Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center Sold

[broadstreet zone=”59945″]

FRAMINGHAM – The Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center, which was auctioned off this month, has a new owner.

On December 15, the winning bid was $15 million by People’s United Bank, which owned the first mortgage on the 34,376-square-foot property, located off the Mass Pike on Route 9 in Framingham.

XSS Hotels under a separate LLC now owns the hotel & conference center.

Founded in 1995, XSS Hotels is a vertically integrated hotel development company.

The hotel sale is closing today, December 31, 2020.

[broadstreet zone=”59948″]

The hotel will be managed by Colwen Management, said Mark Stebbins, CEO of Procon Inc.

Mariott bought the Sheraton, said Stebbins.

The cost of the sale was not available today.

The City of Framingham has assessed the property at $33 million.

“The hotel will temporarily close today or tomorrow,” said Stebbins, who said it will be closed for about 60 to 90 days.

The hotel industry has taken a hard hit due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some employees of the Sheraton were laid off in spring 2020, and have not been hired back.

Keeping the conference center is a goal, said Stebbins.

[broadstreet zone=”59946″]

“The owners will be working with Sheraton/Marriott and the City of Framingham on repurposing the hotel for a future opening,” said Stebbins.

XSS is the largest hotel owners in Greater Boston, said Stebbins, who added the company owns the Residence Inn in Natick at 1 Superior Drive.

Built in the 1970s, the iconic hotel with a castle-themed façade host many of the major events in MetroWest, including the Taste of MetroWest, the MetroWest Women’s Conference, the Salute to Framingham, the Framingham High cotillion.

Stebbins said “we don’t have any definite plans one way or another for the property, but I can’t imagine it being anything other than hotel and conference center.”:

He said the current 375-room hotel is” too big” for the market.

Stebbins said he envisions a 200-room hotel and conference center.

Part of the hotel will be “re-purposed into something else,” said Stebbins.