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Northeastern University became the latest of several city colleges to open new, posh apartment-style dormitories yesterday in an attempt to lure upperclassmen back to campus and ease the pressure on the housing market. At the same time, the university opened part of a new affordable housing complex to serve local residents.
The two new dormitories in the West Village, located on Rear Parker Street, will house up to 458 students on the site of a former parking lot and cost $37 million to build. The first dormitory in the complex was opened one year ago and houses 593 residents.
The new dorms, however, are just one part of Northeastern’s plan to ease the housing crunch. While students celebrated the new dorms, officials opened the $2.8 million Shawmut Estates affordable housing project, at the corner of Ruggles Street and Shawmut Avenue.
The opening of Shawmut Estates is only the first step in the larger Davenport Commons development, a $51-million project that will provide 125 apartments for students, 75 affordable family homes for area residents and 2,000 square feet of commercial space.
As part of an agreement with city and state agencies, Northeastern promised to assist public housing efforts in the lower Roxbury community, which lies south of University’s campus. Northeastern contributed $7 million to the low-income housing project, managed by the Madison Park Development Corporation.
Units are offered at a cost ranging from $85,000 for a one bedroom condominium to $105,000 for a three bedroom. Homeowners are required to make a 3 percent down-payment and take out two mortgages with a 7.25 annual percentage rate.
Gov. Paul Cellucci and Mayor Thomas Menino each praised Northeastern for its cooperation with the government and local community.
“We are celebrating the American Dream,” Cellucci said. “Families have already moved in, and that means they own their own homes. That builds stable communities,” he said. College students contribute to the local housing shortage, he said, and applauded Northeastern for taking steps to alleviate the supply and demand problem.
“When kids go to college and seek housing off-campus, it raises the demand which in turn raises the price of housing in the city,” Cellucci said. “This is a great example of what we can do by thinking outside the box and working together.”
Community leaders stressed that providing affordable housing improves family stability and increases economic opportunities for local residents. Less than 15 percent of lower Roxbury residents own their homes, compared to 28 percent of residents in the rest of the city.
“I want to see our babies go to school, not jail,” said Rep. Gloria Fox (D-Suffolk), who also called on Northeastern to offer more educational opportunities for black residents. Fox said she grew up in a Whittier Street development two blocks from Shawmut Estates.
Northeastern is well on its way to reaching its ultimate goal of 650 new campus units, Menino said. “This is a real accomplishment. These units free up housing on the private rental market for those who need it most,” Menino said.
Boston City Councilor Mike Ross said universities need to work with their surrounding communities to mitigate the adverse impacts of increased development. Cooperative public housing projects are one solution, he said.
“It is very important to be building housing on campus because there is a crisis. But at the same time, it’s very important to work with communities,” Ross said.
He called the opening of Boston University’s Student Village Apartments a step in the right direction. However, he expressed concerns that any additional buildings of that size would obstruct access to the Charles River.
“When you create housing, it needs to blend in with the neighborhood. That is what happened here [at Northeastern],” he said.
Northeastern students and administrators seemed pleased with the recent campus improvements. Richard Ockerbloom, vice-chairman of the Board of Trustees, reminisced of his days as a Northeastern student in the 1940s when the campus consisted of three buildings “atop a sea of asphalt.”
According to Ockerbloom, the additional housing is a part of a change that started in 1991, when Northeastern faced declining applications and increased competition from more affordable public institutions. In response, the Board of Trustees limited enrollment and focused on building the community.
“Now look at our beautiful campus,” he said.
“This has far exceeded our expectations,” said Northeastern senior Carrey Ann Driscoll, who will live in one of the new dormitories. “The administration definitely heard us loud and clear this time.”
The Davenport Commons project is financed by Northeastern, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, the Boston Housing Authority and the Neighborhood Trust Fund.
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