RODE won the approval of the Boston Planning and Development Agency for a 230-room, 21-story boutique hotel on Kneeland Street in the Leather District. This small footprint project will bring much-needed hotel rooms to the dense and transit-connected urban neighborhood, This approval is the culmination of a community review process that secured the support of an overwhelming majority of neighbors, adjacent businesses, and nearby Chinatown residents.

The development transforms a blighted site to bring new life and activity to the streetscape, introducing a dramatic double-height ground floor with publicly accessible café and lounge. The building celebrates the Leather District’s unique historic qualities by drawing on its strong cast-iron language, with a facade that is both a solid metal frame and a transparent skin that engages with the bustling Kneeland St. corridor.