Northeastern gets BRA approval on Parcel 18

Serghino René

The Boston Redevelopment Authority Board recently approved two new residence halls on Northeastern University’s campus, despite opposition from City Councilor Chuck Turner.

Residence Hall I will be the first of two new residence halls to be created and will be located near Lower Roxbury’s Renaissance Park on Parcel 18.

The facility will contain 1,200 new beds, lounge areas, study spaces, seminar rooms and classrooms, exercise and laundry facilities, dwelling units and offices for resident director and resident assistants, a full service dining facility and other common areas.

The 495,000 square-foot project will also include significant upgrades to an adjacent plaza that will create a larger and more pedestrian-friendly space.

In addition, Northeastern will break more ground for the upcoming Residence Hall K. Located at the current site of the school’s Cullinane Hall on St. Botolph Street, the residence hall will add an additional 600 dorm beds to the campus and will be constructed only after Hall I is completed.

According to the BRA, the $200 million project will create approximately 350 construction jobs and approximately 65 permanent jobs. Construction is expected to begin in 2007.

The development has received support from community and resident associations, including those from the Whittier Street and Alice Taylor homes. Last December, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson supported Northeastern’s proposed development.

In a written statement, City Councilor Chuck Turner opposed the school’s expansion of Parcel 18, arguing that it represents Northeastern’s first steps of taking more land in the Roxbury, and possibly onto nearby Parcel 3, one of the city’s last remaining undeveloped tracts of land.

“While I understand the concern for economic stimulus and jobs,” Turner said in the statement, “I believe the number of students will overwhelm the Lower Roxbury community and turn it from a residential community into an area dominated by students both on the streets and in the surrounding area that now houses families.”

Turner also argues that there have been little to no community meetings for residents to examine the impacts of the project. There were meetings at Whittier and Alice Taylor housing developments, but they were just presentations according to Turner.

“Haven’t we been in a forty-year struggle in Lower Roxbury to assure that the perspective of the members of the community on any land development issue are heard and valued by public officials?” asked Turner.