New conveniently located, eco-friendly
apartments offer innovative live-learn environment for students
while freeing up Boston housing for workforce
American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC) joined Northeastern
University and the City of Boston today to commemorate the opening
of LightView, the newest student living community that represents
an innovative approach to housing more students through
public-private partnerships with universities.
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the full release here:
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Celebrating the opening of LightView
student housing in Boston with Laura Bilal, LightView resident,
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Northeastern University President
Joseph Aoun, American Campus Communities EVP Public Private
Transactions Jamie Wilhelm. (Photo: Business Wire)
Conveniently located at 744 Columbus Avenue adjacent to the
southeastern border of Northeastern’s campus, the opening of the
new 20-story residential tower marks a key milestone for the
“Housing A Changing City: Boston 2030” initiative which aims to
improve the quality and quantity of housing for students attending
Boston institutions of higher education. The 825-bed facility is
helping free up housing needed for the local community
workforce.
“As the very first developer-led, equity financed student
housing project in the city of Boston, we are grateful to
Northeastern and the City for choosing us to be their trusted
partner to deliver on what we do best, providing a community where
students love living,” said Bill Bayless, CEO of American Campus
Communities. “This winning partnership between Northeastern, the
City and ACC has resulted in providing this year’s incoming
students and those for years to come with our best living-learning
community to date.”
LightView aims to be a place where students find their “place to
shine.” Incoming student residents have already become immersed in
a collaborative learning community choosing from predominantly
four-occupant apartments with shared or private accommodations. The
community features nearly 12,000 square feet of interior amenity
and common area space, including social and recreational lounges, a
state-of-the-art fitness center, a 24-hour Academic Success Center,
and 2,000 square feet of vibrant retail. LightView has professional
on-site management and staff dedicated to serving students’ needs
and helping them enjoy their Northeastern experience. The official
opening was celebrated at a ribbon cutting event today with members
of the adjoining Roxbury, Mission Hill and Fenway
neighborhoods.
“This innovative financing model allows Northeastern to preserve
significant funds that can be directed to our core mission of
teaching and research, while allowing ACC to focus on offering
students a residential experience conducive to academic,
professional, and personal success,” said Kathy Spiegelman, vice
president for campus planning at Northeastern. “We are grateful to
Mayor Walsh for his leadership, and we look forward to
collaborating with the city on additional projects that will add
even more vitality to the Columbus Avenue corridor.”
With its fresh supply of affordable units to suit a variety of
budgets, LightView was fully leased nine months before opening. The
new student-focused community offers better value compared to other
housing options in the area, which are not new.
“This new residence hall is helping us meet the needs of
Boston’s students while freeing up more housing for the surrounding
neighborhoods,” said Mayor Martin Walsh. “We hope this
collaboration can serve as a model for more projects in the future.
Through commitments like this one, I know that we will achieve our
housing goals for 2030 and beyond.”
In 2014, the City of Boston outlined an initiative that includes
improving the quality and quantity of student housing for Boston
college and university students that will in turn open up existing
housing currently occupied by students for the Boston
workforce.
Because the building will be privately owned and operated by
ACC, its units will not be part of Northeastern’s housing lottery
system. Instead, third-, fourth-, and fifth-year students will be
able to lease units from ACC and they will be held to the same code
of conduct that are in place in other campus housing spaces.
“I feel more prepared than ever to embrace the school year
living in my new apartment with spaces to study and be healthy,”
said Laura Bilal, a third-year Massachusetts native studying
bioengineering. “In just a couple of weeks, I have already made new
friends and have even already joined a study group for my biology
class. This is way better than what I could have hoped for as
LightView really checks more than just the boxes of affordability,
location and community.”
The overall design and development process included student
focus groups and robust community involvement to ensure all
stakeholders had input to facilitate project success. Local
emerging artists from THE Studio at Grand Image -Katie Todaro, Kyle
Goderwis Shay Culligan and Tom Rogers- collectively bring a diverse
set of artworks that enhance the urban and dynamic environment of
LightView. These painters, 3D fabricators and graphic artists
featured American novelists, civil rights activists and socially
engaged subjects in their works that include: Louisa May Alcott,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Clement Garnett Morgan, Bobbi Gibb, Melnea
Cass. Architectural firms CUBE 3 and Elkus Manfredi Architects
collaborated to design a sustainable community that integrates into
the neighborhood, providing an affordable academic environment for
students.
LightView is targeting Platinum Certification from The U.S.
Green Building Council, the top honor of its Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) program, which encourages the
construction of energy and resource-efficient buildings that offer
healthy living environments.
The transaction was structured under the American Campus Equity
(ACE)® program, a public-private partnership that provides
on-campus housing to universities without using their funds or
tax-payer dollars. This gives universities the opportunity to
expand and modernize their student housing portfolios without using
their financial resources, while allowing ACC to deliver
high-quality student housing at lower development costs and
operating expenses and offer affordable rents to residents.
About American Campus Communities
American Campus Communities, Inc. is the largest owner, manager
and developer of high-quality student housing communities in the
United States. The company is a fully integrated, self-managed and
self-administered equity real estate investment trust (REIT) with
expertise in the design, finance, development, construction
management and operational management of student housing
properties. As of June 30, 2019, American Campus Communities owned
169 student housing properties containing approximately 108,800
beds. Including its owned and third-party managed properties, ACC's
total managed portfolio consisted of 203 properties with
approximately 133,100 beds. For more information, visit
www.americancampus.com.
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Gina Cowart media@americancampus.com
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