ACC/NU Residence Hall | 840 Columbus Ave | Northeastern University

stefal said:
Schools are also facing a gradual but deep drop in enrollment in the coming years as a result of age demographics. In the past few years, most schools in the area have been reporting record enrollments, but universities, the smart ones and the cash-strapped ones, are forecasting and planning around a peak in the next 0-3 years in the northeast region. Harvard and MIT won't see any drops really, but the next tier, Northeastern, BU, etc., is likely looking at it closely. Planning wise, you have to figure out how to best house the most students you've ever seen, but not hold a surplus of units and their associated debt going forward.
Click to expand...
Record enrollments are occurring because of record applications. And schools like NEU are going to cap their enrollment numbers at a certain point no matter how many applications they get because they're all about rising in the rankings.
 
Actually I could see schools increasing enrollment next year just to get more moola.
 
jklo said:
Actually I could see schools increasing enrollment next year just to get more moola.
Click to expand...
It will honestly depend on how many applications they get. In the case of NU, they'll only increase enrollment if the number of applications is high enough that their acceptance rate goes down again.

Last I checked, it was hovering around ~18-19%. I wouldn't be surprised if they're aiming to get that down closer to 15%.
 
jklo said:
Actually I could see schools increasing enrollment next year just to get more moola.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they'll have a small push for increased enrollments, especially with a handful that decided upon a gap year, but after that, the literal number of students in the applicant pool is going to drop, as a result of the decrease in births following 2008, which hasn't increased year over year since then. The class entering in 2026 will be the largest class for quite a while. Maybe it sounds far out, but for universities spending millions on faculty salaries, facility enhancements (with multi-decade long loans attached) and 10, 20, 30-year-campus planning studies, all while boosting your ranking, you have to look very far ahead.

If you're going to maintain your selectivity, that means you're going to accept less students (unless you maintain your applicant pool numbers, which I touch upon later). That means less income to maintain all the new buildings, their debts, and fresh faculty/research hires.

If you want to maintain the number of students so you can financially support all the costs racked up during the boom in students, that means increase your acceptance rate but risk a drop in your overall ranking.

I've personally sat in a few of these kinds of meetings. They thoroughly analyze every statistical trend and every imaginable scenario and what it means financially and operationally. Perhaps NEU has gone through their data and thinks they have enough momentum to hit the highest rankings possible to continue drawing in applicants and continue increasing selectivity, but that's a multi-tiered uphill battle. Good on them if they win it.
 
stefal said:
Perhaps they'll have a small push for increased enrollments, especially with a handful that decided upon a gap year, but after that, the literal number of students in the applicant pool is going to drop, as a result of the decrease in births following 2008, which hasn't increased year over year since then. The class entering in 2026 will be the largest class for quite a while. Maybe it sounds far out, but for universities spending millions on faculty salaries, facility enhancements (with multi-decade long loans attached) and 10, 20, 30-year-campus planning studies, all while boosting your ranking, you have to look very far ahead.

If you're going to maintain your selectivity, that means you're going to accept less students (unless you maintain your applicant pool numbers, which I touch upon later). That means less income to maintain all the new buildings, their debts, and fresh faculty/research hires.

If you want to maintain the number of students so you can financially support all the costs racked up during the boom in students, that means increase your acceptance rate but risk a drop in your overall ranking.

I've personally sat in a few of these kinds of meetings. They thoroughly analyze every statistical trend and every imaginable scenario and what it means financially and operationally. Perhaps NEU has gone through their data and thinks they have enough momentum to hit the highest rankings possible to continue drawing in applicants and continue increasing selectivity, but that's a multi-tiered uphill battle. Good on them if they win it.
Click to expand...

Last admissions cycle Northeastern's acceptance rate rose to 22%. Apparently with all the COVID uncertainty they felt that their yield would fall. They were wrong. They were overenrolled by 300 freshmen. Acceptance rate is no longer a factor in the USNews ranking but yield rate is.

Regarding building luxury apartment style dorms, if enrolment ever did fall these buildings could be leased out to the general public. You can't do that with the less expensive double dorm room with a lavatory down the hall on each floor style of dorm.
 
TomOfBoston said:
Regarding building luxury apartment style dorms, if enrollment ever did fall these buildings could be leased out to the general public. You can't do that with the less expensive double dorm room with a lavatory down the hall on each floor style of dorm.
Click to expand...

About that...

This is kind of petty, but can mods please change the title to "ACC/NU Residence Hall" or something of that ilk (ACC = American Campus Communities, the developer)? Like TomOfBoston noted, this is not a dormitory--Northeastern hasn't constructed a traditional dormitory in 20+ years. Frankly developments like this have more in common with NEMA and Via in the Seaport than they do with NU's Stetson West and BU's Sleeper Hall.
 
jklo said:
It is being zoned as one, will have RAs, etc.
Click to expand...
And Northeastern continues to own the land which give them the ability to limit residents to Northeastern students per the contract with ACC.
 
dshoost88 said:
About that...

This is kind of petty, but can mods please change the title to "ACC/NU Residence Hall" or something of that ilk (ACC = American Campus Communities, the developer)? Like TomOfBoston noted, this is not a dormitory--Northeastern hasn't constructed a traditional dormitory in 20+ years. Frankly developments like this have more in common with NEMA and Via in the Seaport than they do with NU's Stetson West and BU's Sleeper Hall.
Click to expand...
On that note, when do we think NEU will build anything like a traditional dorm again? They really only have two planned spaces for further residential developments (Ryder Lot, Punters/Burstein/Rubenstein plot of land), and I don't know if they'll just move forward with the ACC format for these future developments or just expand their in-house dormitory stock.
 
Zash said:
On that note, when do we think NEU will build anything like a traditional dorm again? They really only have two planned spaces for further residential developments (Ryder Lot, Punters/Burstein/Rubenstein plot of land), and I don't know if they'll just move forward with the ACC format for these future developments or just expand their in-house dormitory stock.
Click to expand...
The Cabot/Barletta/Forsyth site will host at least 3 new buildings. Of course that requires a new rec center to be built on the site of the Gainsborough Garage. One could be residential or a mixed use building.

Also, not in the IMP but I imagine the eventual replacement of Speare Hall with a much larger building which would likely be residential or mixed use. It would also help restore the building wall along on Huntington.
 
TomOfBoston said:
The Cabot/Barletta/Forsyth site will host at least 3 new buildings. Of course that requires a new rec center to be built on the site of the Gainsborough Garage. One could be residential or a mixed use building.

Also, not in the IMP but I imagine the eventual replacement of Speare Hall with a much larger building which would likely be residential or mixed use. It would also help restore the building wall along on Huntington.
Click to expand...
They've been doing extensive renovations to Speare Hall for the past few years; I can't seem them replacing that building in the near future after putting all that work into it.

Speare also houses a significant number of freshman. If they were to replace that building down the road, it'd be interesting to see where those beds would be relocated to.
 
Roxbury developers sue Northeastern over plans to build second LightView-style building

NU responded that this is an old news lawsuit and has been rectified. But what’s seriously fascinating to me is this gem near the end from a student:
“As a student at Northeastern, we have a responsibility to hold Northeastern accountable to be a better community member,” said Danielle Bettio, a fifth-year cultural anthropology major. She signed on to NU for the Common Good’s comment last year. “I think that a lot of students would like [NU] to support community members first, and local people. The rent is just getting too high.”
Click to expand...

Community members have been saying very publicly for 10+ years that Northeastern needs to house more students on campus. Then every time (I repeat—EVERY time) the school has proceeded to do so since it’s last institutional master plan was adopted inclusive of community input, community members shout NIMBY, BANANA, and, “But what about me?!”Fifth-year cultural anthropology major Danielle Bettio’s rent isn’t getting too high because the university/ACC are building more housing on campus; it’s getting high because the neighborhoods, city, and region around it have failed to add new housing for generations at a rate that meets/exceeds market demand, if not also because her wages from co-op likely pale(d) to those of classmates majoring in STEM fields who will have 6-figure salaries waiting for them upon graduating.
 
dshoost88 said:
Roxbury developers sue Northeastern over plans to build second LightView-style building

NU responded that this is an old news lawsuit and has been rectified. But what’s seriously fascinating to me is this gem near the end from a student:



Community members have been saying very publicly for 10+ years that Northeastern needs to house more students on campus. Then every time (I repeat—EVERY time) the school has proceeded to do so since it’s last institutional master plan was adopted inclusive of community input, community members shout NIMBY, BANANA, and, “But what about me?!”Fifth-year cultural anthropology major Danielle Bettio’s rent isn’t getting too high because the university/ACC are building more housing on campus; it’s getting high because the neighborhoods, city, and region around it have failed to add new housing for generations at a rate that meets/exceeds market demand, if not also because her wages from co-op likely pale(d) to those of classmates majoring in STEM fields who will have 6-figure salaries waiting for them upon graduating.
Click to expand...
When I read "cultural anthropology major" I knew where it would go.
 
dshoost88 said:
Roxbury developers sue Northeastern over plans to build second LightView-style building

NU responded that this is an old news lawsuit and has been rectified. But what’s seriously fascinating to me is this gem near the end from a student:



Community members have been saying very publicly for 10+ years that Northeastern needs to house more students on campus. Then every time (I repeat—EVERY time) the school has proceeded to do so since it’s last institutional master plan was adopted inclusive of community input, community members shout NIMBY, BANANA, and, “But what about me?!”Fifth-year cultural anthropology major Danielle Bettio’s rent isn’t getting too high because the university/ACC are building more housing on campus; it’s getting high because the neighborhoods, city, and region around it have failed to add new housing for generations at a rate that meets/exceeds market demand, if not also because her wages from co-op likely pale(d) to those of classmates majoring in STEM fields who will have 6-figure salaries waiting for them upon graduating.
Click to expand...
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

It’s not even like the university is evicting current community members from their houses to build this residential development. They’re specifically building on an empty parking lot for the sake of the surrounding community.
 
dshoost88 said:
Roxbury developers sue Northeastern over plans to build second LightView-style building

NU responded that this is an old news lawsuit and has been rectified. But what’s seriously fascinating to me is this gem near the end from a student:



Community members have been saying very publicly for 10+ years that Northeastern needs to house more students on campus. Then every time (I repeat—EVERY time) the school has proceeded to do so since it’s last institutional master plan was adopted inclusive of community input, community members shout NIMBY, BANANA, and, “But what about me?!”Fifth-year cultural anthropology major Danielle Bettio’s rent isn’t getting too high because the university/ACC are building more housing on campus; it’s getting high because the neighborhoods, city, and region around it have failed to add new housing for generations at a rate that meets/exceeds market demand, if not also because her wages from co-op likely pale(d) to those of classmates majoring in STEM fields who will have 6-figure salaries waiting for them upon graduating.
Click to expand...


Likewise, some NU students are very hostile towards ISEC and EXP. Demanding that NU puts more time into building housing. But when NU does build more they scream "We need more housing, but don't build in Roxbury"
 
MozartFan0418 said:
Likewise, some NU students are very hostile towards ISEC and EXP. Demanding that NU puts more time into building housing. But when NU does build more they scream "We need more housing, but don't build in Roxbury"
Click to expand...
What I don't get about this argument that if they consider the 840 Columbus lot as being in Roxbury, then EXP is virtually in Roxbury also. So, it's not like they could throw housing up where EXP is instead and suddenly not have any concerns about expanding into Roxbury.
 
Zash said:
What I don't get about this argument that if they consider the 840 Columbus lot as being in Roxbury, then EXP is virtually in Roxbury also. So, it's not like they could throw housing up where EXP is instead and suddenly not have any concerns about expanding into Roxbury.
Click to expand...
According to Google Maps both sites are in the South End. I don't know if this is an official boundary. Being Boston I doubt it.
South End - Google Maps
 
Zash said:
What I don't get about this argument that if they consider the 840 Columbus lot as being in Roxbury, then EXP is virtually in Roxbury also. So, it's not like they could throw housing up where EXP is instead and suddenly not have any concerns about expanding into Roxbury.
Click to expand...
TomOfBoston said:
According to Google Maps both sites are in the South End. I don't know if this is an official boundary. Being Boston I doubt it.
South End - Google Maps
Click to expand...
There's no definitive answer for where the borders between neighborhoods in Boston lie, especially with respect to the South End and Roxbury. Boston neighborhoods can also overlap and sometimes encompass one another, and widely accepted definitions today differ from those of the past. Google maps really doesn't have a very good understanding of this. Even different official City of Boston resources define neighborhoods differently. For example, Boston Zoning maps show a Roxbury / South End border at Mass Ave, but city residential parking permits put that border at Melnea Cass.

While there is no definitive answer, I think it's generally safe to say that the Northeastern campus is split between The Fenway and Roxbury, with the dividing line being the train tracks. Just about the only person who will claim with a straight face that Northeastern's stretch of Columbus Ave is in the South End is a real estate broker.
 
Even more of the South End is technically Roxbury to the post office and the address coding system (fun fact!).

Anyways, the prevalence of vacant lots in that area is a real clue that this lawsuit is bad faith.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top