Photo courtesy of JLL

A downtown hotel which helped kick off a run of boutique hotels in the heart of Boston will become a dorm after Suffolk University closed on a $61.7 million purchase, according to information filed in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds.

The 114-room Ames Boston Hotel sits at 1 Court St., near the Old State House. Originally built in 1893, the 12-story Ames Boston Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 74,796-square-foot hotel had operated under Hilton’s Curio Collection boutique brand since 2009.

JLL marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Invesco Real Estate, a global real estate investment manager, and procured the buyer, according to a statement from the brokerage. Dallas-based Invesco bought the property for $53.25 million in 2015.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Managing Director Denny Meikleham, Senior Director Alan Suzuki and Director Matthew Enright. Ted Wheatley and Robert Webster of JLL represented the buyer in the transaction.

“This was an extremely rare opportunity for a buyer to acquire a historically significant asset in this prime location,” Suzuki said in a statement.  “Interest level was very strong from both international and domestic hotel and non-hotel investors. We are happy that one of Boston’s premier luxury hotels will now be incorporated into the long-term strategic plans and initiatives of both Suffolk University and the city of Boston for providing more on-campus student housing opportunities for the thousands of students who live in Boston.”

A Suffolk spokesperson previously told Banker & Tradesman it planned to have the building ready for students by fall 2020.

“The 1 Court St. building expands our core downtown campus and will give our students unparalleled access to exciting living and learning experiences in the center of Boston,” Suffolk University President Marisa Kelly said in a statement. “This is a great opportunity for Suffolk and an important investment in our future, and we look forward to working closely with the city and our neighbors as we move through the community process.”

Suffolk opened a 400-room dorm at 10 West St. in 2008 and another 200 residences in a redevelopment of the Modern Theatre property in 2010, part of a concerted effort to expand in and around Downtown Crossing. About one in four of its 5,000 undergraduates live on campus, with 1,286 beds in its residence halls. The school is seeking to house up to half of its undergrads on-campus.