Emerson To Put Four Back Bay Properties on the Market

BOSTON-Emerson College is preparing to sell off four Back Bay buildings near the Public Garden to fund the construction of a 185,000-sf dormitory and student center the school plans to construct on Boylston Street. David Rosen, vice president for public affairs for Emerson, tells GlobeSt.com that the buildings, located at 96, 100 and 132-134 Beacon and 6 Arlington streets, will go on the market next spring, with proceeds from that sale going to fund a multimillion-dollar, 14-story residence hall and campus center which is being constructed at 150 Boylston St. near the site of its Theater District campus.

Rosen says sales figures for the buildings have not yet been set, but an industry source familiar with the Back Bay market tells GlobeSt.com that the four properties, which total about 135,000 sf, could fetch $50 million or more from developers interested in converting the brownstones into condominiums. The school has already received several phone inquiries about the buildings, Rosen says, but has not yet decided how to market the properties.

The real estate sell off won't be the first for Emerson, which has sold most of its Back Bay holdings in the last 12 years to fund construction of a campus for the art and performance school in Boston's Theater District. The construction of a new residence hall, however, will be a first for the school, which has never built new resident housing in its 124-year history. Known as Piano Row, the facility, which opens in the fall of 2006, includes residential suites, athletic facilities, offices and meeting rooms for student organizations, rooms that may be used for small-group rehearsals and performances and dining facilities.

The college's property sale follows last month's $32-million sale of six Back Bay buildings by Simmons College. The properties, five townhouses on Commonwealth Avenue and another on Marlborough Street, totaling approximately 90,000 sf, went to New York City-based developer Terramark.