Amid declining enrollment and financial instability, many New England small colleges and universities are seeking ways to put themselves on better footing. One university north of Boston is consolidating and redeveloping its campus footprint to adapt.
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Salem State University and AvalonBay Communities received approval from Salem officials in late April to convert part of the university’s south campus to 340 luxury apartments.
For the project, 10% of units will be set aside for those making up to 60% of the area median income, and another 10% will be set aside for those making up to 80% of AMI, according to Salem Planning Department Deputy Director Amanda Chiancola.
The university is working with Boston-based WinnDevelopment on a second phase of multifamily development on the south campus land. It would entail the construction of some 125 units. A vote on the second phase of the plan is scheduled in July, Chiancola said.
The multifamily developments are part of the school’s plan to consolidate activities to the university’s north campus. The plan also calls for adding 22K SF to Meier Hall, a 160K SF academic building. It also calls for the renovation of the vacant Horace Mann academic building.
With the consolidation and conversion, the school hopes to take more than $50M in deferred maintenance costs off the books and reduce operational costs, the Boston Business Journal reports.
“With the sale of South Campus, we are establishing a compact and efficient campus core that will maximize programmatic synergies and streamline operations,” the plan says. “At the same time, in modernizing facilities on North Campus, Salem State is enhancing the academic experience for students.”
At the same meeting, Salem officials also approved more than 500 parking spots on the 23-acre parcel, the BBJ reports.
In September, the city moved to eliminate minimum parking requirements for new multifamily development involving three or more units.
Like many small institutions of higher learning in New England, Salem State has been forced to contend with shrinking enrollment numbers. The school enrolled 9,215 students in fall 2015 and just 6,009 students a decade later, a decline of nearly 35%.
In April, Anna Maria College in Paxton declared that it would close its doors at the end of the spring 2026 semester. Hampshire College in Amherst announced it would close at the end of the fall 2026 semester.
As colleges shrink or close, they put large swaths of real estate on the market. Hampshire said in late April that it was seeking a buyer for its 800-acre campus in western Massachusetts. Last week, Quincy city officials announced an agreement to buy the former campus of Eastern Nazarene College, a 27-acre property with 28 buildings.
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