Former Best Western eyed for post-shelter rebirth as a hotel

The former Best Western hotel on Elm Street will reopen to the public once the state winds down its emergency shelter at the site next month. 

The long-term plan remains unclear as the property owners consider redeveloping the land. 

“We’re still looking at some options on the highest and best use,” said Ashok Patel, vice president of Lexington-based Jamsan Hotel Management. 

Jamsan manages the hotel. While Patel said “ownership is with different folks,” he and Jamsan Treasurer Nikul Patel appear on corporation documents for the LLC, which controls the property. 

After more than two years as a shelter, the owners have the permits to resume hotel operations. But town staff said they had no confirmation of the property’s future as of last week. 

The Acton Bridge visited Jamsan’s office, and Patel confirmed the site will revert to a regular hotel — at least for the time being. 

Patel said the hotel might reopen as an independent operation. “Then, we’ll evaluate our branding options,” he said.  

He said post-pandemic business had been “ramping up” before the shelter conversion and that he’s not worried about the hotel’s viability in 2025. 

He said the site attracts a wide-ranging clientele, including sports groups, wedding parties, tourists, and business travelers. “There’s enough organic demand in the area,” he said. 

Maintenance issues

Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Press Secretary Tara Smith said information was not “easily accessible” when asked how much Jamsan was paid to rent its Acton property. She said EOHLC contracts with the non-profit Making Opportunity Count to operate the shelter. MOC contracts with Jamsan to lease the space.

A MOC spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to Bridge questions about the lease. 

As the shelter closes, Smith said officials want to give families still living there “ample time to pack and prepare for their move.” The state also wants to give the owners time for maintenance. 

The state paused new shelter placements last fall after The Bridge started asking about a cockroach infestation and repeated septic backups. State inspectors found other maintenance issues when they investigated the roaches.

Shelter placements had resumed as of early January, according to then-EOHLC Press Secretary Kevin Connor.

Residents speaking with The Bridge said the roach infestation has waned, and Acton Public Health Director Melanie Dineen said roach control efforts were ongoing earlier this month.

The Health Department also stepped in after reports of a crumbling balcony floor in December and a broken sprinkler in April. Patel said a resident broke the sprinkler by hanging something from it. Crews shut off electricity to the damaged rooms and replaced drywall and carpet. 

Elsewhere in the hotel, as Jamsan gets ready to reopen, Patel said most repairs are “cosmetic related.” 

As for the roaches, Patel suggested residents were to blame. 

“I think when you have people staying in hotel rooms for a long period of time and they’re not taking care of their belongings and themselves as best as they should, obviously insect issues will happen,” he said. “So, we’re trying to do our best to control and contain.”

Roberta Bowman, who lived at the Acton shelter during the roach infestation, said Patel’s characterization unfairly maligned people in the shelter system.

“You turn around and you blame us for being dirty pigs?” she said. “That’s disgusting.”

She said Jamsan could have done more to control pests and maintain the place in general. 

Weighing options 

The 20-acre property at 740 Elm Street is valued at $7.1 million, according to town records. The hotel was built in 1960. 

In an email, local developer John Boynton said the promise of 100% occupancy through the state’s shelter lease would have been “extremely lucrative.” 

Two years later, a new building will soon welcome businesses, including a Chipotle, on the neighboring lot where the Papa Razzi trattoria once stood. There’s more growth planned on nearby Baker Avenue and the former MCI-Acton prison.

Boynton said he imagines developers would take interest in 740 Elm.

Patel said, “There’s been some discussion on redevelopment.” Asked about suitors, he said, “We’ve had people look at it.” 

Patel said the site could host a residential or commercial project and the owners are keeping their options open to offload the property or redevelop it themselves.

In the short term, Patel said Jamsan will work with the town to reopen an outdoor pool that has gone unused since August 2022.

‘A meaningful development’

Eyeing redevelopment, Patel said the team hopes to ditch its septic system and connect to the town sewer network. The building’s 2013 septic system still works, but Patel said it could constrain redevelopment. 

As the town inches toward its maximum permitted sewer capacity, Water and Sewer Superintendent Darin LaFalam said a new hookup is a nonstarter.

“Any new development on that site will require on-site sewage disposal or treatment,” he wrote in an email to The Bridge.  

In an empty Jamsan conference room, Patel looked to the future, saying, “We want to do meaningful development” on a “highly visible and highly accessible” parcel. 

“We certainly hope that the town sees our desire and continues to assist us,” he said.