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

Here is the story in The Huntington News that summarizes the proposal:
huntnewsnu.com

Northeastern files amended plan for 23-story residential building, increasing beds, cutting academic space - The Huntington News

A new project document submitted Dec. 18 to the BPDA reveals updated details of Northeastern’s plan to construct a 23-story student residential building at 840 Columbus Ave. over the next five years.
huntnewsnu.com huntnewsnu.com

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DwnTwnr said:
Tremont is much the same--it's probably too wide to be a real retail corridor but more options aimed a local residents seem like they could work.
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There's a bunch of small retail on Tremont between ~Camden and St Cyprian streets, much of which serves students. If anything, it makes the area by Ruggles stand out more for how hostile it is.
 
curcuas said:
There's a bunch of small retail on Tremont between ~Camden and St Cyprian streets, much of which serves students. If anything, it makes the area by Ruggles stand out more for how hostile it is.
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Good point--I was thinking about the area after Melnea Cass when the street gets really wide and the Southwest Corridor is on one side of the street. I know that BTD is looking at center bus lanes there, which will really change that character.
 
DwnTwnr said:
Good point--I was thinking about the area after Melnea Cass when the street gets really wide and the Southwest Corridor is on one side of the street. I know that BTD is looking at center bus lanes there, which will really change that character.
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Yeah, plus they may eventually build on P3, though the latest proposal continues the boneheaded trend there.
 
I'm no design snob, but seeing images of this particular approved building makes me yearn for the day when cornices and ornamentation fall back into fashion.
 
I looked at the ACC LightView website. It says that the building is open to students at Northeastern University and Boston University. I thought that it was exclusively for Northeastern students. Will this building be exclusive to Northeastern?

"Find your place to shine at LightView, Boston's premier student housing choice for Northeastern University and Boston University students! You'll love our spacious, fully furnished apartments near NEU and BU, academic resources and modern amenities to keep you fit, healthy and happy."

Boston Student Housing | LightView | Boston, MA

LightView - student housing for rent in Boston, MA. On campus apartments near Northeastern University, designed to make your college experience a success.
www.americancampus.com www.americancampus.com
 
jklo said:
Do you think it was more VE'd instead?
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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
 
Their other recent dorm tower came out pretty good imo,
1710620557813.jpeg


I wonder why the review process ruined this one so much.
 
TomOfBoston said:
I looked at the ACC LightView website. It says that the building is open to students at Northeastern University and Boston University. I thought that it was exclusively for Northeastern students. Will this building be exclusive to Northeastern?

"Find your place to shine at LightView, Boston's premier student housing choice for Northeastern University and Boston University students! You'll love our spacious, fully furnished apartments near NEU and BU, academic resources and modern amenities to keep you fit, healthy and happy."

Boston Student Housing | LightView | Boston, MA

LightView - student housing for rent in Boston, MA. On campus apartments near Northeastern University, designed to make your college experience a success.
www.americancampus.com www.americancampus.com
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It is not near BU so that seems a bit odd, unless it is open for students at BU medical school.
 
If this is like Lightview, the broken up massing might actually work well and give the real appearance of multiple towers clustered together.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
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
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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.
 
DwnTwnr said:
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.
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The three year gap was due to the city jerking them around over some neighborhood land title issues conflating with hyperlocal NIMBYism.
 
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