In the original plan, most of the parking for the hotel would have been across the street, which would have meant lots of hotel guests crossing West Center Street to walk to and from their cars.
The project will revive and expand the historic mill site in downtown Lee into a combination of office space, both market-rate and affordable rental units, a hotel and a "public market" with multiple restaurants and food kiosks.
Most of the standards the Massachusetts Historical Commission says the project would violate are technical and easily remedied. Nonetheless, as a result, MHC says the proposed project does not meet the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's standards for the rehabilitation of historic properties.
