by Lauren DiTullio, News Staff
Northeastern University officials announced plans Friday to work with Phoenix Property Company to construct a new 16-story residence hall for students on Huntington Avenue to open in September 2013.
Phoenix Property Company will buy two wings of the YMCA for $21.5 million, according to a press release issued by the university. The company will invest a total of $75 million into the building, and the agreement leaves flexibility for Northeastern to later buy the building.
The purchase comes in conjunction with the decision to mandate that all freshmen and sophomore undergraduates live on campus, starting with the next incoming freshman class. This year’s freshman will not be required to live on campus next year.
“Everyone is really excited,” said Director of Communications Renata Nyul. “It’s good news. It’s a win for everyone. It’s a win for the YMCA, it’s a win for Northeastern, it’s a win for the city.”
The residence hall, which will contain both dorm and apartment-style housing, will be located in the section of the building facing St. Botolph Street, adjacent to campus. The hall will house freshman, sophomores and potentially, upperclassmen, though logistics are still tentative, Nyul said.
As of May 2010, the university had accumulated about $820 million in debt, according to a previous report by The News.
Stephen McBride, vice president for housing services for Resident Student Association (RSA), said he looks forward to the expansion of residential life for all Northeastern students, as well as the opportunity for RSA to expand its services to new residents.
“We are kind of crunched,” McBride said. “A lot of kids want housing, so we do have a bit of a shortage. So this will hopefully alleviate some of that, allowing not only freshmen and sophomores to live on campus, but also upperclassmen that might have lost their housing because freshmen and sophomores required it.”
YMCA spokesperson Kelley Rice said the association has been trying to sell the two wings of the building – the Hastings Wing and the St. Botolph’s frontage – for several years. Staff members are excited that the project is coming to fruition, she said.
“This is a great opportunity to expand our mission and reassess how to best serve the people in the community,” Rice said.
The majority of the space Northeastern will purchase has traditionally been rented out to other groups, mainly not-for-profit organizations, Rice said.
“Northeastern already has a lot of beds in the YMCA. The notion of youth being all around us is not new,” she said. “While we are selling off that portion of the building, it’s already a portion of the building that is being used by other tenants.”
Sophomore political science major William Bradford said he was concerned about Northeastern altering the long-standing establishment that is the YMCA, which provides valuable services to surrounding neighborhoods.
“I like the idea of a new dorm, but buying part of the YMCA feels like we’re infringing on the community,” he said.
The space traditionally used by the YMCA to provide services to the community, such as after school programs, is the wing housed in 316 Huntington Ave. Northeastern will have first right to purchase if the YMCA decides to sell it in the future.
“People have to keep in mind as we’re discussing this that [the YMCA is] keeping almost 100,000 square feet of space, where all of our main programming already happens,” Rice said.
She said the future of the YMCA fitness center, located in the St. Botolph frontage, has yet to be determined.
However, executive director of the Fenway Alliance Kelly Brilliant said in an e-mail to The News that the project is “a very good thing for the YMCA, for Northeastern University, and for the entire community.”
The new hall has not yet been named.
A previous version of this article stated that Northeastern is purchasing two wings of the YMCA building on Huntington Avenue. Phoenix Property Company is purchasing the space. The News regrets this error.
