A few weeks ago, the Wentworth Institute of Technology board of trustees green- lighted the $350M plan to develop two buildings on an athletic field on its campus that straddles the Fenway and LMA, president Zorica Pantic (above) tells us. (You can play pick-up soccer anywhere, people.) Now, the college is preparing to go to market with an RFP in Q1 '14 to private developers who want to partner on the project. WIT, which teaches engineering, design, technology and management, needs more space for the rush of students seeking jobs in an innovative economy.
Rendering: Perkins+Will
The plan calls for an 18-story commercial building that will help Wentworth fund a six-story, 78k SF Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation to house its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and its Center for Community and Learning Partnerships. The interdisciplinary focus allows students in different programs such as architecture, and electrical and mechanical engineering to work together, just as they would in a real development project, Zorica tells us. Since she took the helm of the school eight years ago, WIT has done about $50M in development, and she's seen "incredible growth" on neighboring campuses: Northeastern, Mass College of Art, Mass College of Pharmacy, and of course, in the adjacent LMA.
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