Conversion of bars and nightclubs into luxury housing has been one bellwether of gentrification in up-and-coming Boston neighborhoods.
A two-story building that belongs in any compendium of Boston Noir is the latest former watering hole to undergo a transformation into luxury residences. Seven of the nine lofts at 888 Tremont St. are already occupied, with some rents topping $4,000. Contractors are putting the finishing touches on two more units.
The building was the home of the Cotton Club nightclub, where owner and underworld kingpin Charles “King” Solomon was shot to death in 1933. In later years, it operated as a disco and jazz club named Tinker’s. The owner of that club, John Tinker, also met a violent end in 1982, when he was shot and killed in his back-room office. A disgruntled maintenance man was convicted of the killing.
Current owner Frank Williams Jr. hired Boston-based contractor Haycon Inc. in October 2014 to restore the dilapidated structure, which had been vacant for close to a decade and was falling victim to the elements. The company specializes in residential conversions, including challenging renovation projects, and 888 Tremont was no exception. No substantial repairs had taken place for decades, and sinkholes had formed in the basement.
“In a building like 888 Tremont St., every day is a surprise,” Haycon project manager Thad Seymour said. “If you can do that sort of work, then new construction is easy.”
Few signs of the building’s murky past remain today. The apartments are decked out with pine flooring, oversized windows, center kitchen consoles and polished chrome appliances. Upstairs units have 20-foot ceilings and second-level loft spaces.
The brick exterior shell is the only part of the building largely untouched by the renovations. Haycon replaced the entire first floor and building utilities, and reframed the interior, Seymour said. Working with designs from Boston-based Francke French Architects, it retained bowed trusses that were structurally significant and used them as interior accents.
Rents range from in the high-$2000 range for an 850-square-foot, one-bedroom unit to approximately $4,000 for the two-story upstairs lofts.
888 Tremont joins spots in downtown, South Boston and the Seaport District where developers are planning luxury housing on sites previously occupied by barrooms. A 12-story condo building is approved for the former Littlest Bar and Times restaurant property at 102 Broad St. overlooking the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. And Boston-based Cronin Group, owner of the Whiskey Priest and Atlantic Beer Garden pubs on Seaport Boulevard, announced in December its plans to tear down the single-story waterfront structures and build a 22-story, 110-unit condo tower.
Click here to see a video of Seymour describing the renovation project.
