were abruptly evacuated for safety reasons, creating a housing emergency. The building was then sold to the current owner, and has been vacant since.

Chinatown is in need of affordable housing, NOT HOTELS! By 2017, there were 3 different hotel development proposals in Chinatown, one of them at 15-25 Harrison Ave. Chinese Progressive Association and the Chinatown Residents Association organized a protest in front of the building to help draw attention to the project. The previous plan did not go through. NO TO HOTELS THEN, NO TO HOTELS NOW.

1. Chinatown already has too many luxury high rises that have caused extreme real estate speculation and gentrification. The Harrison Ave & Essex St intersection, the northern border of Chinatown to Downtown and the Financial District, is especially vulnerable to encroachment. Chinatown is in need of affordable housing, NOT HOTELS!

2. The hotel’s placement will add to Chinatown’s traffic influx and pedestrian safety concerns. The hotel will not provide any parking; instead, it will use the parking spaces in between the existing curb line and the bike lane as a drop-off zone, threatening the integrity of Harrison Ave. The 24/7 activity of a hotel will bring increased rideshare drop-offs and jeopardize the safety of the community's residents, cyclists, and anyone visiting Chinatown.

3. The long-established Chinatown Master Plan does NOT support additional hotel developments in Chinatown. Furthermore, the proposed building’s height and density is 2-3 times the city’s current zoning limits for Chinatown. We do not want a hotel building to create exceptions to the city’s and the neighborhood’s zoning.

4. A commercial hotel DOES NOT serve the best interest of Chinatown.

Chinatown is not just a tourist attraction but a home to many residents. While tourism is cited as a benefit, it DOES NOT serve Chinatown’s working class and immigrant residents, who are the heartbeat of our vibrant, historical neighborhood. Current residents are concerned about being priced out of their own neighborhood, about the increased noise levels, shadows, wind tunnels, and over-commercialization of Chinatown that will negatively impact current residents and the fabric of the neighborhood.

5. The City is currently undergoing a Chinatown rezoning process, which would impact this project. We cannot make a fair assessment of this project until the City publishes their draft rezoning proposal. While we feel that Boston Planning has heard us about preservation and lower zoning heights for the few row house streets, we are concerned about their recent proposal that the block from Beach to Essex Street - where this hotel would be located - be considered a "transitional" zone that moves from Chinatown's smaller scale to the downtown highrise level.

Since Chinatown is such a small neighborhood, it is not really possible to consider that block a transition zone without harming vulnerable tenants at risk of displacement.

WE DEMAND:

  1. The City and the Developers host an in-person meeting so that those most impacted by this proposal -- Chinatown's elders, families/parents, working class folks, and those with lower technological proficiencies -- can attend the meeting.
  2. The City publishes their Chinatown rezoning draft with language regarding the "transitional zone" that this project would be located within, and their rationale for their rezoning changes, as soon as possible.
  3. The Developer conducts a full fair housing and anti-displacement analysis of their project, and that the consequences be seriously considered by the City, the Developers, and the Community.
  4. The City EXTEND the public comment period until after our first 3 demands are met; in other words, until an in-person meeting is held, the Chinatown rezoning draft is available online, and a fair housing and anti-displacement analysis is completed for the project.
  5. The City must leave the public comment period open for 2 weeks after the demands are met.


To: Dan Polanco (dan.polanco@boston.gov)
From: [Your Name]

​I sign this petition to OPPOSE the proposed hotel at 15-25 Harrison Ave in Boston's Chinatown.

1. NO TO HOTELS THEN, NO TO HOTELS NOW. We already defeated a hotel proposal at this site in 2017. We are, AGAIN, PROTESTING AGAINST A HOTEL AT THIS SITE.

2. Chinatown already has too many luxury high rises that have caused extreme real estate speculation and gentrification. The Harrison Ave & Essex St intersection, the northern border of Chinatown to Downtown and the Financial District, is especially vulnerable to encroachment. Chinatown is in need of affordable housing, NOT HOTELS!

3. The hotel’s placement will add to Chinatown’s traffic influx and pedestrian safety concerns. The 24/7 activity of a hotel will bring increased rideshare drop-offs and jeopardize the safety of the community's residents, cyclists, and anyone visiting Chinatown.

4. The long-established Chinatown Master Plan does NOT support additional hotel developments in Chinatown. Furthermore, the proposed building’s height and density is 2-3 times the city’s current zoning limits for Chinatown. We do not want a hotel building to create exceptions to the city’s and the neighborhood’s zoning.

5. A commercial hotel DOES NOT serve the best interest of Chinatown. Chinatown is not just a tourist attraction but a home to many residents. While tourism is cited as a benefit, it DOES NOT serve Chinatown’s working class and immigrant residents, who are the heartbeat of our vibrant, historical neighborhood.