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

curcuas said:
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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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
 
Good catch. Didn't realize there was a suit beyond "working the refs" aka the city dev authorities with their nonsense.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
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
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And some people wonder why it is so difficult to build in parts of Boston....and so expensive.
 
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
 
AndrewOnTheMBTA said:
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
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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.
 
AndrewOnTheMBTA said:
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
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It fits the slow extension of the high spine along Huntington...
 
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!



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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
 
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Sounds like design of the building is advancing and theyre currently working on construction documents. That sounds like an answer to me.
 
stick n move said:
Sounds like design of the building is advancing and theyre currently working on construction documents. That sounds like an answer to me.
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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.
 
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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.
 
stick n move said:
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.
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For a building that Northeastern has been eager to build since 2019, it seems like a long design process.
 
Expect action on site soon. The FAA permit (2025-ANE-1642-OE) has been filed and lists anticipated construction start date of beginning of August. This would align with other permits (PIC, CMP). BPDA compliance certificate was issued last month.
 
If we can get tremont crossing (or whatever its called at this point) to fill in not long after this that would be such a massive transformation of this stretch. HYM won the contract a few years ago so I could definitely see this kicking off in not that long either.
 
I was looking around on the web to try to see if anything new has popped up with this building in the meantime, any changes…etc.

I came across this render on the northeastern website which uses a combination of colors I dont believe Ive ever seen before, a lot of grey and some bright red. This is what northeastern shows when you look at 840 columbus on their website. It could be an intern just using a random image they had, or it could be accurate, no idea. I cant find it in any of the older or newer presentations on bostonplans.

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840 Columbus Avenue | Planning Real Estate & Facilities

pref.northeastern.edu pref.northeastern.edu

On bostonplans the most recent presentation is from april 25’ and this is the only render in there.
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2025-04-02_Presentation_840 Columbus Avenue.pdf | Powered by Box

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This is the exact same design from the last documented changes which showed up in the presentation which was posted in march 24’.



























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20240305 840 COLUMBUS AVE BCDC Monthly Meeting Presentation.pdf | Powered by Box

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So at this moment according to bostonplans this is the most current iteration, but I wouldnt bet the house on it.

Here they are in order to compare.
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We have seen it a million times where the most recent “approved” iteration on bostonplans is one thing, then on an architectural or developers website something new pops up a little bit before construction starts and then that ends up being what gets built. I dont know if thats the case here, but well find out soon enough.
 
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