Marriott hotel set for Watertown site

Boylston Properties said Monday it plans to build a 148-room Marriott Residence Inn on Arsenal Street in Watertown, an area undergoing rapid redevelopment as a potential hub for technology related startups and young professionals.

Rendering of the proposed Marriott Residence Hotel on Arsenal Street in Watertown.ADD Inc.

“A quality place for visitors to stay and residents to meet and enjoy is just what Watertown needs,” said William McQuillan, president of Boylston Properties.

Boylston Properties has made a big bet on the future of Arsenal Street, so-named because it was once the home of a massive Army complex to store ammunition and weapons. In the past five years, it has purchased the 225,000-square-foot Arsenal Mall and the adjoining Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates building at 485 Arsenal St., and the neighboring Golfsmith store.

Jonathan Bush, the chief executive of the electronic medical records company Athenahealth Inc., and the Wilder Group are partners with Boylston in the mall project.

Boylston Properties has been a major player in the redevelopment of the neighborhood around Fenway Park, including a 183-room Marriott Residence Inn on Brookline Avenue.

Construction on the Watertown hotel is expected to start late this year or early next year, with an expected opening in the first quarter of 2016. The developer will seek town approval for the project in the next few months.

“This is a fantastic site close to a lot of great amenities, and it’s a market we’ve looked to be in for quite a while,” said Tom Onken, a senior vice president for Marriott International.

ADD Inc. is the architect for the project, in partnership with Group One Partners.

The larger redevelopment of the Arsenal Street area is still in the planning stages. Developers have said they are seeking a more open-air shopping experience, with sidewalks and outdoor cafes as well as more biking and pedestrian paths along the Charles River between Watertown and Cambridge.

In recent years, the East Watertown area has attracted technology companies that want to be close to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while paying reasonable rents.

Bennie DiNardo