Collaboration with American Campus Communities enhances housing choice for Boston students

In 2018, the city of Boston launched an update to its comprehensive housing plan -- 'Housing A Changing City: Boston 2030' -- designed to address housing needs at a time when Boston's population was growing faster than expected. The city asked local colleges and universities to join the initiative and provide additional on-campus student housing. A major research university, a client of Goulston & Storrs, didn't hesitate to answer the city's call. The university sought an outside strategic partner to help build, finance and manage a path-breaking new student residence. Via this cross-sector collaboration, the team could plan, fund, build and fill a new university-sponsored residence hall that ACC would ultimately own and operate to help all parties achieve their goals. As with many unprecedented projects, there were many hurdles to clear that required a sophisticated and well-positioned legal team, including: The building features 12,000 square feet of interior amenity 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 retail. This project marked the first time a major university in Boston built an equity financed student housing public private partnership. We are home to nearly 250 attorneys practicing across multiple disciplines from offices in Boston, New York and Washington D.C. Matthew Kiefer is an attorney focusing on private initiatives and public policy, handling parcel dispositions and entitlements from public agencies for complex urban projects. David Avitabile is an attorney handling land use and development for residential, commercial office, hospitality, and retail development projects. Darren Baird is an attorney focusing on complex commercial real estate transactions and development for owners, developers and lenders.