Last fall, Northeastern University and the City of Boston announced they would enter two new agreements, increasing Northeastern’s annual payments to the city by 36.8% — a commitment experts say requires long-term accountability and community engagement by the university.
The city announced the new agreements — a five-year-long payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program and 10-year institutional master plan, or IMP — Nov. 13. The payments for the PILOT program are slated to start in Fiscal Year 2026, while the IMP proposals have their own development schedules.
Over the next decade, the IMP obligates Northeastern to pay approximately $62.5 million in community benefits, including investments in affordable housing, funding for the planning and beautification of Nubian Square and expanded public access to Northeastern facilities such as Carter Playground and the field bubble. With the PILOT agreement, Northeastern separately pledged more than $49 million in cash and additional benefits to the city over five years.
The IMP, which includes plans for the next 10 years, outlines specific obligations the university must meet and is determined by negotiations between city and university officials.
Previous IMP editions laid the path for Northeastern’s rapid urban growth: specifically, a 73% increase in real estate holdings in Boston over the past 25 years. These included the construction of Snell Library, Curry Student Center, Marino Recreation Center, the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex and EXP. Notably, Northeastern’s expansion into Roxbury has raised concerns of gentrification and housing displacement from local residents.
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