UMass to Build $120M Student Housing Complex

A rendering of the new student housing project to be built on the UMass Boston campus.

BOSTON—The University of Massachusetts plans to begin construction in late 2016 on its first student housing project at its Boston campus in its history. The $120-million facility will be built under a public-private partnership. UMass President Mary Meehan announced the plan for the 1,000-bed residential complex on Thursday. The complex, which will feature several buildings of varying height, will house freshmen and transfer students and is scheduled to open in September 2018. Last year the UMass Building Authority conducted a request for qualifications and selected Capstone Development of Birmingham, AL over seven firms that submitted proposals for the project. Under the P3 arrangement, the UMass Building Authority will contract with Capstone Development to lease a portion of the UMass Boston campus adjacent to the Clark Athletic Center to construct the housing complex. Capstone will develop the facility, which will be owned and operated by a nonprofit management entity. UMass Boston will oversee the student life at the facility, UMass officials state. The UMass Building Authority approved a resolution allowing the public-private partnership development arrangement, which was approved by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker last month, according to D eWayne Lehman , director of communications for UMass Boston. “We are still in the early conceptual design phase but it looks like it will have three different wings,” he says. The project will be built on Mount Vernon Street, which borders the northern side of the campus.  The project site is currently being used as a parking lot. Some of the amenities planned for the complex include a dining facility that will be open to the entire campus, activity space and support space for the residents. “This is a major milestone in the history of UMass Boston and a significant accomplishment for the university as a whole,” UMass President Meehan says. “UMass Boston is the most diverse campus of its size in New England, and we know there is a direct connection between on-campus housing and academic success. We therefore believe it is crucial to provide our Boston students with the opportunities that students at most colleges and universities take for granted.” UMass Boston has seen its student body rise considerably, from 11,862 students in 2005 to its current 17,030-student enrollment. “We undertook extensive research and due diligence, knowing that this public-private partnership will serve as a model going forward,” says UMBA Executive Director Patricia Filippone . “Not only will we benefit UMass Boston with this project, we will also answer Mayor (Martin) Walsh’s call to colleges and universities throughout the city to house more students on campus, thereby reducing the pressure on neighborhood rental markets.” UMass has recently completed a number of new facilities on the Boston campus of late, including the $179-million Integrated Sciences Complex, the $130.5-million General Academic Building No. 1 and the nearly $79-million Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate.