East Village/Image courtesy of Google Maps

Amid delays in approval of its Columbus Avenue residential tower, Northeastern University is seeking to add approximately 930 beds to a pair of existing dorms in Roxbury and the Fenway.

Since 2019, the university has sought approval for a 26-story, 975-bed dormitory at 940 Columbus Ave. Developer Columbia Plaza Assoc. filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court in December 2020, arguing that the parcel was designated for a hotel under a 1999 agreement and that the firm still has development rights for the property.

Noting the delays in the 940 Columbus Ave. proposal, Northeastern said it intends to “fulfill its commitment” to add 1,000 new on-campus dorm beds as approved in its 2013 institutional master plan. The Boston Planning & Development Agency has scheduled a virtual hearing at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The International Village complex at 1155 Tremont St. includes three dorm towers totaling 1,200 rooms, which would be increased to 1,900 through conversion of single-occupancy rooms into double-occupancy.

The 17-story, 220,000-square-foot East Village residence hall at 291 St. Botolph St. in the Fenway was completed in 2014 through redevelopment of a former YMCA property. Northeastern proposes increasing capacity from 723 to 930 beds.

The Columbia Plaza Assoc. lawsuit centers on the history of several Tremont Street parcels including the International Village complex. The parcels were designated for linkage payments related to the development of the One Lincoln office tower in the 1990s.

In a June 2 filing in Suffolk Superior Court, attorney Elizabeth Kelley of Locke Lord, representing Northeastern, stated that Columbia Plaza Assoc. never had a contractual agreement to develop the Columbus Avenue parcel, noting that a judge ruled in favor of Northeastern in a related lawsuit in 2017.