Tufts plans dorm for 400, first new one since ’06
Tufts University is pursuing a plan to build the first new residence hall on its MedfordSomerville campus in nearly two decades.
Proposed for the Medford section of the campus, the sevenstory undergraduate dorm would feature apartment-style units for 400 juniors and seniors, along with an outdoor plaza and 4,000 square feet of firstfloor public retail space.
The facility would be built on an existing Tufts-owned parking lot on Boston Avenue across from the recently opened Medford/Tufts MBTA Green Line station. Tufts held a Dec. 1 community meeting on the project and has filed for permits.
“Housing is a top priority for Tufts University,” said Rocco DiRico, the school’s executive director of government and community relations. Calling the project “part of an ongoing effort to provide more on-campus housing options for our undergraduate students,” he said it was also a “direct response” to calls by Medford and Somerville for Tufts to build more of that housing.
The last such facility to open was the 124-student Sophia Gordon Hall in 2006. DiRico said in the past five years Tufts has added 485 beds for undergraduate students by adding them in existing residence halls and converting other university buildings into student apartments. The effort has included renovating 13 Medford houses and building another to create 139 apartment-style units for juniors and seniors — with more units coming this fall.
Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, who is seeking additional community meetings on the proposed new dorm, said, “My hope is that this facility meets the needs of Tufts University and enables more students to live on campus which would allow for more housing access for our community. It’s important that the school understands the housing crunch this entire region is in and does not add to the stress that many of our residents are feeling.”
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne expressed support for the new housing while also calling for more of it.
“The last dorm that Tufts built on campus was in 2006 with just 124 beds. Meanwhile, their enrollment has been growing at significantly higher rates, the housing crisis has been worsening, and Somerville and Medford, as well as Tufts’ own students, have been calling for more on-campus housing for years,” Ballantyne said. “So, it’s about time.”
“They need to stop displacing our residents and families,” she added. “Tufts needs to think creatively about how to make use of their ample space including building vertically — building for the urban landscape they are situated in. We are ready to partner with the university on planning for on-campus housing solutions that can both serve their students and take pressure off housing for our residents and families.”
“Being able to have more juniors and seniors living on campus creates a more robust residential community,” said Camille Lizarríbar, Tufts’ dean of student affairs. “It increases opportunities for students at different stages of their Tufts experience to learn from and engage with each other, to forge close friendships, and to share memories that last a lifetime.”
The proposed site is a good location for the building because it is university-owned and in an area “convenient for students traveling to classes or other activities on campus,” DiRico said, also citing its proximity to public transit — the MBTA station and bus stops.
He said the project should not result in more studentowned cars on campus. “It’s our hope that the vast majority of the students living in this dorm will not bring their cars to campus, but rather utilize mass transit.”
The project, which is being designed by William Rawn Associates, also advances Tufts’ commitment to “decarbonize the campus,” DiRico said, noting that it would be solar-ready and is designed to be a low-energyuse building.
DiRico said Tufts hopes to begin construction after its commencement next May “but economic conditions and community conversations will shape the timeline and outcome.”