Nov. 2--Despite an extremely difficult market for hotel financing, Cambridge developer Richard L. Friedman has secured funds for a $30 million Marriott Courtyard in Brookline's Coolidge Corner, he said yesterday. 

Work is expected to begin next week on a 188-room, eight-story hotel in a town-owned parking lot at Webster and Beacon streets. The hotel marks the first commercial development project in the neighborhood in about 20 years. 

Friedman, who built the Charles Hotel in Cambridge and is behind the proposed convention center hotel in South Boston, said the Marriott Courtyard project proves development hasn't ceased because of a troubled economy and the terrorist attacks. 

"The world hasn't ended, and selected development can go forward," said Friedman, chief executive of Carpenter & Co. 

Hotels are notoriously difficult to finance in the best of conditions, but projects are going forward under some different rules. 

Hotel developers are finding that lenders want upward of 50 percent cash equity. 

Before Sept. 11, and certainly before the economic downturn, the ratio for hotel deals was about 65 percent financing and 35 percent equity, said Riaz Cassum, senior managing director at Holliday Fenoglio Folwer LP, the nation's leading commercial real estate capital intermediary. 

Cassum said he worked on the Coolidge Corner deal, which is being codeveloped and financed by New Castle Hotels, Charles Bank, and Wells Fargo. He said lenders, under the right circumstances, might warm to hotel developers in Boston because the area is generally considered to be underdeveloped with regard to such projects. 

Brookline officials, in light of the economy and the events in September, are relieved that Friedman has secured the funds, they said yesterday. 

The town has been working for three years to develop the parking lot. 

It chose Friedman's company through a competitive process, followed by nearly 75 community meetings. 

Amy Schectman, from the town's economic development department, said there were two goals in developing the 33,000 square feet: increasing commercial tax revenue, through property and room fees, and generating foot traffic and amenities to support the business district. 

"I think this is one of the most important things we've done in quite a while," said Joe Gellar, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. 

"To be able to take a piece of property that the town was underutilizing and to then create economic value and economic vitality -- that's a great thing for the community." He also said the need for hotels in Brookline is underestimated. 

Under the lease for the property, the developer will rebuild Webster Street to handle more foot traffic, relocate a farmer's market, and supply daily and overnight parking beneath the hotel, at rates set by the town. 

The Marriott Courtyard, as opposed to other Friedman projects, will be a limited-service hotel. For instance, there is no restaurant, an arrangement town officials hope will lead to increased business for nearby eateries. 

The project doesn't signal a change in business tactics, Friedman said: "Absolutely not. We think that from our perspective we want to build the right project at the right site. It wouldn't make sense to do the St. Regis Hotel in Brookline." 

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