Northeastern University Completes Major Project, Announces Another

BOSTON — Northeastern University officials in Boston made two significant strides in campus development in the past month with the completion of one major project and the announcement of plans to construct a new multimillion-dollar residence hall.

The renovation of Dodge Hall, which houses the university’s business program, recently wrapped, creating an open, modern space for students to work and socialize. Shawmut Construction and Design of Boston completed the 5,000-square-foot project, which also included transforming the lobby into an open space and an enclosed suite into a new student lounge, refreshing a conference room, and updating seating and work areas. Shawmut, according to a statement by the firm, also reconfigured the suite to create a new Center for Global Business, including office spaces. In partnership with CBT Architects, Shawmut also added custom features such as baffle ceiling fixtures backlit with color-changing LED lights, radius millwork soffits, woven vinyl flooring and bench walls with built-in backlit signage.

“Our team implemented a strategy to ensure we didn’t disturb Northeastern students and faculty and that Dodge Hall remained fully operational,” said Kevin Sullivan, vice president at Shawmut Construction and Design, in a statement. “We look forward to seeing how the renovations enhance the student and faculty experience.”

In January, the university also announced plans to construct an 800-bed undergraduate residence and multi-use project, which according to a statement by the university rep¬re¬sents an inno¬v¬a¬tive approach to housing more stu¬dents in university-supervised buildings.

The building will feature apartment-style suites, ground-floor commercial spaces and other student services, and will be completed in partnership with developer Amer¬ican Campus Com¬mu¬ni¬ties (ACC) of Bee Cave, Texas, which spe¬cial¬izes in building student-housing com¬mu¬ni¬ties. ACC will lease the university-owned Burke Street parking lot, according to a statement by the university, where it will build and then manage the facility, leasing directly to students.

The project, which has a larger capacity than was originally out¬lined in the school’s 2013 master plan documents, is one in a line of student housing projects that aim to make campus housing available to a larger portion of the student body. Northeastern debuted the East Village residence in 2015, which brought its total housing capacity to more than 9,000. The project also contributes to an 18,500-undergraduate student bed goal set by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh to reduce the number of stu¬dents living off-campus in the city by 50 percent, according to a statement by Northeastern.