Suffolk Dorms - 10 West St / Beacon Hill tower

[kz1000ps]

Arguing disturbance of Peace


By Monica Collins | May 28, 2006

The founders of a downtown memorial to homicide victims adamantly want to be left in peace. But they fear their Garden of Peace will be disrupted if Suffolk University builds a 31-story dormitory and student center just yards away.

The development could provide a windfall of mitigation money to the
debt-ridden garden. But garden adherents say they don't want Suffolk's largesse.

"It's never been about the money," says Evelyn Tobin , spokeswoman for the board of directors and one of the founders of the Garden of Peace.

"This is disrespect for sacred space, as far as we're concerned."
John Nucci , vice president for government and community relations at Suffolk, says the university will donate $700,000 to finish the garden, endow a maintenance fund, and integrate a student orientation program about violence and its consequences. ``We feel the garden is an important part of the future and we feel we're the partner that can help it exist into the future."

Situated on Somerset Street in a prime location atop Beacon Hill, across from the old Suffolk County court house and within sight of the State House, the garden stands as a repository of remembrance at the crossroads of law, commerce, and politics. The location also makes it vulnerable to the designs of its abutters. Recently, Suffolk contracted with the state Department of Capital Asset Management to buy the old MDC headquarters, adjacent to the garden, and destroy the building to make way for the new dorm and student center.

Garden organizers, saddled with a balance of $1 million owed to the state for the memorial's land, also shun an offer by Capital Asset to forgive the debt when the Suffolk deal goes through. ``I personally don't know why DCAM is inserting itself in a private mitigation discussion," says Tobin, whose daughter, Kathleen Dempsey , was murdered in Lexington in 1992 .

Nucci says the agency can afford to erase the Garden of Peace debt once Suffolk pays it for the old MDC building. He declines to say what the price will be.

This latest episode is another challenging chapter for the Garden of Peace, which is funded primarily by the families of murder victims whose names are etched on river stones inside the space. According to Tobin, there are 500 stones bearing names of victims with ties to Massachusetts and enough embedded stones to bear the weight of 1,000 more. Families are asked to contribute $200 for a loved one's name to appear in the garden.
The impact of the river stones engraved with all those names is powerful.

Likewise, a sculpture representing hope, ``Ibis Ascending" by Judy McKie, is a graceful component. A reflective pool and waterfall, healing aspects of the symbolic plan, have not been completed, however, because of a lack of funds.

Corporate giving dried up even before the garden opened in September 2004. Political support always has been weak. At the Garden of Peace's dedication, two prominent invitees, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Governor Mitt Romney , didn't show.

Garden representatives recently met with Nikko Mendoza , Menino's deputy director of neighborhood services. ``She was cordial and listened to our concerns," says Tobin. ``The way we left it was that she was going to check with the mayor's scheduler and get a meeting set up with him."

Its organizers say they understand why corporations and politicians are reluctant to throw their support behind the memorial. ``I think homicide is a difficult subject for people," Tobin says. `` We approached a lot of companies early on in fund-raising and it became clear that corporate support wasn't going to happen."

Now, as the garden finds a potential benefactor in Suffolk, the board resolutely rejects the offer . Organizers react emotionally. They see their garden as sacred, not public, space.

In a May 10 letter to Nucci from Leonard Kesten , a lawyer representing the Garden of Peace board, the message is blunt: ``Our group has been clear with Suffolk that the project as planned is wholly unacceptable to the garden." It went on to state that the school's offer of money ``does not even form the basis for continued discussion and is rejected."

Tobin says the problems with the Suffolk project are many: Its height will block out the sunlight needed to grow landscaping plants in the garden. Students might congregate, smoke cigarettes, and, by their disregard, defile the area. Also, a student center, a major component of the Suffolk tower, would provide leisure space disrespectful of the garden's intent.

``Obnoxious activities will face the garden," Tobin says. ``The student center is directly above a loading dock. Above that, there's a fitness center, student lounge, dining hall."

During a phone interview, Nucci said the tower's design has been altered somewhat to accommodate the garden's dignity. A chapel will face the memorial, and there will be no dumpsters on the loading dock, he said, adding, ``All waste removal will be done inside the building." And an outdoor plaza to accommodate smokers and loungers will be fashioned elsewhere.

The Garden of Peace is not the only abutter decrying the Suffolk scheme. Beacon Hill residents, fearing the impact of 800 students in the neighborhood, voiced strong opposition to the plan during recent public meetings.

Yet, Nucci is confident the Suffolk tower -- scheduled to open in fall 2009 -- will be built because it is in synch with the Menino administration's call to relocate students from privately owned housing into campus dormitories. ``We're complying with city policy on this one," he says.

Monica Collins can be reached at mcollins@globe.com.

[kz1000ps]

I don't get it. Beacon Hill residents complain about Suffolk students living on Joy St (I have a friend who fits this description, and he sure as hell parties a lot) and vicinity, and yet they don't want them to be consolidated into one vertical container. They must think that, with these 800 beds, Suffolk will automatically boost overall enrollment by 800 more come August 2009. Duhhhhhh....

However, I would be incredibly worried about having that many college kids right next to the memorial. After the first weekend it's been open, there will without a doubt be a couple loads of puke here and there, and probably a few empty beer cans as well. Had I any connections to the memorial, I would get very very VERY angry over this lack of respect. Suffolk better get a solid plan in place to edumacate those who'll live there, to be sensitive to their neighbor, EVEN WHEN DRUNK.

[quadratdackel]

^ You do make the dorm and memorial coexisting seem very awkward.

Are there alternate locations for the dorm?

What about alternate locations for the memorial? Sure, it's already been built, but maybe it's still the easier one to move, since it's just some landscaping and could presumably go anywhere, whereas there may not be reasonable alternate dorm locations. How expensive would the actual construction be, i.e. ignoring land costs? Maybe the RKGreenway could take it? Maybe somewhere not downtown?

...I'm also intrigued by the $1M garden debt plot twist.

[justin]

My god appeared to me in a burning bush on top of the Winthrop Sq. garage. It's a sacred space for me now, and there's no way I'm going to let it be defiled by some huge commercial development. Now way, not even for $1M.

justin

[kz1000ps]

Yeah, the "sacred space" claim struck me as, to put it nicely, odd, and to put it bluntly, a load of crap.

[JoeGallows]

Are there alternate locations for the dorm?



I have wondered ever since I first saw Ashburton Place, why Suffolk hasn't purchased and built on the parking lot adjacent to the old Boston City Club, now the university's Sawyer Business School building.

I figured when I heard of the new dorm plans a while back, they would build on the Ashburton lot like they built on the Somerset lot.

[castevens]

I don't get it. Beacon Hill residents complain about Suffolk students living on Joy St (I have a friend who fits this description, and he sure as hell parties a lot) and vicinity, and yet they don't want them to be consolidated into one vertical container.

Welcome to our world here at Northeastern. Quadrat mentioned in another thread that Northeastern is about as popular as dog crap around the surrounding areas when Northeastern (besides the few properties that it bought out and tore down) has done nothing but good things for the surrouding area. They built a work out facility (Squashbusters, Marino Center) for the residents, and they made one of the worst crime sections of the city into a pretty good area. Yet they complain about our roudy students living in apartments (paying rent to THEM), but won't allow the construction of a tower to put the students in.

Lose-lose..

[Ron Newman]

My question is: why is this considered Beacon Hill? Isn't it blocks away from the nearest (non-dorm) house or apartment building?

[kz1000ps]

Just a shot I took a month ago...forgot I had it.

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/5604/6233eg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Waldorf]

I would not want to stroll around in a park knowing that it was dedicated to homicide victims. There is something really creepy about that. What a strange park.

[Ron Newman]

Does it bother you to stroll through Mt. Auburn or Forest Hills Cemetery?

[Waldorf]

Yes, a little bit, but the Garden of Peace is dedicated to those who died in a violent way, or at least were killed by another human being, not disease, old age, or what have you.

It's that fact that they are homicide victims is what creeps me out.

[castevens]

My grandfather just died of cancer. That's not scary. If a man snuck up to him and stabbed him in the back, that would be scary. I agree with ZenZen here. And no, I'm not saying that homicide victims don't *deserve* a park or whatnot, just that it's creepy.

[Ron Newman]

And yet we don't usually describe military cemeteries, or the military sections of civilian cemeteries, as "creepy". Even though the people buried in them also died violently.

[castevens]

Eh, Hollywood got me. I'll admit it, and I don't care. Murder in the streets = creepy, dark, and scary. Death in war = valiant, heroic, patriotic. Yay Hollywood.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

And yet we don't usually describe military cemeteries, or the military sections of civilian cemeteries, as "creepy". Even though the people buried in them also died violently.

There's a significant difference between getting killed defending your country from a foreign enemy and getting murdered by a deadbeat criminal in the streets of your own country for no reason.

[Rick]

A few new renderings for this proposal. The height of the tower is listed at 335' to the top of the mechanicals.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4305/image000064na.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6518/image000048kb.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4046/image000021pc.jpg

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3546/image000011yc.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/8247/image000037og.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6526/image000054kv.jpg

[statler]

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6518/image000048kb.jpg

A box? With a rectangle stripe on top? In Boston? It'll never fly.

[kz1000ps]

I like how they combined that photoshop effect with the inherently rough-in-quality sketch of the building for those perspective renderings.

[JoeGallows]

These are nice to see, even though I have a feeling this will be cut down some stories before the end of it all despite the Mayor's student housing initiative. I thought the footprint wouldn't be only on the footprint of the old MDC building. All this time, I thought it would occupy some of the useless plaza next to the McCormick building as well, rounding out along the corner of Ashburton and Somerset.

Also interesting to see that it hangs over and anchors into the Somerset sidewalk as well. I hope those aren't garage fans behind the supports. I wonder if it's placement back from Ashburton will mitigate the wind tunnel? Even during the slightest breeze elsewhere in the city, the Ashburton Place area manages to exaggerate any wind by at least three-fold.

[briv]

Nice find Rick!

Whats with the diagonal stripes, though? Is Suffolk actually trying to antagonize Beacon Hill with that pointless, stupid-looking decorative flourish? Way to make an OK building bad.

[Ron Newman]

Are those actually on the building? I thought they were just sunbeams, shining through cloud cover.

[castevens]

Yeah I think it's computer lighting to make it look cool and futuristic on the rendering, then they build it and everyone says "blahh".

Like any other rendering. Makes it look better than it is.

See also, Columbus tower (although I like the building a LOT, the rendering shows of this angle that makes it look intricate and cool, whereas its just a box)

[KentXie]

Suffolk dorm hits historic problem
By Scott Van Voorhis
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Suffolk University?s controversial drive to build a 31-story dormitory tower on Beacon Hill hit a major roadblock yesterday.

The Boston Landmarks Commission released a report recommending official historic status for a key portion of a 1930s-era building, which the university wants to demolish to make way for a soaring new student high-rise.

If the commission gives a green light to the report, it could require Suffolk to preserve part of the facade of the longtime headquarters of the now defunct Metropolitan District Commission.

While that does not cancel out Suffolk?s plans, it could greatly complicate them amid intense opposition from Beacon Hill residents to the university?s dorm tower. The university, which already has one new dorm complex in the neighborhood, wants to add a second for another 800
students.

?I think it would be very difficult for Suffolk to get approval to put an addition to the building that would be 31 stories or anywhere close to that,? said state Rep. Marty Walz, (D-Back Bay), whose district includes Beacon Hill.

The recommendation would, at the least, require Suffolk to preserve two sides of the building?s exterior. The ?landmark designation,? if it wins approval from the city commmision next month, would also require an extensive review process before Suffolk could make changes to the building.

The report calls for ?landmark status? for part of the building?s facade based on its connection to the MDC, a groundbreaking government agency, as well as its connection to a distinguished local architectural firm.

Suffolk insisted it will push forward with its project.

?We believe that we can work with the commission to find a way to
satisfy their interests and move the project forward,? said John Nucci, vice president for government and community affairs at Suffolk, in a statement.

[DowntownDave]

The building in question:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/20%20Somerset/20SomersetDistant-01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/20%20Somerset/20SomersetFront.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/20%20Somerset/20SomersetFacade.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/Eagles/Somerset.jpg

[Ron Newman]

The Custom House put a tower on top of something much older; it's not unprecedented. Exchange Place is a more recent example of grafting a new skyscraper onto an old fa?ade. And we're all looking forward to the South Station Tower.

Consider this an opportunity for creative redesign.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

you have got to be shitting me

why is this city so retarded

[TC]

Are all those air conditioners part of the historic facade?

[citydave75]

http://www.weston-associates.com/images/20somerset_001.jpg

[citydave75]

This was the original design...in my opinion, a far sight better than either the CBT proposal or the existing building.

As for the landmark status...

Ron, you might have a point- if money was not an object and this building was of significant architectural merit. In this case, neither is true. The fact is, the city has demanded that the colleges of this town house their students in dormitories. The city has to back the college in this case, or it might as well totally rescind that instruction, because no dorm proposal will win universal support.

[quadratdackel]

So from the sound of things, because the building is not that historic (it's sort of nice but certainly not the nicest pile of bricks around... and appears not in pristine condition and also apparently does not have central air...) and because of unrelated opposition to the dorm building, this is basically an abuse of the landmark system?

[Ron Newman]

One does have to wonder why this would be considered worthy of historic preservation, but the Gaiety Theatre was not.

[briv]

According to the latest Courant, The Boston Landmarks Commission have, much to my bewilderment, recommended that the former MDC HQ be given landmark status.

[Benhamin]

If they end up scrapping this tower and saving the MDC building, I will be upset to say the least. The MDC building isn't worthy of stopping this project. Sickening.

[KentXie]

Suffolk keeps growing: Enrollment rise spurs dorm need
By Jay Fitzgerald
Boston Herald General Economics Reporter
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Suffolk University says its controversial proposal for a new 800-student dorm on Beacon Hill is largely meant for existing students.

But that?s also what Suffolk said five years ago about a new dorm it was building that was supposed to keep students on campus and out of the neighborhood. And even as it was building the dorm, Suffolk was adding students at a faster rate than other universities in Boston.

Between 2000 and 2004, Suffolk?s enrollment soared by a whopping 20 percent campus-wide and by 30 percent in the number of undergraduates, according to numbers obtained by the Herald.

And Beacon Hill residents, who oppose construction of the latest dorm, say they?ve seen numbers that are even higher for fast-growing Suffolk, which is trying to transform itself from a largely commuter college to a full-time residential school.

?Suffolk is growing very aggressively,? said David Thomas, treasurer of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, which opposes the new dorm on the grounds it will simply attract more rowdy students into the neighborhood.

?Growth is important to (Suffolk),? said Thomas, who?s also serving on a mayoral task force looking into Suffolk?s neighborhood housing issues.

Suffolk University officials didn?t get back to the Herald with data and comments on enrollment figures.

But data provided by the New England Board of Higher Education show Suffolk?s enrollment growing much faster than other major city colleges.

In 2004, there were 8,332 overall students at Suffolk, up nearly 20 percent from 2000, according to the latest NEBHE numbers.

In 2004, there were 4,341 undergraduates, up 29 percent from 2000. Undergraduates are the heart of the current feud on Beacon Hill, with residents saying young and immature students hold loud late-night drunkfests in private apartments across the neighborhood.

In 2001, when Suffolk successfully pushed for a new 400-student dorm on Somerset Street, a Suffolk official flatly said, ?Suffolk has no plans to increase enrollment,? according to published reports.

But stats show just the opposite occurred - with undergraduates enrollment alone growing by 30 percent, or nearly 1,000 students, since 2001, according to NEBHE numbers.

[briv]

Fact is, when the the BLC recommends a building become a landmark, a building becomes a landmark. So those renderings shown earlier in the thread will never become a reality.

The fix is in. The the whole preservationist movement in Boston has become nothing more than a collection of architectural packrats and tools of special interests. The BLC has revealed themselves as the latter.

As Ive said before, a real preservationist ensures that what is worth keeping stays, what's unimportant and insignificant goes, and whatever new is built is worth preserving. There are far, far too few of these in Boston these days.

[Ron Newman]

Is the building being landmarked, or just some or all of the fa?ade? (See Exchange Place, or Kennedy's Department Store, to see the difference this can make.)

[chumbolly]

That Herald article is fascinating. It makes it sound like Suffolk is pulling a fast one by growing its enrollment. And there's an implication that it should be reigned in because, otherwise, its going to keep building MORE buildings. The horrors!
I didn't go to Suffolk, but I'm guessing it costs money to go there. Money that is spent paying for services and salaries. Money that often comes from outside the city. Money that doesn't fluctuate significantly with economic cycles. That's good money! Besides biotech, Boston doesn't have all that many booming industries. Shouldn't the city be doing everything it can to encourage the growth of academic institutions? Suffolk seems on a hard tack towards becoming a highly regarded university and it's investing huge sums in Boston. I think people that oppose that kind of growth should be water-boarded in the Charles.

[chumbolly]

?Suffolk is growing very aggressively,? said David Thomas, treasurer of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, which opposes the new dorm on the grounds it will simply attract more rowdy students into the neighborhood.

?Growth is important to (Suffolk),? said Thomas, who?s also serving on a mayoral task force looking into Suffolk?s neighborhood housing issues.


I wonder what Mr. Thomas would think if these were Harvard students? Harvard warehouses all its kiddos in dorms, yet oddly, I wouldn't call the sections of Cambridge around Harvard a student ghetto. Maybe putting students in big dorms, rather than forcing them to rent neighborhood housing, actually improves a neighborhood.

[laramaro]

Fact is, when the the BLC recommends a building become a landmark, a building becomes a landmark.
Not necessarily. The Mayor has veto power, and this power has been exercised by Mayors previously.

[bostonman]

Suffolk announces plans to shrink proposed dorm, But residents want more talk about its future plans by Suzanne Besser

Early last week, Suffolk University officials said that they had decided to scale down the size of its proposed new dorm, but many residents say the school is on the wrong track and should spend time planning for its future.

In response to neighborhood concerns about the size of the proposed dorm at 20 Somerset Street, the university decided to reduce the height from 31 stories to 22 and drop the number of students housed there from about 800 to between 520 and 550. It also will move the loading dock away from the adjacent Garden of Peace, a memorial to victims of homicide which supporters fear would be negatively impacted by the dorm.

Architectural plans for the revised building are currently being drawn, and no official documents have yet been forwarded to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said Suffolk spokesman Michael Feeley.

Some residents feel the reduction in size is not a compromise at all but rather a strategy the university used to get what they wanted in the first place, said Molly Sherden, vice president of the Beacon Hill Civic Association. ?It would be nice to say we all sat down and found a compromise, but this is really not a compromise.?

?I don?t know if that is true or not,? said state Representative Marty Walz. ?But that?s not the conversation we should be having. In some sense, Suffolk has put the cart before the horse.?

Walz believes there are two things the university should be addressing: its master plan for growth and its student behavior. To its credit, she said, it has begun to work on the latter by putting into effect a new plan to reduce student misbehavior this fall. ?But working with no master plan is a tremendous barrier,? said Walz. ?We are all talking in a vacuum.?

The lack of a long-range plan for both academic and residential growth has been a source of frustration for members of the Suffolk Task Force. Chair Robert Whitney said without such a plan, university acquisitions appear ?opportunist? and are difficult to evaluate. ?The current and now changed proposal for residences in general is not part of their existing plan, and, as a result, it is difficult to see how the dorm fits into it,? he said.

Another task force member, Bowdoin Street resident Tim Padera, said he was disappointed that Suffolk said neighbors? opposition was why it reduced the size of the building. ?If this is a compromise, they have missed the point. In the task force meetings, we are trying to find where Suffolk is going. It seems to be planning for 2007 but not for 2027,? he said.

?The message we hoped it heard from the Beacon Hill community is that we are not comfortable with Suffolk expanding its campus here,? he said, referring to Suffolk?s goal to expand its campus to 5000 students, which means a gradual influx of 1000 additional students.

?To accommodate this goal, Suffolk needs to expand both its housing and its academic space, which are well below the nationally recommended sizes,? said Padera. ?Just one dorm isn?t going to solve its housing problems. Where is it going? Now is the opportunity to plan for the future and shift its center of gravity near Tremont Street where there is more room for growth.?

That the neighborhood may not be able to absorb an additional influx of college students is of concern to the BHCA, said Sherden. ?There is a delicate balance of age groups, income groups, businesses and institutions on the Hill. If we get too many of any one element, the balance is thrown over. We have to decide what the tipping point is of college students ? is it another 500? 1000? What is the correct balance??

An attorney herself, Sherden has been frustrated with the process so far and believes a real negotiation would be for residents to sit down, talk about a plan for future growth and look at other alternatives for locating the dorm. ?The conversation should be about what is good for the neighborhood, what is good for Suffolk and what is good for its students,? she said.

Beacon Hill Times

[palindrome]

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[Mike]

Suffolk dorm plan hits snag as Rep. asks for a review
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - Updated: 04:54 AM EST


Suffolk University?s controversial drive to build a new dorm tower at the foot of Beacon Hill has hit another obstacle.

The Division of Capital Asset Management, which owns the property Suffolk wants to build its high-rise dorm on, should instead reopen the bidding for the former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters, state Rep. Marty Walz (D-Back Bay) urged yesterday.

State officials originally pitched the sale of the Somerset Street property as a quick way to raise money by selling an empty office building. But two years later it is becoming increasingly questionable whether those promises will be fulfilled, Walz said.

Suffolk?s recent decision to cut the height of the high-rise from over 30 stories to 22 will ultimately reduce the amount of money the university will pay for the property, Walz said.

?It may be years before the state receives any money,? the lawmaker writes in a letter sent to DCAM?s commissioner.

Walz?s letter is just the latest salvo aimed at Suffolk in an increasingly contentious battle over its proposed, high-rise dorm, with Beacon Hill residents up in arms over an influx of rowdy college students.

Moreover, Walz questions the fairness of the original bidding process, contending it was skewed in Suffolk?s favor.

A spokesman for DCAM declined comment, other than to say all procedures had been followed. But John Nucci, a top Suffolk official, expressed ?surprise? at Walz?s critique. He noted that the university had reduced the height of its proposed dorm after serious objections from the neighborhood.



Link (http://business.bostonherald.com/realestateNews/view.bg?articleid=163849)

[Mike]

Shop owners support dorm: Petition seeks OK for Suffolk
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Saturday, November 11, 2006


Some longtime Beacon Hill shop owners are lining up behind a controversial proposal by Suffolk University to build a new, 22-story dormitory in the historic neighborhood.

The dorm tower plan, which will house more than 500 students, has sparked opposition on Beacon Hill, with angry residents warning the dorm complex will simply fuel already serious problems with late-night student partying.

But owners of neighborhood icons like the Fillabuster and the Capitol Coffee House are breaking ranks.

A collection of 15 business owners - from coffee houses to a shoe shop and a neighborhood cleaner - has inked a petition in support of the hotly contested project, now under review at City Hall.

The support comes after Suffolk University agreed to let students use their electronic meal cards at neighborhood dining establishments, which were off-limits before.

Suffolk also agreed to pull the plug on a plan to open a competing cafe in the new tower.

Sam Maione, who has run the Capitol Coffee House on Beacon Hill for 30 years, said Suffolk University?s pledge not to compete - and throw some business his way as well - converted him from skeptic to believer in the Suffolk plan.

?We are already competing with the chain stores. We don?t need to compete with someone else,? Maione said.

Ania Camargo, who is a member of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, said she didn?t begrudge the decision of the neighorhood shopkeepers to support Suffolk.

But the nature of the deal seems clear to her.

?It?s tit-for-tat. We will give you students and you will support construction of this dorm,? said Camargo, member of a city-appointed panel reviewing the new Suffolk University dorm project.



Link (http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=166717)

[pharmerdave]

Here is a link to the enviromental impact report for the project.

http://www.mass.gov/envir/mepa/pdffiles/enfs/110806em/13902.pdf

[FastLane]

This week's Boston Courant has an article by Shayndi Raice entitled "Suffolk Wins Vital Round in Dorm Fight". Sorry I can't find any link to the article online.

Beacon Hill residents suffered a setback in their fight against a proposed Suffok University dormitory and student center last week after a subcommittee of the Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) recommended that the site be denied landmark designation.

Instead, members on the sub-committee asked the BLC to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that would allow the demolition of the former Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) headquarters building, located at 20 Somerset Street, if Suffolk University includes a historical preservation plan.

[ablarc]

...if Suffolk University includes a historical preservation plan.
What does this mean? Historical preservation of what?

[Ron Newman]

Might just mean photographing and documenting the building before demolishing it, or erecting a plaque to acknowledge its existence.

[Waldorf]

These people must be bored out of their minds.

[FastLane]

...if Suffolk University includes a historical preservation plan.
What does this mean? Historical preservation of what?

From the article it sounds as if the BLC and Suffolk have made a compromise that acknowledges the "historical significance as opposed to the architectural significance"

...the proposed dormitory will be required to provide historical documentation and extensive exhibits on the contributions of the MDC headquarters building. The MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) will also require Suffolk University to salvage elements of the original structure and maintain a museum on the MDC building.

[Roxxma]

From the picture in the Boston Courant, it appears that the portion of the fa?ade facing the street and the Saltonstall Building will be preserved and the tower built within.

[briv]

Scanned image from the Courant -- BTW, this paper is without a doubt the best news source for major new developments in Boston. Unfortunately, they have no online version. Why that is, it's a mystery.

This image is courtesy of the Boston Landmarks Commission, so (thankfully) it's probably more of a guideline than actual design. IMO, the height reduction is arbitrary and unfortunate:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/suffolk.jpg

[atlantaden]

Briv, thanks for taking the time to scan and post the pics. One thing I don't understand, if Beacon hill residents are so concerned about the numbers of students living off campus on Beacon Hill, why are they so opposed to this dorm which would probably siphon kids from their Beacon Hill neighborhood and house them in one central place away from the Hill? I would think they would demand more dorms be built to get all the kids out of the neighborhood.

[Mike]

Civic group girds to fight Suffolk dorm
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Saturday, December 16, 2006


Beacon Hill activists are vowing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to sink a controversial proposal by Suffolk University to build a student dorm in the historic neighborhood.

The Beacon Hill Civic Association has delivered a petition signed by 944 residents asking Mayor Thomas M. Menino to stop the dorm project.

Meanwhile, the civic group is hiring a small army of consultants to do battle with Suffolk. Along with a lawyer and a public relations firm, the Beacon Hill Civic Association recently added an urban planning firm and is interviewing environmental consultants.

The total bill will reach into the hundreds of thousands, said David Thomas, the organization?s treasurer.

Critics contend a new Suffolk dorm will further fuel problems with out-of-control student parties on Beacon Hill, which some blame on an already large presence of Suffolk students.

?It can be expensive for both sides,? Beacon Hill Civic?s Thomas said.
However, Suffolk officials say they hear the concerns raised by Beacon Hill activists and are taking steps to address them.

The university recently hired well-known planner Alex Krieger to help draw up a long-term master plan spelling out publicly where the university intends to build over the next 10 years.

Suffolk has also significantly scaled back the height and size of the project, from 31 stories to 22 and from 800 beds to 550.

The university recently passed a key hurdle before the city?s landmarks commission, and hopes to have final City Hall approvals in hand by this summer.

?I think the vast majority of the community understands and appreciates the concessions we have made,? said John Nucci, Suffolk?s community affairs chief.



Link (http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=172284)

[DudeUrSistersHot]

Do these people have no fucking lives?

[bowesst]

why are they so opposed to this dorm which would probably siphon kids from their Beacon Hill neighborhood and house them in one central place away from the Hill? I would think they would demand more dorms be built to get all the kids out of the neighborhood.

I don't understand this either. They act like this dorm is going up on Charles Street. The dorm would be basically removed from the neighborhood.

[Ron Newman]

Menino pulls backing for Suffolk dorm (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/12/27/menino_pulls_backing_for_suffolk_dorm?mode=PF)
Site on Beacon Hill was opposed by neighbors
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | December 27, 2006

The Menino administration has done an about-face and now opposes Suffolk University's plans to build a dormitory tower on Beacon Hill that was widely opposed by neighbors.

"We have been hearing loud and clear that dormitory use is inappropriate for that location. The mayor has heard that," Boston Redevelopment Authority director Mark Maloney said yesterday.

"By and large, we do want students to be in dormitories," he added. But, "hearing from so many neighbors about the difficulties of living in a community with Suffolk students, we concluded it was not good for town-and-gown relations."

Suffolk needed city permits for the 22-story building, but at Menino's request, Maloney yesterday told Suffolk University vice president John A. Nucci the city's support would not be forthcoming -- which means it is all but dead. Maloney said Suffolk was scheduled to make an important decision today about buying the property where the dorm was planned and had sought the city's position.

Neither Nucci nor other Suffolk officials could not be reached for comment.

The Beacon Hill Civic Association and neighbors of the proposed site, which includes a former Metropolitan District Commission building on Somerset Street, had fought Suffolk's plan to house more than 500 students in a new building there.

Most residents hadn't yet heard the news. But John Achatz, president of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, said: "If this is true, this is what we have been urging the city to do. We think this is a good decision."

The city will work with the university to find a better location for a dormitory, Maloney said, including looking in the Ladder District, the downtown neighborhood that runs between Tremont and Washington streets near Downtown Crossing.

Maloney acknowledged the city's opposition was both a change in position -- as well as in conflict with Boston's generally supportive policy for housing students in institutional buildings, not private residences.

"We were initially supportive, and we told Suffolk that," he said, "but we've been at many long night meetings where we heard about bad behavior by Suffolk students."

In September, Suffolk shrunk its plans for the building, from 31 floors and 800 beds to 22 floors and 500-550 beds. At the time, Nucci said Suffolk wanted to be "responsive to neighborhood concerns," and a BRA spokesman called the move "a step in the right direction."

The city's new position is likely to please supporters of the Garden of Peace, a statewide memorial to homicide victims located at the nearby redeveloped 100 Cambridge St. complex.

Advocates of the garden, which contains stones with the names of more than 500 murder victims, feared that sunlight would be blocked and that student activity would interfere with the contemplative nature of the space.

"I'm also really happy this means the Garden of Peace will be protected," said Achatz, "because that's been very important to us."

In most cases where the city has supported construction of student dorms, support from local representative and the community has been stronger than it was in this case, Maloney said.

"We decided it would not be good for Suffolk University."

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.

[palindrome]

:cry:

Well i hope this leads to more students living on beacon hill so the residents get what they deserve.

[Ron Newman]

There's a very large empty plot of land just a couple blocks away, which right now contains nothing but bricks.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

There's a very large empty plot of land just a couple blocks away, which right now contains nothing but bricks.

So let's build a dorm in BOTH places.

[sidewalks]

It will be interesting to see whether the press really picks up on this issue. Never mind that the Menino administration directed universities to build more housing, never mind that the BRA told Suffolk that they would support this project, the most ridiculous part of this story is that the fickle Menino administration just cost the Commonwealth $15 million. Suffolk was poised to pay handsomely for that building. (See the Beacon Hill Times article from last week) That deal was contingent on the university building beyond the existing building envelope. Whomever comes in after Suffolk will be sure to build within the existing FAR. That means that the State will lose out on millions in revenue. Moreover, what message does this send to other colleges in the area? This is a typical move by a weak mayor who is unfit to lead this city. Menino might mean well, but this is inexcusable.

[ablarc]

"We decided it would not be good for Suffolk University."
...so we decided to protect them from themselves.

[kz1000ps]

Suffolk University drops Beacon Hill dormitory plan, seeks new site

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff | December 28, 2006

Bowing to the city's opposition to its plans, Suffolk University is giving up on the idea of putting a new dormitory tower on a Beacon Hill site.

But the university wants to work with Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Redevelopment Authority to find a suitable new location as quickly as possible, said John A. Nucci, vice president for government and community affairs.

"It is important to identify a site and move forward as quickly as possible," Nucci said yesterday. "Student housing is a very important need for Suffolk and, more importantly, for the city."

BRA director Mark Maloney told Nucci Tuesday that the city was reversing its position and would oppose Suffolk's plans to house students at the site of a former Metropolitan District Commission building on Somerset Street. Outcry from the Beacon Hill community influenced the city's decision.

Instead of expressing disappointment, Nucci said Suffolk was focused on moving forward. "Suffolk wants to peacefully coexist with our neighbors," Nucci said.

Suffolk will spend the next few weeks considering other possible uses for the Somerset Street location that would be more palatable to neighbors.

Suffolk currently houses 765 students, 17 percent of its undergraduate population, in two buildings. Its goal is to eventually house about 2,500 students. Suffolk initially sought 800 beds for the failed proposal and later downsized the plans to 550 beds.

Maloney said the city looks forward to working with Suffolk on other options. Downtown Crossing and the Ladder District have worked well in the past for Suffolk and Emerson, he said, but officials wouldn't limit the university to those neighborhoods.

Suffolk is working on a revision to its institutional master plan, a process mandated by the city that entails community involvement. Maloney suggested that the city and the neighbors may not be in as much of a hurry as Suffolk.

"Interactive dialogue can be hard, and it's time-consuming, but it pays off," he said. "We have to make sure we do this with the community, and they need a breather."

Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.
? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

[kmp1284]

It's probably better this way in the long run, there is no reason that prime real estate such as this should be squandered on Suffolk students. I think we could definitely see a condo proposal here that would make the muster of the neighbors. If I had the threat of a bunch of college students moving in next to me, I would fight it, especially if I was paying some of the highest residential taxes in the city.

[Ron Newman]

Somerset Street is not a residential area, so there are no neighbors. Also, doesn't Suffolk own this property now? They seem to already be making another plan for it.

[kz1000ps]

Mayor has a proposal for a Suffolk campus

By Marcella Bombardieri and James Vaznis, Globe Staff | December 31, 2006

Shortly after city officials nixed Suffolk University's plans to build a dormitory tower on Beacon Hill, Mayor Thomas M. Menino offered a radical alternative. Suffolk could consider moving its campus or a good chunk of it into the Hurley building, state offices at the corner of Cambridge and Staniford streets near Government Center.

"It would be like Emerson College -- consolidate," Menino said in an interview last week, referring to Emerson's move in recent years from the Back Bay to the Theater District.

Designed in the late 1960s in the same Brutalist architectural style as City Hall, the state services complex made up of the Hurley and Lindemann buildings was dubbed "an orgy in concrete." It was widely seen as a cold, inhospitable environment for the offices and mental health facility it housed.

While it's still in use and not for sale at the moment, the state has been exploring ways to get rid of the complex for years, said urban designer Alex Krieger.

It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to get Suffolk to move in. In the late 1980s, the legendary urban planner Edward Logue had a plan that included Suffolk taking over the buildings and turning the university's Beacon Hill properties into luxury housing. Suffolk didn't bite.

Suffolk officials could not be reached for comment. Boston officials, who are also considering selling City Hall Plaza and building a new City Hall on the South Boston waterfront, declined to elaborate on how they imagined Suffolk making use of the complex.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. of the Globe staff contributed to this column. Campus Insider runs on alternate Sundays with the Globe's Ask the Teacher feature, a column by an area teacher.

E-mail tips to campus@globe.com.
? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

[TheBostonian]

Can Suffolk take City Hall too?

[ablarc]

If they put lots of money into landscaping and master planning, they'd have the makings of a mighty impressive campus --right in the middle of things.

[briv]

Yeah right.

I'm sure that concrete fortress would look a lot more enticing in their promotional literature than comely Beacon Hill.

Suffolk U. would have to be clinically retarded to accept this offer. Especially after they've spent a few hundred million to build a physically credible "campus".

[cityrecord]

Suffolk U. would have to be clinically retarded to accept this offer.

Well, Suffolk did try to build a dorm tower on Beacon Hill so while they may not be clinically retarded they might be considered just a little bit slow.

[kz1000ps]

Lol. Like I've said elsewhere, Berklee is using Suffolk's dealings with the community as the textbook example of how NOT to go about expanding the campus.

[sidewalks]

While the administrators at Suffolk might not be the brightest in the world, this development is not part of Beacon Hill. And while Suffolk may have made errors in the past, they did reach out to the community during this process. The community had made up its mind and I am convinced that nothing Suffolk could have done would have change their conviction.

To recap: Suffolk is not expanding enrollment. Suffolk was simply trying to house a greater portion of their existing student body in dormitory housing- as the city requested. The driving force behind the city request has always been to take students OUT of the neighborhoods by housing a greater number in university housing. This project got torpedoed because the Menino administration didn't have the courage to stand behind its own policy.

Students aren't going to disappear from Beacon Hill just because this proposal was shot down. By my sights there will be more on the Hill than there would otherwise be. And if Suffolk miraculously finds another site to build a dorm that is farther removed from the campus center, students will have a greater incentive to live closer to where classes are held: on Beacon Hill.

[riserise]

but suffolk IS significantly expanding their enrollment and they are revising their IMP to reflect their new project numbers. even with the proposed new dorm, they were going to be housing a lower percentage of students on campus then they do currently.

[sidewalks]

Whatever changes to enrollment that may have occurred recently have nothing to do with this project. There are no plans to increase enrollment size and any changes to enrollment occurred well before the dorm plan was even on the drawing board. If you have information to the contrary I would love to see the evidence.

[atlantaden]

but Suffolk IS significantly expanding their enrollment and they are revising their IMP to reflect their new project numbers.

Is this such a bad thing, a university expanding it's enrollment? I would suggest that instead of working against Suffolk, the city of Boston should instead encourage this growth. The Boston/Cambridge area benefits to the tune of billions spent annually by area colleges and universities in terms of construction, research, the thousands of employees, and the students themselves. The vibrancy of the city is directly due to the thousands and thousands of college students who live in the area attending school. Granted, the city looses tax revenues due to property losses and kids get rowdy but the gain in other areas I would guess more than offsets this. Neighborhoods should always be taken into account when growth occurs but considering the economic benefits these schools bring, the city government should show more support for it's universities and colleges. Seriously, what was the reason that these Beacon Hill residents were so adamantly opposed to this dorm being built? Is the site (I'm not familiar with this area) so close to their homes that residents would have been directly impacted?

[Ron Newman]

This site isn't part of the Beacon Hill residential neighborhood at all.

[kmp1284]

It is close enough and seriously, we're talking about Suffolk, this isn't some grand research institution that we should strive to please at every turn. If this were Harvard or BU, I would probably say otherwise, but as long as we're talking about nothing more than a mediocre private college that has a reputable local law school, I would rather wait for something better.

[sidewalks]

atlantaden made an excellent point...the issue has little to do with the academic reputation of the institution. Universities provide jobs. Lots of them. They make a huge impact on the local economy. And while Suffolk is not currently a prestigious school, Boston College wasn't prestigious 30 years ago either. With good planning, good facilities, and a good location a university's reputation can improve. Look at Northeastern or Emerson. Either way, the more students Boston has, the more: professors, construction jobs, staffing positions, parents visiting and dropping money at hotels and restaurants, and student spending supporting local business. Universities are hugely beneficial to the Boston area and their needs should be accommodated.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

atlantaden made an excellent point...the issue has little to do with the academic reputation of the institution. Universities provide jobs. Lots of them. They make a huge impact on the local economy. And while Suffolk is not currently a prestigious school, Boston College wasn't prestigious 30 years ago either. With good planning, good facilities, and a good location a university's reputation can improve. Look at Northeastern or Emerson. Either way, the more students Boston has, the more: professors, construction jobs, staffing positions, parents visiting and dropping money at hotels and restaurants, and student spending supporting local business. Universities are hugely beneficial to the Boston area and their needs should be accommodated.

Exactly.

Pretty much every single dollar that colleges spend is spent in the local economy. Unlike John Hancock, Gillette, Bank of America, etc, none of our colleges are going anywhere. They will always stay here. 32% of Suffolk students are from out of state. With about 7000 undergrads and graduate students, this means that there are about 2250 out of state students in attendance. Given the cost of attending Suffolk, that means that about $89 million flows into our local economy from out of state every year - not even counting all the money that they will spend on their own for food, beer, etc. This is a large chunk of what keeps our economy going, and this whole anti-expansion attitude makes no sense.

[Ron Newman]

Unlike John Hancock, Gillette, Bank of America, etc, none of our colleges are going anywhere. They will always stay here.

Almost true, but I'll nitpick a bit anyway. Emerson College almost moved to Lawrence. Boston State College was merged out of existence. The Art Institute of Boston merged into Lesley and will soon move from Boston to Cambridge. Newton College of the Sacred Heart merged into Boston College. Bradford College in Haverhill closed up shop a few years ago.

[DudeUrSistersHot]

Unlike John Hancock, Gillette, Bank of America, etc, none of our colleges are going anywhere. They will always stay here.

Almost true, but I'll nitpick a bit anyway. Emerson College almost moved to Lawrence. Boston State College was merged out of existence. The Art Institute of Boston merged into Lesley and will soon move from Boston to Cambridge. Newton College of the Sacred Heart merged into Boston College. Bradford College in Haverhill closed up shop a few years ago.

Ok, given. But you may notice that none of these places moved to North Carolina or Florida or California. They moved a few towns over, closed entirely, or merged with other local schools.

[czsz]

Not to mention Boston still seems ripe for the foundation of new institutions. Olin in Needham and the Hult International Business School in Cambridge (the latter an MIT spinoff) come to mind.

[Ron Newman]

I never knew about Hult until you posted that.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Here's the latest on the Suffolk dorms.

Condo residents won't oppose Suffolk dorm
School agrees to limit its future expansion of housing in the area

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | July 3, 2007

A major obstacle to Suffolk University's plan to put a 274-bed dormitory in the Ladder District near Downtown Crossing fell yesterday when its future neighbors at Millennium Place dropped their opposition.

To gain support from the owners of the luxury residential towers on the edge of Chinatown, Suffolk University signed a detailed agreement that will limit its future expansion of student housing.

Negotiations with Millennium Place "resulted in making the project better for both Suffolk University and the surrounding community," John A. Nucci, vice president for government and community affairs at Suffolk University, said yesterday.

Suffolk University, which was rebuffed by City Hall in its attempt to build a 550-bed dormitory on Beacon Hill, instead purchased a condominium project that was under way at 10 West St., a block up Washington Street from Avery Street, where Millennium Place is located.

The sale closed last week. The price was $32 million.

Millennium has three residential towers, and the agreement was reached with associations for each building. The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common hotel also is located at Millennium Place.

The agreement includes a promise by the university not to develop more student housing in the areas -- with the exception of the Modern Theatre site, which is adjacent to 10 West St.

That decaying property, owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, is expected to be redeveloped. Suffolk could compete for the right to put a dorm there, which under the agreement with Millennium would have a maximum of 200 beds.

The BRA requested proposals for the Modern site on Friday; they are due Aug. 30.

In addition, the agreement requires:

A 24-hour Suffolk University police presence and security cameras at the new dorm, plus privately paid Boston police details.

Rental of the ground floor as retail space.

A university contribution to a Boston Common security fund.

Efforts to limit disruptions during student arrival and departure periods.

About half of the beds will be in units with kitchens, the other half in suites of two or three bedrooms with common living areas, whose residents will take their meals at a university dining hall at 150 Tremont St.

The provisions of the agreement with Millennium Place are expected to be incorporated in a cooperation agreement with a neighborhood advisory subcommittee and the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Nucci said the first-floor space of 10 West St. probably will be occupied by a high-quality restaurant. Another small retail space could house a dry cleaner or grocery store.

Suffolk University hopes to open the building in September, but it will be completed in January at the latest, Nucci said. Suffolk Construction Co. has been hired to build the dorm in an existing eight-story, 90,000-square-foot former office building.

Suffolk University has a purchase-and-sale agreement with the state to buy the former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters building on Beacon Hill, where it had proposed a larger dorm. Mayor Thomas M. Menino rejected that idea, after initially supporting it, because of opposition from Beacon Hill residents who were fearful of rowdy student behavior.

Nucci said he did not know what the university's plan is for that building.

[atlantaden]

I can't believe Suffolk caved to the demands, of all people, the condo owners in the Ritz Towers. This isn't exactly a single family home residential neighborhood, they live up...why in the would would they have even complained about students on the street...logic would dictate that the more young, educated, talented people in the neighborhood, the safer the streets would be for everyone. Even if the kids stumble home at 2 am the residents are 20 floors up...the benefits of having more people on the streets during the day and evening hours more than outweigh the partying that goes on during the weekends.

[statler]

Those requirements don't seem to be too egregious.

At least they are not asking for shuttle service and free tuition.

The ground floor retail sounds like a win/win.

[atlantaden]

^^^^^^^^^
Promising not to build any more student housing in the area is a huge requirement! Frankly, it's the city's job to stipulate concessions to build, not the neighbors a block or more away. It's difficult enough to get anything built in this city without having to placate every resident in every neighboring building. Who knows, maybe now the residents at Tremont on the Common have their shopping list of demands to present to Suffolk seeing that their Ritz neighbors have had their say.

[czsz]

Gah, most of the condos in Millennium Place are just pieds-a-terre for athletes and out of town businessmen! They're probably only around two nights a month.

[kz1000ps]

Suffolk dorm plan advances as neighbors drop opposition

July 8, 2007

Suffolk University officials are optimistic about their proposal to convert the building at 10 West St. in Downtown Crossing into a student residence hall, now that residents at the nearby Millennium Place condominiums have dropped their opposition to the project.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority held its second and final public meeting on the issue in late June and will be collecting public comments until tomorrow.

According to Jessica Shumaker of the BRA, when that period is over, the agency will review the comments and their internal analysis, then make a decision, probably at one of the next BRA board meetings, which take place every three weeks.

"Suffolk has done a good job of getting the community on board, and we feel we are ready to make a decision fairly soon," said Shumaker.

The BRA has been largely supportive of the proposal, saying it is a good alternative to Suffolk's 2006 plans to construct a dorm on Beacon Hill, which eventually lost support from city officials in light of neighborhood complaints.

For the current plan, Millennium Place residents dropped their opposition after reaching an agreement with Suffolk University last Monday.

The school agreed to limit its future expansion of student housing in the area.

The proposed 90,000-square-foot building on West Street would house from 260 to 280 students.

"The more people know about this project, the more they see the benefits it brings to the neighborhood," said John Nucci, Suffolk's vice president of government and community affairs.

The Suffolk Task Force Subcommittee on 10 West Street, a group of Boston residents appointed by the mayor that works with the BRA to evaluate the project, is also largely in favor of the plans, according to Margaret Carr, a downtown resident who heads the subcommittee. "The majority of the subcommittee thinks this proposal will be good for the neighborhood," said Carr.

MICHAEL CORCORAN

[kz1000ps]

Oh, I changed the thead's title to reflect current events. And if anyone can come up with something a wee bit more concise then I'd be happy to change it again.

[TheBostonBoy]

What is the planned height for this building???

[statler]

City approves buildings for three area colleges

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | July 20, 2007

The Boston Redevelopment Authority yesterday approved new buildings for three of the area's colleges, including a six-story academic center for Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences along Huntington Avenue.

Opposed by neighbors several years ago when it proposed to build a student dormitory on a triangular block at Worthington Street and Huntington, the pharmacy college yesterday won approval for a multiple-use academic building instead.

The $25 million facility will house classrooms, faculty and staff offices, teaching labs, assembly space, and a technology center.

The 49,700-square-foot brick and glass building, designed by Perkins + Will of Boston in a historic district of Mission Hill, across from the main campus on Longwood Avenue, will increase the college's space by more than 10 percent.

"We're one of the first institutions to move over into Mission Hill and get that community to support our effort," said president Charles Monahan.

The BRA board of directors also approved Suffolk University's plan to build a 274-bed dormitory at 10 West St., with retail space on the first floor, in a building formerly slated for condos.

Suffolk had planned to put a dorm on Beacon Hill, but the city soured on that idea when neighbors objected.

In a third approval, Emmanuel College won permission to build a 47,000-square-foot academic science building in the Fenway area.

Now 184 years old, Mass. College of Pharmacy, with 3,300 students and campuses also in Worcester and Manchester, N.H., is the oldest institution of higher education in Boston, and the second oldest pharmacy college.

Ellen Moore of Worthington Street in Mission Hill opposed a dormitory at 662-670 Huntington Ave., a former gas station, but said she and many others are happy with the plan approved yesterday, for a building with other academic uses. The building's height, which has been increased from 60 to 84 feet, isn't popular, Moore said, "But they needed it. We understood their reasons."

Under an agreement with the city, the college will clear snow on sidewalks around the building, pay for Boston Police details on weekends, pick up litter and remove graffiti in the area, and pay for fencing and trees in the neighborhood.

The building is expected to be completed in early 2009.

Mass. College of Pharmacy built a dormitory on Longwood Avenue to house students it had planned to put in the Huntington Avenue building. The college now provides living space to a quarter of its students; 10 years ago it had no campus housing.

Monahan said the college's School of Nursing and School of Physician Assistant Studies will move into the new facility, making more room in other buildings for its staff and faculty of 300.

It offers degrees in pharmacy, nursing, environmental sciences, and health psychology, and has no current plans to expand further in Boston, Monahan said. "It's very valuable real estate here," he said. "This is the high-rent district."

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.
Link (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/07/20/city_approves_buildings_for_three_area_colleges/)

Should this be three threads? Suffolk already has their own thread (http://www.archboston.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62) should the other projects have their own as well?

[kz1000ps]

^ Perhaps we could have seperate threads, but I don't see there being much in the way of news on them, so what I'm thinking is perhaps if we create a thread entitled "Fenway-Area College Developments" or something similarly broad to cover any and all of the schools in the area. I know there's already a Simmons College thread, and I forget if one was started for Wheelock or not (they just had their institutional master plan approved a month or two ago), so maybe we could just fold them all up into one mega giant super thread? What say you, Van?

[DudeUrSistersHot]

doesn't seem to hurt to have nidividual threads

this one doesnt seem to be suffering from a lack of posts

[kz1000ps]

Yes, but this thread has covered not only the 10 West project, but the old tower proposal for Beacon Hill, both of which have garnered lots of controversy and publicity.

Take the Simmons College thread as an example: http://architecturalboston.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=601
It hardly made any news and has only gotten 6 posts, half of which were just me posting photos; no discussion is really happening.

[Chris]

Bah, too many articles in the Courant.

To summarize, Suffolk is proposing to raze 20 Somerset, the Metropolitan District Commission headquarters. Residents, Rep. Marz, are possibly going to oppose, of course.

[Scott]

I'm all for the right of a property owner to do as he wishes, within zoning but the potential loss of two significant early 20th Century commercial buildings within a 1/4 mile of each other disturbs me. There are few examples of major buildings built at that time and what is gone is gone forever.

[tocoto]

I'm with you Scott. From a cityscape standpoint we lose a lot. Why not build on a vacant lot somewhere or raze a smaller less significant building. Reuse is another option.

[JimboJones]

This is what cameras are for.

Take some photos.

[Ron Newman]

Shreve is significant, but 20 Somerset? I'll need to be persuaded.

[sidewalks]

People keep talking about how 20 somerset is contextual to Beacon Hill. It may well have been contextual 50 years ago, but today it stands out like a sore thumb among 1970s towers (that are unfortunate in their own hamfisted way). The building is a mediocre mishmash of art deco and neo colonial design. It's southern facade is completely blank because it was part of the streetscape at one point in time. While it is true that most of the buildings that have been designed in the last 50 years have been less than inspiring, we shouldn't give up on contemporary architecture. It would be a shame to preserve mediocrity only because we have so little faith in the prospect of something new. The area in which 20 Somerset resides may well carry a beacon hill zip code but it is a distinctly different neighborhood and should be treated as such from a design perspective. A building in this district need not fit into the townhouse archetype that characterizes the rest of beacon hill. There is an opportunity to build a new, distinct tower that reflects a new age for new purposes. The politics that surrounded the original push to save the building had more to do with an opposition to Suffolk University and the student population than it did with a reverence for the beauty of the structure. At this point opponents of a new design, for the most part, are the classic opponents of CHANGE. Fear of change should not be the guiding light of city planning.

[tobyjug]

Its best side is the one facing the plaza and "Garden of Peace" behind the Saltonstall Building, and that isn't saying much. Don't try to perfume this pig. Tear it down.

[TheBostonBoy]

How tall will the suffork dorm tower be?

[Chris]

According to the Courant, it's not a dorm any more, they wanted to put the art school there, but the MDC building was not a good fit (an art school requires higher ceilings I guess). Also, Suffolk is claiming the building has deteriorated too much to be worth saving.

[commuter guy]

I work one block from the old MDC building on Somerset St. In my opinion, it would be a loss to lose this building. Even in its unmaintained and somewhat dilapidated state, it still is more visually appealing than the other buildings on its block - the dreadful McCormick and the renovated Saltonstall building now known as 100 Cambridge. I have always enjoyed the darker color of the masonry used in the building too. Its different from much of the brick used in Beacon Hill.

Its too bad that Suffolk U. owns it. This building strikes me as similar to other buildings in the area that have been or are being renovated as small hotels i.e., 15 Beacon, Ames Building. I also like the way it stands out from its neighbors - for me it is a tangible reminder of the neighborhood that preceded urban renewal, similar to the two or so tenement row homes still standing in the old West End near Mass General and behind North Station.

For all of you height lovers, I doubt if a replacement would be any higher than the existing structure. Maybe I'm wrong but when I imagine an Art School for Suffolk I think of a building that will likely be smaller, rather larger than the existing building.

[kz1000ps]

Shreve is significant, but 20 Somerset? I'll need to be persuaded.

I'm with Ron on this one. There's no way it's worth saving for all eternity.

[singbat]

...In my opinion, it would be a loss to lose this building. Even in its unmaintained and somewhat dilapidated state, it still is more visually appealing than the other buildings on its block - the dreadful McCormick and the renovated Saltonstall building now known as 100 Cambridge. I have always enjoyed the darker color of the masonry used in the building too. Its different from much of the brick used in Beacon Hill.

...I also like the way it stands out from its neighbors - for me it is a tangible reminder of the neighborhood that preceded urban renewal, similar to the two or so tenement row homes still standing in the old West End near Mass General and behind North Station.


second that. i used to live on temple street and walk past that building to work. it always struck me as under kempt but very attractive for an upgrade. it may not be special, but it nets out as a strong asset for whatever goes around it in the future -- assuming it is kept.

[statler]

Suffolk University Has Designs on Somerset

School of Art and Design Replaces Plan for Dormitory; City Task Force Members Say Some Concerns Remain
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/newspics/Suffolk20SomersetSt1.jpg
B&T staff photo by Thomas Grillo
The former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters at 20 Somerset St. in Boston could be the new home for Suffolk University?s School of Art and Design.

Months after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino killed plans for a dormitory on Beacon Hill, Suffolk University hopes its fallback idea will win city and neighborhood approval.

Suffolk intends to move its School of Art and Design from cramped quarters in the Back Bay to Beacon Hill. The new location, 20 Somerset St., became a flashpoint for controversy last year when the university proposed student housing for the former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters.

??Anything is better than a dormitory? was our initial reaction to moving the arts school to Beacon Hill,? said Robert Whitney, a member of the Suffolk University Task Force, a city-appointed group created to advise the mayor on the project. ?But we?re still concerned. Instead of grabbing sites as they come, any expansion should be a result of long-range planning. But that?s not what they?re doing. And we?re worried that the addition of more students to the area might be the tipping point.?

Suffolk wants to grow and house more of its students on campus. But the lack of real estate coupled with opposition from Beacon Hill residents has made the prospect dicey. Boston College, Emerson College, Harvard University and Northeastern University have faced similar challenges. While residents want students housed in dorms, they don?t want student housing in their neighborhood and are weary of more campuses in residential areas.

John A. Nucci, Suffolk?s vice president of government and community affairs, said the school is close to unveiling a master plan that will include the Somerset Street site as well as several potential areas for the school?s expansion. He said the idea to move its art school to Beacon Hill have been ?very well-received, without any opposition registered.?

?We are discussing the feasibility of accommodating the art school but haven?t decided whether to raze the building or work with what?s there,? Nucci said. ?For more than a year, the community told us that dorm use was inappropriate on Somerset Street, but classrooms and offices would work.?

But William Hayward, a task force member and Temple Street resident, said he is unsure how the neighborhood will react to more students on Beacon Hill. ?I don?t know if the arts school idea will fly,? he said. ?There will be scrutiny, but perhaps there can be an understanding reached between Suffolk and residents.?

One thing that the neighborhood might request is for Suffolk to limit classes at the arts school to daytime hours, he said. ?If students leave the neighborhood by sundown, it could get community support,? Hayward said.

Nucci was not ready to make such a concession last week. He said the school would not be open any later than 9:30 p.m., similar to other Suffolk buildings on Beacon Hill.

Still, Hayward praised Suffolk, noting that officials have been more direct in keeping the neighborhood informed of their intentions. ?The dorm was a nonstarter. Now we can at least talk about their new idea,? he said. ?Everything changed when the neighborhood organized to fight the dorm. Because of the past, residents are apprehensive. But Suffolk seems to be listening to the needs of the neighborhood while keeping the university?s needs in mind. There will be continued discussions about what is best for both.?

Growing Pains

Robert B. O'Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association, said he supports the plan to move the arts school to Somerset Street. He said the new 10-story facility would result in exhibit space for Beacon Hill and West End residents. In addition, he likes the fact that the new building will open onto Ashburton Place and improve pedestrian circulation in the area. ?I like what I?ve seen,? he said. ?It will improve the appearance of that visible corner of Ashburton and Somerset.?

Beatrice Nessen, a task force member who represents the Garden of Peace, a tiny memorial park commemorating homicide victims adjacent to the plaza at 100 Cambridge St., said she has been pleased with the negotiations on the art school proposal.

?Suffolk has agreed to maintain the height of the building and that?s important to us because anything higher will block the southern sun light on the garden,? she said. ?They have also promised to keep the same footprint as opposed to the proposed dorm that would have moved to the edge of the park.?

Whitney, who also lives on Beacon Hill, said he is unsure if there is anything Suffolk could do to make the art school move acceptable to the neighborhood. He noted that the school?s agreement with the city to build up to 474 dorms at 10 West St. and at the former Modern Theatre on Washington Street included a promise of no more student housing in Downtown Crossing.

?If we allow expansion to the Somerset Street building and Suffolk promised not to build from Temple Street to Center Plaza, lots of people would say that?s a good idea,? Whitney said.

But such a promise may not be possible. One of the ideas that have been floated by Suffolk officials for the school?s expansion is the possibility of Suffolk?s purchase of the Charles F. Hurley Building at Cambridge and Staniford streets. Critics have called the 340,000-square-foot concrete facility, which is not for sale, Boston?s ugliest office building. If razed, the space would be big enough to create a new campus for Suffolk.

Menino has not yet been briefed on the potential move of Suffolk?s arts school to Somerset Street. In an interview with Banker & Tradesman, the mayor said he did not have a preferred use for the site. He noted that any decision about the art school must be vetted through a community planning process.

?Suffolk is great institution in our city and their problem is that none of their property is contiguous,? he said. ?The question is: How do you build a campus atmosphere similar to Emerson, [which] found a location in the Theater District and has put all their resources in one place??

On the possibility of Suffolk expanding to the Hurley site, Menino said, ?It?s a conversation we should have. It?s just a concept now, but Suffolk is very important to our city and we must work with them so that growth continues, because it?s good for everyone.?
NLA

[vanshnookenraggen]

Having lived in the Fenway I really don't blame the residents for not wanting dorms. Why not create a sudent village in Kendall Sq with a few dorm towers? They could just hop on the Red Line 2 stops.

[Ron Newman]

how do dorms hurt the Fenway?

[Scott]

^drunken riots outside Fenway Park? fatal house fires started by candles? Students say they wish for things like bars being open later but crap like that keeps happening and it ruins it for everyone because the city cannot become a huge UMASS Amherst. If people feel that Boston is unsafe for their child, they will go elsewhere and our economy will suffer.

Dorms aren't the reason for these things specifically but that is my opinion of why they are meeting resistence in some areas.

(Sorry if this post is slightly off topic)

[nm88]

Everyone remember their undergrad days. Remember? Case closed.

[underground]

Man, knocking over the Hurley building and replacing it with some sort of contiguous Suffolk campus would be awesome, but where does Menino think the money is going to come from?! Not to belittle Suffolk, but it ain't exactly Harvard when it comes to its endowment.

[statler]

Suffolk?s big ambitions
School seeks dorms, 60% growth in space
By Scott Van Voorhis | Thursday, November 29, 2007 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/14db04a095_suff_11292007.jpg
Photo by Mark Garfinkel

Suffolk University is poised to launch a massive expansion of its downtown campus, with projects ranging from an NCAA-sized basketball court to a pair of new dorms, documents show.

Even as it recovers from a pair of neighborhood battles over proposed dorms, Suffolk is drawing up ambitious plans to add 750,000 square feet of student housing, academic and athletic space to its campus.

That would represent a more than 60 percent increase to its current 1.2 million-square-foot campus, which has 17 buildings spread across Beacon Hill and Downtown Crossing.

?This is a very significant expansion for Suffolk that needs to be very thoroughly planned so that no one of the downtown neighborhoods bears too much,? said state Rep. Marty Walz (D-Back Bay).

The centerpiece of Suffolk?s future expansion involves building two new dorms for more than 1,100 new students. That comes on top of roughly 500 dorm rooms the university is now developing in Downtown Crossing.

But that?s just for starters.

The university also wants to build a 40,000-square-foot athletic complex, including a basketball court with 500 seats, a fitness center and aerobics studios. There are also plans for a 77,000-square-foot student center and a proposal for a 70,000-square-foot art school where the old Metropolitan District Commission?s headquarters sits at the base of Beacon Hill.

The plans are detailed in a rough draft of a master plan for Suffolk?s future expansion over the next decade, slated to be filed with City Hall in the next several weeks.

?This is a draft document that is the product of a year of discussions,? said John Nucci, Suffolk?s government affairs director.

Despite the big building plans, Suffolk is hoping to avoid some of the bruising neighborhood battles that have dogged its recent expansion moves. The university was forced to withdraw a proposal to build a dorm tower at the base of Beacon Hill after fierce opposition.

The university has listed Beacon Hill and a stretch of Downtown Crossing from Boylston to Winter streets as ?non-expansion? areas. Instead, the university will channel future expansion to other parts of Downtown Crossing and to the area around Government Center.

Walz credited Suffolk with hiring a top Harvard University planner to help think through its expansion plans, forcing Suffolk ?to think more broadly and creatively on how they can expand in a congested, downtown area.?
Link (http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1047747)

[chumbolly]

This is great news for DTX. Suffolk builds reasonably nice buildings, and DTX needs a large stakeholder that will have a long term interest in sprucing up the area. College kids can be a pain in the ass as any non-college-aged Allston resident would attest, but they spend money, stay out late, and don't have cars--all good things for DTX.

And just because it bears repeating, Marty Walz is a drag.

[statler]

Suffolk builds reasonably nice buildings,

God how I hate the new law school.
How they could make a building that does not fit into the architecturally diverse Tremont St is beyond me, but they managed it.
Second worst building on Tremont. And at least TOC meets the sidewalk and has some street level retail.

[czsz]

drunken riots outside Fenway Park? fatal house fires started by candles? Students say they wish for things like bars being open later but crap like that keeps happening and it ruins it for everyone because the city cannot become a huge UMASS Amherst. If people feel that Boston is unsafe for their child, they will go elsewhere and our economy will suffer.

At the risk of being mauled, may I suggest that this has more to do with the sort of student that dominates Boston nightlife, and not so much with the overwhelming number of students or the hour at which they're awake? New York and Montreal have around the same number of students per capita, and have a nightlife that keeps going much longer, but neither have the sort of drunken riot/frat fire or whatever issues that apparently plague Boston. If anything the expansions of Suffolk and Emerson will help attract the sort of student who's more into the sort of nightlife enjoyed by students at NYU, the New School, or Concordia, rather than that of UMass Amherst.

God how I hate the new law school.

It's 10 years old! And while it may not be in the best taste, for a piece of contextualist quasi-PoMo it's actually fairly high quality. Compare to stuff from the 80s, like International Place.

[sidewalks]

Just curious...but how do you figure nyc has the same amount of students per capita as Boston? Given that NYC has a population about fifteen times the size of Boston, I don't think they have a student population that is larger by a similar magnitude.

[lexicon506]

students are atudents no matter where you are. unless you get some actual facts, I'll have a hard time believing that students in Boston are less well behaved than those in Montreal and NYC. Can anyone find a ranking of cities with the highest number of students per capita in North America? I'd be interesed in seeing how Boston compares...

[TheBostonBoy]

^Ya, I would like to see that too. Boston is one of the leading cities in college education, so I think it would definitely be at the top of lists.

[czsz]

Oh, whoops. I think New York has more total college students, but a lower number per capita. Montreal sometimes claims a higher number per capita than Boston (which is highest per capita in the US), and some sites claim it has the highest number per capita in the world.

I'll have a hard time believing that students in Boston are less well behaved than those in Montreal and NYC

The universities in those cities barely have any frat culture to drive a lot of that behavior. Social life tends to be more "small group going out to bars" than "wild house party".

[stellarfun]

From Scott Van Voorhis in today's Herald:
Call it a case of building it up to tear it down - at taxpayer expense.

The state agency handling the sale of the former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters at the foot of Beacon Hill plans to spend more than $200,000 to shore up the 1930s-era office building.

But the improvements may not last for long.

Suffolk University, which is in the process of buying the building, plans to tear down the hulking structure after the sale is complete.

The university, which hopes to wrap up its acquisition of the state-owned building by next summer, wants to replace it with a new building to house its art school.

The $200,000 comes atop another $18,000 spent by the Division of Capital Asset Management to put scaffolding and netting around the long-empty building after some bricks came loose.

The prospect of money being pumped into a doomed building prompted Barbara Anderson, head of Citizens for Limited Taxation, to offer a less costly alternative.

?Why don?t they just tear it down now?? she asked. ?What is everyone waiting for??

A spokesman for the Division of Capital Asset Management defended the work, calling it necessary to protect the public.

The new, $200,000 contract, according to a bidding document, involves rebuilding some of the brick facade and removing air-conditioning units and replacing them with plywood covers, among other things.

?It?s pretty common knowledge the building is in rough shape,? said Kevin Flanigan, a spokesman for the agency.

?You obviously need to take that stuff very seriously.?

The sale of the building has been delayed after a fierce battle between Suffolk and its Beacon Hill neighbors over a previous proposal to build a dorm tower on the site.

Suffolk now wants to build an art school complex, but first must get City Hall approval for its master plan guiding future expansion.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1047953

[atlantaden]

The Boston Landmarks Commission released a report recommending official historic status for a key portion of a 1930s-era building, which the university wants to demolish to make way for a soaring new student high-rise.


Suffolk University, which is in the process of buying the building, plans to tear down the hulking structure after the sale is complete.

First it's historic, then it's a "hulking structure". So, I guess the former MDC headquarters is really a "historic hulk!" An awful lot of politics seems to be involved in this building; once the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Association got their way with preventing the dorm being built, this "historic" structure seems to have reverted back to just another "hulking structure."

[stellarfun]

Boston Herald
by Scott van Voorhis


Suffolk University is facing another community battle over its plans to redevelop a decrepit state office building on Beacon Hill, months after dropping plans for a 31-story student dorm.


The Beacon Hill Civic Association, which led a successful effort to scuttle the student high-rise plan, is now expressing concern about Suffolk?s proposal to build a new home for its art school where the old MDC headquarters now stands.


Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, in a recent letter to Suffolk, urged the university to rethink plans to tear down the building and explore ways to reuse the now-empty 1930s-era structure.


The renewed opposition to its plans to redevelop the long-empty and boarded-up state office building at the foot of Beacon Hill prompted some sharp comments from a top Suffolk official. John Nucci, Suffolk?s government affairs chief, contends that Beacon Hill residents, at public meetings on the dorm tower, had pushed for an academic use.


?If they don?t want the dorm and they don?t want the classrooms, it seems they don?t want anything on the site,? said Nucci. ?That is not in the best interest of the city and it?s not acceptable to the university.?


But Beacon Hill residents are concerned about Suffolk?s expansion plans, even as the university, in a proposed master plan, calls for turning Beacon Hill into a non-expansion zone.


Sentiment within the civic association is split. Some members are opposed to Suffolk?s proposal to move the art school to the site, concerned it could lead to even more students living on Beacon Hill, said John Achatz, board chairman of the civic association.


While insisting there is no antagonism toward Suffolk and its institutional needs, Achatz said the neighborhood long ago made clear it would be ?most comfortable? with a hotel or a residential building on the site. ?I think Suffolk is trying to characterize the history in a public relations way,? he said.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1050229

What Achatz is saying is: we don't want Suffolk period. So what about a residential hotel that rents rooms by the hour, or, better yet, a single room occupancy building.

[PaulC]

Sell the State Service Building to Sufolk. This is one of the few great modern building in Boston and it would finally live up to it's potential with a good owner. All those students would liven up the place.

[kz1000ps]

Suffolk opens new dorm in Downtown Crossing

January 9, 2008
By Globe Staff

The revitalization of Boston?s Downtown Crossing area today passed another milestone as Suffolk University opened a residence hall on West Street.

"Suffolk is going to be a great asset," said Mary Ann Ponti, a board member on the Downtown Crossing Association.

The building will house 274 undergraduate students in apartments and suites, and will feature a coffee shop and restaurant on the street level, the university said in a statement.

Downtown Crossing has struggled for years, and the retail district suffered big blows last year with the closure of Filene's Basement and the Filene's Department store. Demolition of the Filene's complex starts this month, meaning the heart of the district will become a construction zone for the next two years.

Ponti, who lives on Washington Street in the district, said things are looking up, however, with repairs to sidewalks, streets, and lighting, and stepped-up policing.

"Everything has been coming along, slowly but surely," she said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/01/suffolk_opens_n.html

[statler]

Suffolk University hopes to open the building in September, but it will be completed in January at the latest, Nucci said.

So they were on time...sort of.

[Ron Newman]

The only reasonable time to open a dorm is the beginning of a term, so if they missed September, they may as well wait until now.

[statler]

Well yeah, of course.

I, uh, knew that. Just seeing if anyone else would pick up on it.

Yeah, that's it.

Good job Ron!

[itchy]

Looks like Suffolk may put an International-style glass building -- and not even a tall one -- in the place of one of the few older, elegant buildings on Somerset Street.

The article has no mention of the existing building, no details on the proposed one, and focuses on neighbors' height fears and whether a new building will "fit in" with the (half-hideous, half-stately) neighborhood. Menino claims victory because he got Suffolk to not put up a tall building, thank God, and the university is now (is this a joke?) agreeing to cap its class sizes. What a champ you are, Mumbles:

Beacon Hill, Suffolk reach expansion deal
By Peter Schworm
Globe Staff / June 5, 2008

Suffolk University and the chief Beacon Hill neighborhood group have struck a pivotal deal on the college's ambitious expansion plan, paving the way for its approval and easing one of the city's deepest town-gown quarrels.
more stories like this

The hard-won pact, announced yesterday after 18 months of talks and two days of intense negotiations between Suffolk and Beacon Hill Civic Association representatives, essentially prevents the college from enlarging its Beacon Hill footprint, a long-standing fear among residents.

It would sharply extend a "nonexpansion zone" to include Upper Beacon Hill, the area between Charles Street and the Charles River, and the Park Street area. In a highly unusual condition, the college has also agreed to freeze its enrollment at 5,000 full-time undergraduates for the next decade to limit its need for further growth.

In exchange, the civic association has agreed to support Suffolk's plan to build a 10-story academic building at 20 Somerset St. and not to contest the university's 10-year expansion plan, which is under city review. They have also agreed to nonresidential developments at 73 Tremont St., 1 Beacon St., and in Center Plaza.

Suffolk officials and Beacon Hill neighbors praised the agreement, which must be approved Monday by the neighborhood group's board, as a milestone that is likely to end years of acrimony between the private college and well-heeled neighborhood.

Notable for its scope and detail, the agreement could also probably fast-track Suffolk's plans to build the Somerset Street facility, which will include the relocated art school, as well as a 12-story dormitory and studio theater on the site of the historic Modern Theatre on Washington Street.

John Nucci, Suffolk's vice president for external affairs, headed up the negotiations with Beacon Hill neighbors. He said the agreement should ease friction over the proper boundaries of the university.

Suffolk has expanded substantially in recent years as it has transformed from a commuter school to a more residential university.

"It shifts the university's whole center of gravity away from Beacon Hill," Nucci said. "This bodes well for a peaceful coexistence between the Beacon Hill neighborhood and Suffolk."

Robert Whitney, a member of the association's board of directors and the negotiating team, said the agreement gives the thickly settled neighborhood greater protection from future development.

"We know we don't have to worry about Suffolk building in certain areas anymore," he said. "We had reached a saturation point where we really couldn't take any more."

The agreement, he added, will also help accelerate Suffolk's building plans.

Efforts by area colleges to gain more elbow room has frequently generated sparks with their neighbors. Allston-Brighton residents are engaged in intense debates with Boston College and Harvard University over sweeping expansion proposals, and Roxbury neighbors continue to tussle with Northeastern over building plans.

In the face of sharp city and neighborhood resistance, Suffolk withdrew its plan for a high-rise dormitory at 20 Somerset St. in 2006.

The college had previously built a 19-story dorm at 10 Somerset in 2003, its second residence hall.

In a written statement yesterday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who opposed the previous dorm plan, praised the agreement as a good compromise.

"Universities and colleges are crucial to Boston's economy and prominence, but institutional expansion needs to be done in a way that is in harmony with our great neighborhoods," he said in the statement.

Pending city approval, Suffolk hopes to begin construction on the Modern Theatre site this fall, for an opening in fall 2010. It plans to open 20 Somerset the following year.

Nucci said the association, which has more than 1,000 members, protected its interests aggressively. He also said the enrollment limit for the college, which now has 4,900 students, would not hamper the university's plans.

"We think it's the right size for the university," he said.

Under the deal, Suffolk also pledged not to add classroom seats in the nonexpansion zone, make its paid Boston police details and neighborhood-response units permanent, and remove 400 classroom seats from the Temple Street area and relocate them to the proposed Somerset Street building.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/06/05/beacon_hill_suffolk_reach_expansion_deal/

[itchy]

Here (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/236/535860112_c8e08e71e9.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/70655643%40N00/535860112/in/set-72157600337630573/&h=375&w=500&sz=157&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=lHpbi4nFoj7lGM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3D20%2Bsomerset%2Bstreet%2Bboston%26hl% 3Den%26sa%3DN) are some photos of 20 Somerset.

It looks like the Boston Preservation Alliance put in an application for Landmark status for 20 Somerset back in 2006. (Click "Download Issue" for article. (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bostonpreservation.org/imgs/alliance_letter.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bostonpreservation.org/past/alliance_letter_s06.html&h=304&w=242&sz=29&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=fQvcfpvE3JXnJM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3D20%2Bsomerset%2Bstreet%2Bboston%26hl% 3Den%26sa%3DN))

Maybe now's the time to put in another?

[ablarc]

^ Are you sure? Isn't that entrance detail the only good thing about that building?

Maybe it could be saved and re-used on the replacement.

[Suffolk 83]

Wow suffolk just got pawned. I have no problem with Beacon Hill itself not being expanded upon, but what does that association have to do with what gets built on Washington St.? That's criminal to me.

[bbfen]

I think the whole thing is hilarious. Mr. Whitney acts as if he's saving Boston from itself, and Suffolk is laughing the whole time. While Suffolk irked a lot of people just by being Suffolk and are frigging preschoolers at public relations, they did one thing right: they expanded the undergrad body to what they wanted before "reaching an agreement" on an enrollment cap.

That's hilarious.

Beacon Hill/NIMBY's run amuck think they won, but in 10 years (when the undergrad cap expires) Suffolk will declare this "agreement" null and void and start buying property for further expansion with the reasonable answer that, "Well, we waited 10 years to expand, and now the Theater District is fully developed. You didn't really expect us to have a static population, did you?"

Master Planning is for the long-term benefit of both the institution and the community. Beacon Hill won a short-term "battle," but guaranteed themselves a loss in the battle.

Suffolk is the winner here, and when it comes down to it, the BRA will have no choice but to support the school if in 10-12 years Suffolk presents a reasonable and measured plan for growth through the middle part of the century.

EDIT: for clarity. long sentences = confusion

[tobyjug]

BHCA might get burned the way they did in the Ristorante Toscano case. The Association agreed not to oppose the restaurant's beer and wine license application if the restaurant agreed never to seek a "full" license. Toscano got its b and w, and then reneged. Litigation ensued, and the court ruled that this type of agreement is "against public policy". The boys over at S.U. probably cooked this deal up over whiskey and sodas at Toscano.

[PaulC]

pdf online:
http://www.suffolk.edu/PDF/final_nesad_pnf.pdf

misc info:
http://www.suffolk.edu/offices/17926.html

[PaulC]

The BRA also approved Suffolk University?s $68 million New England School of Art and Design academic building at 20 Somerset St. The 10-story building will include about 450 seats for art school classes and another 400 for general classroom use.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1148748&pos=breaking