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

[curcuas]

If this is like Lightview, the broken up massing might actually work well and give the real appearance of multiple towers clustered together.

 

[DwnTwnr]

I'm sure that's a big part of it but they described a lot of the changes as appeasing the BCDC specifically in this iteration: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/wt26ssqye8pzds1div1f4e2i1yty81ox

You can kind of follow the design progression by going through all the BCDC presentations and I'm just impressed we ended up with something so uninspired after at least 5 civic design reviews. And NU has shown with EXP/ISEC that they're at least sometimes willing to pay for bespoke design...

March 2024: https://bpda.box.com/v/20240305-840COLUMBUSAVE
Feb 2024: missing file
January 2024: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/er1jyzll5gj0vy43k3o0oupkws03kfek
2021: https://bpda.box.com/s/wt26ssqye8pzds1div1f4e2i1yty81ox
2020: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/v9v1u30d9tsmymvefejljsdh1djk3mrr

I'll push back on this. Notice that three year gap? That's NU reconsidering the project and coming in with a different one. This is a developer financed project and this is clearly a VE exercise. They've taken all of the classroom space out, rationalized the floor plates as much as possible, and simplified the facade design. It looks like the only things the BCDC asked for was some ground floor activation, emphasis on that Melnea Cass/Tremont corner, and a minor massing shift.

While design review isn't always great it also isn't always bad. And it this case, barely touched the revised proposal NU submitted.

 

[curcuas]

I'll push back on this. Notice that three year gap? That's NU reconsidering the project and coming in with a different one. This is a developer financed project and this is clearly a VE exercise. They've taken all of the classroom space out, rationalized the floor plates as much as possible, and simplified the facade design. It looks like the only things the BCDC asked for was some ground floor activation, emphasis on that Melnea Cass/Tremont corner, and a minor massing shift.

While design review isn't always great it also isn't always bad. And it this case, barely touched the revised proposal NU submitted.

The three year gap was due to the city jerking them around over some neighborhood land title issues conflating with hyperlocal NIMBYism.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

The three year gap was due to the city jerking them around over some neighborhood land title issues conflating with hyperlocal NIMBYism.

Yeah it didn't get posted in here but the case involving this land made it all the way to the MA Supreme Court in February who ruled in favor of Northeastern: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ma-supreme-judicial-court/115886868.html

They also ruled in favor of Northeastern when the same group sued after International Village was built in 2016: https://casetext.com/case/columbia-plaza-associates-v-northeastern-university

Didn't realize the parcels had quite that much history really

 

[curcuas]

Good catch. Didn't realize there was a suit beyond "working the refs" aka the city dev authorities with their nonsense.

 

[TomOfBoston]

Yeah it didn't get posted in here but the case involving this land made it all the way to the MA Supreme Court in February who ruled in favor of Northeastern: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ma-supreme-judicial-court/115886868.html

They also ruled in favor of Northeastern when the same group sued after International Village was built in 2016: https://casetext.com/case/columbia-plaza-associates-v-northeastern-university

Didn't realize the parcels had quite that much history really

And some people wonder why it is so difficult to build in parts of Boston....and so expensive.

 

[AndrewOnTheMBTA]

I was on a jog by here on Sunday and went by Lightview and it became a thought that perhaps Northeastern has the investment interest in these tall/dense residential projects between 20 and 30 stories and they don't seem to be slowing, with a growing enrollment and money coming in the door.

Is this part of the city, when considering Boston proper, probably posed to have some of the most pushed mid-rises, maybe along with the Fort Point channel area? I can't see many other areas moving along aith anything but infill very quickly

 

[TomOfBoston]

I was on a jog by here on Sunday and went by Lightview and it became a thought that perhaps Northeastern has the investment interest in these tall/dense residential projects between 20 and 30 stories and they don't seem to be slowing, with a growing enrollment and money coming in the door.

Is this part of the city, when considering Boston proper, probably posed to have some of the most pushed mid-rises, maybe along with the Fort Point channel area? I can't see many other areas moving along aith anything but infill very quickly

Lightview and the 840 Columbus buildings are/will be owned by ACC, not Northeastern. Although both are built on land that Northeastern owns and will continue to own. That gives the university some control of the use of the buildings.

It has to do more with Northeastern's attempt to house more students in university-controlled housing instead of leased facilities and off camps in Mission Hill. They are facing pressure from the city to do that, although the city drags its feet in approving the project.

Prior to the 1980's that stretch of Columbus was a wasteland of parking lots and abandoned industrial buildings.

 

[curcuas]

I was on a jog by here on Sunday and went by Lightview and it became a thought that perhaps Northeastern has the investment interest in these tall/dense residential projects between 20 and 30 stories and they don't seem to be slowing, with a growing enrollment and money coming in the door.

Is this part of the city, when considering Boston proper, probably posed to have some of the most pushed mid-rises, maybe along with the Fort Point channel area? I can't see many other areas moving along aith anything but infill very quickly

It fits the slow extension of the high spine along Huntington...

 

[TomOfBoston]

I was curious why construction had not started on 840 Columbus given that the City gave final approval almost exactly a year ago. I decided to go to the source and emailed Northeastern's facilities department. This building has been proposed, in various forms, since 2019.

I received this reply today. It is a non-answer that seemed dictated by their legal department. Here is their reply:

Hi all,

We’ve been advised to respond with the below:

Since receiving board approval last spring, Northeastern's development partner, American Campus Communities, has been advancing design of the building. They are currently working on construction documents. A construction start date has not yet been confirmed. Additional information on the project as well as update on major milestones is available at: https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/840-columbus-avenue.

Could you respond directly and feel free to cc me?

Thanks!

	Cory Berg (she/her) 15
Director of Campus Planning
Planning, Real Estate, and Facilities
Northeastern University
360 Huntington Ave, 216-201 Boston, MA 02115
(857) 895-1204 | co.berg@northeastern.edu

 

[stick n move]

Sounds like design of the building is advancing and theyre currently working on construction documents. That sounds like an answer to me.

 

[TomOfBoston]

Sounds like design of the building is advancing and theyre currently working on construction documents. That sounds like an answer to me.

Northeastern submitted this iteration of the building in December 2023. Seems like a long time to be "preparing documents".

I wonder if the need to replace White Hall has anything to do with the delay.

 

[stick n move]

Nothing says they were working on documents for a year, just that theyre preparing them now. They said that since receiving approval last year they have been advancing design of the building and are currently working on construction documents. So it sounds like much of the last year has been spent working on the design of the building, which had been changed again, and now theyre working on construction documents.

 

[TomOfBoston]

Nothing says they were working on documents for a year, just that theyre preparing them now. They said that since receiving approval last year they have been advancing design of the building and are currently working on construction documents. So it sounds like much of the last year has been spent working on the design of the building, which had been changed again, and now theyre working on construction documents.

For a building that Northeastern has been eager to build since 2019, it seems like a long design process.