Photo: A rendering of the proposed Belmont Inn Suites at the corner of Pleasant and Brighton streets.
A Waltham entrepreneur has pulled permits with the Office of Community Development to renovate the former Mini-Mart Market at the corner of Pleasant and Brighton streets into a “luxury boutique hotel” similar to ones he both ran and is proposing in Waltham.
Mike Colomba is seeking to create a two-story “The Belmont Inn Suites” at 334 Pleasant St. consisting of 18 guest rooms, a cafe for guests, a fitness room, a business center and management offices on the 14,400 sq.-ft. site, according to documents at Town Hall.
Colomba is scheduled to come before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday, Feb. 2 to present the proposal. If the ZBA approves four special permits – on various setbacks and height variances – the hotel will be the first in Belmont in decades.
This month, the ZBA narrowly denied special permits to transform the abandoned service station across Brighton Street into a Dunkin’ Donuts after hearing from neighbors who complained about possible increase traffic and noise issues.
The project will not be new construction but a “complete exterior renovation” to create a building that is “a veritable gem” in what Colomba calls an “up and coming commercial area” in Belmont.
The hotel will have 19 parking spaces and “lush” landscaping.
The view from Pleasant Street of the proposed Belmont Inn Suites.
Brighton-based Rojas Design, Inc. created the designs. The architectural and landscape firm is owned by former Belmont Selectman Andy Rojas.
Colomba, who owns the restaurant Brelundi on Felton Street in Waltham and recently sold the Crescent Suite Hotel in the same town. He is currently proposing to build a 45-room hotel on the 200 block of Moody Street in Waltham.
A Youtube presentation by Waltham News Watch with Colomba describing Crescent Suite Hotel is below:
Colomba could not speak when reached on Tuesday, Jan. 19 but will be giving interviews on the concept later in the week.
In his permit documentation, Colomba said: “[T]he transformation (of the site) will improve the property values for the entire neighborhood.” His past hotel projects generated room, meals and sales taxes for the hosting community while noting that a lodging project “will not overload school and generates less traffic” than other uses at the location.
“My hotels are quiet and respectful” of the surrounding neighborhoods, said Colomba.
This proposed business utilizing the same footprint that exists sounds like an excellent re-use of the building. Even before I read the above-mentioned article, I thought that if it were developed as a boutique hotel, it would admirably serve local needs. And then I read that is exactly what is being proposed. Visually, it will fit in with the neighborhood and in all likelihood will result in fewer cars than when the prior retail business was functioning. Please keep an open ear and eye to this proposal.
Good luck to him, I think this is a wonderful idea and fully support it. This is a business zoned area, and for a business to succeed, it has to have traffic.
It would be especially nice to have a place in town for visiting relatives to stay instead of sending them to Arlington or Cambridge!
I applaud Colomba for this innovative idea. Sounds like a great addition to our neighborhood, providing a new amenity, adding tax revenue, while minimizing traffic and additional burdens on town services. Town officials should of course take a close look at the details and ensure appropriate protections are in place. Assuming all is in order, we should support this development.
Turn the ex Dunkins lot into a parking lot for the hotel, then put dunkin donuts at the star K site.
Or, the residents who are anti business can come up with a list of pre approved businesses that would be allowed to develop in Belmont since everybody who tries to invest here is turned away. Pizza place on park ave, dunkin donuts on brighton, etc.
Town expenses will never go down and since the vast majority of expenses are accounted for with real estate taxes, somebody sometime will need to live in reality that the town needs revenues from businesses to survive. It can’t simply come from residents.
We’ve long hoped that something would change towards improving this gateway to Belmont. I hope that finally, neighbors and selectmen will be able to agree on something constructive being developed. I for one would love to see a boutique hotel and can think of a dozen reasons it’s a good idea. However, I’m not an abutter, and know that there will be strong opinions on both sides. I would contend, however, that this is a business zone, and has been since before the most recent abutters arrived. Surely, they know that new businesses must be able to move in and be reasonably accommodated.
I am sure the anti Dunkin Donuts crowd is just gonna love this!!! LOL
what about the parking spaces, if you wan to have 18 units, you would at least need 18 parking places and then parking places for all the employees who maintain the hotel. And have you seen the traffic around rush hr , especially between 5-7 pm on that corner?