Northeastern University - Institutional Master Plan

czsz said:
Isn't Cabot a fairly new building? Surprised to see a site redeveloped so quickly.
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Cabot Center was built in 1954. I know this is Boston we're talking about, but I wouldn't call something nearly 60 years old "fairly new."
 
dshoost88 said:
As a matter of fact, their plan adds quads and parks to campus.
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Thanks for the pictures! The rendering of the Huntington Ave. building looks like it's positioned right between West Village H and Cargill Hall, replacing what is currently a triangular patch of grass and a few benches. Are they expanding the Computer Science department or the Law school or something else?

In any case, nice to see them focusing on improving Huntington Ave. Are they planning for dining facilities in whatever replaces Cabot?
 
dshoost88 said:
Cabot Center was built in 1954. I know this is Boston we're talking about, but I wouldn't call something nearly 60 years old "fairly new."
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Sorry, I was thinking of the Marino Center (don't know Northeastern well). Isn't that the building shown at the right in the first slide that discusses the Cabot Center?
 
Marino Center is the shiny blue building with red awnings along Huntington Ave at the NE corner with Forsyth Street. In the slide discussing Cabot, the photo staring down the green line tracks has Cabot Center on the right (SE side) and Marino Center on the left (NE side).
 
I am pretty sure we were sitting right near each other at the meeting. The renderings were used to show massing and potential design styles. I thought it was a pretty impressive meeting even though I left early, partially to avoid some of the crazier community members. The only thing I am very disappointed in is the increase of athletic space. Building a new Cabot might net some, but after old Cabot is demolished and all the space from old Dockser I cant imagine it much of a net gain. One thing they have not talked about at the meetings (since its not really redevelopment) is the potential purchase of the long Christian Science building. I think it would be silly to not purchase the building even if it means pushing back one of the buildings on campus due to its size and highly desirable location.
 
Northeastern is also leasing space in the Christian Science Center's administration building (the high rise).
 
Wow! A pity I probably won't be able to enjoy all of these amenities, but the proposed Science/Engineering center on the Columbus Lot seems too good to be true. The current science and engineering buildings are campus are terribly outdated. The building I take my chemistry classes in is from the early 1930s- so I'm very happy to see new space proposed, at the very least!
 
What building is that? Hurtig was built in the late 60's and Mugar in phases in the 40's, 60's and 70's.
 
TomOfBoston said:
What building is that? Hurtig was built in the late 60's and Mugar in phases in the 40's, 60's and 70's.
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Actually, it is Mugar- messed up the date, which is inscribed on the building's cornerstone. I've been walking by it all summer, too... The main point is that the facilities are horribly out of date- certainly not up to par for this day and age.
 
dshoost, if I do come it'll be a bit later in the meeting. Thank you for the reminder!
 
So the meeting happened. Nothing exciting archboston-wise was announced except some details as to the heights and square footage for some of the proposed building additions.

Behind Ryder Hall - 300 to 350 additional beds in 100,000 square feet of residence hall (12-15 stories high) + an additional 60,000 square feet of academic space... possibly a gut renovation of Ryder as well.

Berstein and Rubenstein Halls - tear them down and put an 18 to 22-story tower (comparable massing to West H) with 400-450 beds (200 to 250 bed net gain from tearing down BerRub), 135,000 square feet residence hall space + 50,000 sq. ft. academic space

Gainsborough Garage - this was strange... it sounded and almost looks like they want to keep the two-level parking garage and then deck a 200,000 square foot athletic facility on top of it to mitigate for the later demolition of the Cabot Center. Then they also mentioned a 150,000 square foot event space on the small parking spot immediately adjacent to Matthews Arena.

Science Quad - 250,000 square feet of additional academic facilities on the Science Quad.

North Lot - 6-story building on North Lot for academic use with about 250,000 square feet of space.

Cargill Hall site (the awkward auditorium between Stearns & West H along Huntington) - an 8 to 12-story academic building with 200,000 square feet of space

Cabot Center site - demolish Cabot, 15-18 story towers with 350 to 400 new beds in 130,000 sq. ft. of residence halls + 350,000 sq. ft. of new campus space... student life, academic, cultural... the works.

Columbus Lot - 600,000 sq. ft. for academic/research space in multiple buildings, 6 to 18 stories increasing in height as you head north away from Columbus Ave.

I'll spare you all the drama from the rest of the meeting... I'm sure the meeting minutes will be published by NU in a few weeks. I did chime in about the dire need for Bostonians to stop pointing fingers at each other/the universities and to start having a serious conversation about relaxing their neighborhood policy restrictions in favor of more favorable zoning density so the city can add anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 additional residential units to the city annually in order to keep up with demand, remain economically competitive, and (most importantly) reduce the congestion and crowding that Mission Hill & Fenway residents complain proliferates their communities.
 
That's an amazing amount of density being added on campus, but I guess this is what happens when the community doesn't allow you to expand.
 
I don't suppose there was any conversation about the buildings on Mass Ave that NEU bought several years ago, the ones that expire from the affordable housing regulations in 2023 that residents are complaining about - now - because they won't be able to live there after then?
 
So the neighbors want the University to open all its facilities to the public, hand them jobs, and plow their snow too? Sounds awfully nice. With those amenities, it's no wonder there's such a housing crunch in Fenway.
 
Does NU own the Punter's Pub/House of Pizza building? If so, combined with replacing Ber/Rub it would allow for an interesting flatiron building to be built there.

Also, NU and Wentworth should try and buy that block of Parker St. from the city and make it into a campus area. There is very little traffic on it and it meets Huntington at an awkward angle.
 
But, then where will I get a pizza and beer after my night classes when Hockey actually starts back up?
 
SeamusMcFly said:
But, then where will I get a pizza and beer after my night classes when Hockey actually starts back up?
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Il Mondo
BHOP
Woody's
New York Pizza
Cappy's
Cappy's II
Sweet Tomato's
Crazy Dough
Little Steve's House of Pizza
Uno's
Conor's

I think you'll survive.

To answer Tom of Boston: no, NU does not own the buildings leased by Punter's or UHOP. And regarding that mega-block bound by Parker, Huntington, & Ruggles/Louis Prang Streets, NU & Wentworth do have plans for it. Wentworth will soon be relocating its athletic field down campus to where their parking lot currently is, freeing up the majority of the site for R&D space along with additional academic facilities. As for Berstein & Rubenstein Halls, NU has expressed in IMP NU Task Force meetings that they'd like to build a West Village H type of residence hall tower there with up to 60,000 sq. ft. of academic space.
 
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