Emerson College Buys Boylston Street Lot

BOSTON-Emerson College, the communications and theater school, took another step towards its goal of moving into the theater district here by buying a vacant lot on Boylston Street right across from Boston Common. The College has agreed to pay a minimum of $14.9 million depending upon the zoning decision. According to David Rosen, associate vice president for public affairs at Emerson, the lot will be used to build a dorm, student center and athletic facilities. As with the other buildings the college owns here, a number of retail establishments will be on the ground floor at the front of the building.

“All of our buildings will eventually be brought into the theater district,” Rosen tells GlobeSt.com. “The acquisition of this property and the construction of the other buildings will be financed through the proceeds of the sale of buildings in the Back Bay.”

The 120-year old school has been in the Back Bay since its inception. In the early 1990s, Emerson started to buy up buildings on the outskirts of the theater district, in a part of the city known as the “Combat Zone” because of that area’s dangerous reputation and its proximity to the city’s adult entertainment industry. In the decade since, that area has undergone a transformation and a commercial center – the Ritz Carlton towers–is set to open on the next block.