Sweet dreams
Hotel proposed for old Maria’s Pastry spot in North End
A boutique Italian hotel complete with a rooftop terrace and two new restaurants could soon take up residence along Cross Street where for decades the beloved Maria’s Pastry Shop stood.
“The intent is to build an Italian-inspired boutique hotel pulling from the culture of the North End and essentially knitting back the fabric of the edge of the neighborhood,” said William Caulder of 6M Development, which is proposing the project.
The six-story, 135-room hotel would be located along Cross Street between Endicott and Salem streets, beside the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
Caulder, a North End resident of more than 15 years, pledged his latest project would stay true to the flavor of the Italian culture of the neighborhood.
The facade would mirror the brick facades peppering the area. Caulder has plans for two street-level restaurants — one that would give preference to North End restaurateurs — and a rooftop terrace that will occupy the top floor and have sprawling views of the greenway and
North End.
It’s also likely to have a banquet space and includes plans for an open-air, publicly accessible passageway connecting the greenway to Cutillo Park.
“We want to preserve the Italian culture here,” Caulder said.
He said he opted to build a hotel rather than residential housing in an effort to keep the views “in the public realm.”
Caulder said he is “in talks” with several wellknown Boston hoteliers, but hasn’t decided yet whether the hotel will operate independently or under a corporate flag.
In an Oct. 30 letter of intent to the Boston Planning & Development Agency, project manager Kate Moniz of Fort Point Associates said the 87,142-squarefoot hotel would serve to help address “Boston’s growing hospitality demands by supplying needed hotel rooms at a gateway location.”
The project requires BPDA approval.
The hotel would take over the line of empty storefronts once anchored by the iconic Maria’s Pastry Shop, which for 37 years was lauded as one of the North End’s top pasticcerias.
Owner Maria Merola hung up her apron for good last October. The pastry chef had churned out cannolis, panettones, zeppoles and more Italian delights at the location for 50 years — working for the previous owner, Modern Pastry, before she bought the business.
The hotel would be Caulder’s second large development project in Boston. His firm, 6M Development, previously built the Seville Boston Harbor, a 66-unit condo complex in East Boston.