Foreign Firm Wants to Bring Privately Run Student Housing to Boston

Facing a lack of student housing options, administration of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has urged the area's many colleges and universities to build more dorms, with mixed success. Now, the British firm Scape is backing a partial fix: privately operated dormitories open to students from any school. 

Tim Logan reports, "Scape said it will spend $1 billion to develop privately run dorms in Boston that could accommodate several thousand college students, a move that could help ease the housing squeeze in the city."

"Scape is importing a concept popular in London, where the company operates five buildings for college students, that could break the longstanding model in the United States of on-campus housing linked to a single school. Scape's buildings would be open to students of any nearby school, and potentially could be cheaper than many on-campus options."

Nigel Taee, Scape's executive chairman, says the apartments tend to attract "upperclass undergraduates and graduate students who want to leave behind freshman-filled dorms while keeping some of the community of campus life." Scape's ultimate plans call for five buildings, potentially housing as many as 3,000 students.