Wentworth Institute of Technology has cleared at least one hurdle as it aims to construct a 109,000-square-foot dormitory with apartment-style residences, hoping to attract some 305 students onto campus and out of market-rate rentals in Boston’s Mission Hill and Fenway neighborhoods.
Residents who attended a presentation of the 525 Huntington Ave. project last night roundly supported the project.
"We are extremely impressed by the percentage of students that will be brought on-campus," said Joyce foster, a board member for the Fenway Community Development Corp.
According to Wentworth officials, approximately 375 students choose to live off-campus each year, and take up residence in the Mission Hill and Fenway neighborhoods. School representatives are targeting those students specifically to move into the new dorm building, scheduled to open for the fall of 2014, said David Wahlstrom, Wentworth’s vice president for business.
The reason they’re so confident they’ll fill all the beds? Two words – granite countertops. The school asked students what would keep them on campus; students said they wanted apartments, not traditional dorms. As a result, many of the apartment-dorm rooms have single rooms instead of shared. They have washers and dryers in the units. They have a kitchen, a living room, and yes, granite countertops. And, according to school officials, they’ll cost 20 percent less than the neighborhoods’ market-rate housing.
Construction is scheduled to begin in February 2013. The project will cost $43 million. The building will be 84 feet tall. The exterior will be a greenish-blue color and have a lot of glass on every floor. Along Huntington Avenue, the school will create a 2,300-square-foot public park. Rainwater will be redirected to the site to be used in landscaping, and the building is aiming to achieve LEED Silver status from the U.S. Green Building Council for environmental friendliness and efficiency.
"I can’t wait to see the building get built," said Maria Sanchez, a Mission Hill resident who said she supports the project.
Representatives from the offices of City Councilor Michael Ross and state Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez also voiced support.
