Suffolk University purchases Beantown Pub building for dormitory conversion

Suffolk University has closed a $30 million deal to purchase a largely vacant office building on Tremont Street, best known for its popular Beantown Pub on the ground floor. The aim is to convert the office space on the top floor into student accommodation for up to 290 students.

Suffolk President Marisa Kelly sent a memo to faculty and staff shortly after the deal closed Wednesday, explaining the rationale. Kelly said university officials measured the costs and benefits of purchasing the 800,000-square-foot building, which sits across from the law school at the corner of Tremont and Bromfield streets, and decided the purchase would provide more of the “experiential, immersive learning” in the city that Suffolk is known for. Suffolk has gradually expanded its downtown properties, most recently in 2019 by purchasing the former Ames Hotel on Tremont Street for a similar dormitory conversion.

In her memo, Kelly noted that Suffolk has received a record number of undergraduate applications over the past three years. She expects the building to accommodate between 260 and 290 student beds. Assuming Suffolk receives the necessary city permits, construction could begin early next year, in time for the building to open in fall 2026.

“This is an opportunity for us to meet strong student demand while addressing a long-term strategic priority,” Kelly wrote. “Housing some of our students in hotel rooms has been an effective temporary solution to high housing demand, but increasing university housing capacity through an additional residence hall is a more sustainable long-term solution.”

Kelly also noted that the dorm renovation also helps the city, by allowing more students to live in college housing instead of in apartments elsewhere that are in short supply, and by bringing more vibrancy to downtown Boston at a time when city ​​officials encourage developers. to convert underused office buildings into homes.

Because university-owned student housing is exempt from property taxes, the move would remove most of the building — which currently has an assessed value of nearly $32 million, according to city property records — from city taxes.

The 11-story building’s sales history underscores the broad shifts that occurred in downtown Boston during the city’s economic boom in the 2010s and then the shift to remote and hybrid work after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The building was sold for $9.7 million in 2013, and then sold again in 2016 for $50 million to GLL Real Estate Partners, a German investment company now owned by Australian conglomerate Macquarie Group.

The offices have emptied in recent years. The owner of Silvertone Bar & Grill, a restaurant in the building’s basement for nearly three decades, cited the lack of office traffic as a reason for his decision to close the restaurant a few weeks ago.

However, the Beantown Pub should not suffer the same fate. Suffolk officials said they are committed to keeping the pub operating there.

The last remaining office tenant is expected to leave soon, said John Nucci, Suffolk’s senior vice president of external affairs.

“In many ways, university housing and student housing are the future of downtown,” Nucci said. “We will work closely with elected officials and residents as we move through the city’s approval process.”

Jon Chesto can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @jonchesto.