BostonUrbEx
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Mayor Menino praises possible Suffolk move off Beacon Hill
By Thomas Grillo
Thursday, October 7, 2010 - Updated 11 hours ago
Suffolk University is floating plans to move most of its campus from Beacon Hill to Downtown Crossing, and the idea is getting high marks from Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
?The plan has merit,? said Menino, who killed a proposal for a 22-story dormitory on Somerset Street in 2006 due to Beacon Hill neighborhood opposition. ?I believe Beacon Hill residents will accept it with open arms, because there?s always been tension between the neighborhood and the university.?
Under the concept being promoted by John Nucci, the school?s vice president for external affairs, the university would sell three of its Beacon Hill properties and purchase several buildings on Tremont Street and others closer to their new dormitories on West and lower Washington streets. If approved, Suffolk?s scattered real estate would be swapped for a contiguous campus.
In exchange for selling some of its properties, Beacon Hill residents would be asked to approve upping the school?s 5,000 student enrollment cap. The neighborhood supported Suffolk?s bid to construct classroom space on Somerset Street instead of the dorm, in exchange for enrollment limits.
Nucci said the school is committed to reducing its impact on Beacon Hill. He declined to provide specifics.
?We are always trying to identify opportunities for expansion to meet the needs of our students and the city, but only in areas spelled out in our master plan and supported by the community,? he said.
Robert Whitney, a member of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, who has met with Nucci, said the neighborhood will consider raising the cap in a trade for the school moving off the hill.
?Suffolk wants relief from the cap, because they say it?s had an adverse affect on their ability to raise financing for expansion,? he said. ?We would be willing to do it, but we want a say in what happens to those buildings and how the school would handle student demand for apartments on Beacon Hill.?
http://www.bostonherald.com/busines...con_hill/srvc=business&position=recent_bullet
This goes in conjunction with the "Suffolk eyes blighted Filene?s block for university housing" article (which was also posted in the Filene's thread):
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1287156
And again, a map of Suffolk properties and space rented as it stands today:
http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...34766256038742.000478aa21cc370f83a34&t=h&z=15