BU Development Thread

I have no problem with the new buildings on campus, as the law school addition fit in well and the theatre seems to be coming along nicely, but I'm ready for BU to do something bold again. Much like when they replaced the armory with Agganis and the dorms. Not sure what they might be but when they're done selling off all the Wheelock College buildings to private developers they ought to have plenty of free cash floating around. ;)
 
Rover said:
I have no problem with the new buildings on campus, as the law school addition fit in well and the theatre seems to be coming along nicely, but I'm ready for BU to do something bold again. Much like when they replaced the armory with Agganis and the dorms. Not sure what they might be but when they're done selling off all the Wheelock College buildings to private developers they ought to have plenty of free cash floating around. ;)
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I've seen the designs...

They have some interesting things concerning building an enormous park over the Comm Ave/Mass Pike interchange - like a third layer hill to cover over all those roads and let people have green space between east and west campus. They also wanted to build a "River Station" integrated green line/bus/commuter rail stop on that junction. It is a long-term plan, but it could be amazing.

They were also considering decking over the Pike, but that was sold off I think.
 
bdurden said:
As the titular head of the NEU fanboy club, wasn't it you who just resorted to the "lipstick on a pig" critique?
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Yup! That was me. I have degrees from both. I remember the days when BU stood for Big and Ugly. Then they started the BUtification program in the 1980's, which apparently still has not been completed.

And the COM building is still wholly inadequate for a school of COM's caliber, despite a new coat of paint. But COM doesn't bring in any research grants so there is no indirect cost recovery to pay for a new building.
 
per tomorrow's BPDA Board meeting;

Boston Plans said:
"5:40 p.m.: Request authorization to issue an Adequacy Determination waiving further review pursuant to Section 80B-5.4 of the Zoning Code for the Boston University Medical Center 2010-2020 Institutional Master Plan Second Amendment which will add 41,900 Gross Foot Area to the existing 84,200 Gross Foot Area to the facility and the renovation of 53,100 Gross Foot Area of the existing facility with 31,100 Gross Foot Area remaining and the Goldman School of Dental Medicine Project consists of renovations and expansion including office, instruction, clinical and student collaborative spaces located at 100 East Newton Street in the South End; to petition the Zoning Commission for approval of said Second IMP Amendment; to approve the Proposed Project as Development Impact Project within the meaning of Section 80B-7 of the Zoning Code; to issue a Scoping Determination waiving further review of Section 80B-5(s) of the Zoning Code; and, to take all related actions."
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BU - Wheelock merger confirmed.
Wheelock's holdings will be merged into BU and a "new" education school will be created at the Wheelock location.

Well played, BU.
 
bdurden said:
BU - Wheelock merger confirmed.
Wheelock's holdings will be merged into BU and a "new" education school will be created at the Wheelock location.

Well played, BU.
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My guess: BU will use the Wheelock campus for a year and then sell it. Most likely to MCPHS University which is desperate for space. Some of their programs are facing loss of accreditation due to inadequate facilities (among other reasons).
 
TomOfBoston said:
My guess: BU will use the Wheelock campus for a year and then sell it. Most likely to MCPHS University which is desperate for space. Some of their programs are facing loss of accreditation due to inadequate facilities (among other reasons).
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I bet Wheelock's property on the Longwood Mall will be the first to be sold. It's in a super desirable neighborhood but disconnected from the rest of Wheelock, and it appears to be used primarily for back office/operations stuff that BU will surely take over.
 
BU is going to make out like a bandit on this deal. Assume a 6M operating deficit in exchange for like 100M in real estate? Good stuff. While I would like to see BU snap up a few more brownstones between South Campus (Audobon Circle) and Wheelock's campus to make a corridor down Park Dr to connect the two schools they don't seem particularly visionary when it comes to an overall plan for a distinct and coherent campus so I guess they'll just be dealing all of the buildings except for maybe the education school.
 
Rover said:
BU is going to make out like a bandit on this deal. Assume a 6M operating deficit in exchange for like 100M in real estate? Good stuff. While I would like to see BU snap up a few more brownstones between South Campus (Audobon Circle) and Wheelock's campus to make a corridor down Park Dr to connect the two schools they don't seem particularly visionary when it comes to an overall plan for a distinct and coherent campus so I guess they'll just be dealing all of the buildings except for maybe the education school.
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BU has an agreement with the city to not purchase any more buildings in the Audobon Circle neighborhood past the alley between Beacon and Buswell.
 
I think it's unlikely that BU will sell off the holdings at the Wheelock campus. They need the space. Merging BU School of Education with Wheelock suggests that the SED location on Comm Ave could be consolidated at Wheelock, freeing up space for expansion of the Business School or other academic programs on the Charles River campus.
 
whittle said:
BU has an agreement with the city to not purchase any more buildings in the Audobon Circle neighborhood past the alley between Beacon and Buswell.
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Doesn't that deal date back to the Flynn administration? I'd say times change but again I don't expect any of this to actually happen.
 
bdurden said:
I think it's unlikely that BU will sell off the holdings at the Wheelock campus. They need the space. Merging BU School of Education with Wheelock suggests that the SED location on Comm Ave could be consolidated at Wheelock, freeing up space for expansion of the Business School or other academic programs on the Charles River campus.
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I guess that BU could reroute the BU Shuttle bus to serve the Wheelock campus. Wheelock built a major new academic building a few years ago. But as I posted earlier MCPHS is in desperate need of academic space. Maybe they will make BU an offer they can't refuse.
 
According to the Globe article, 6 institutions placed a bid for the merger. It would be interesting to know who else was considering the opportunity.
 
^ thanks Beeline. I still maintain that the masonry refurb on Myles is coming out particularly nicely, even though not all of the material is original.
 
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