WPI Community Update August 26, 2024

Dear WPI Community,

We are writing to let you know that WPI is planning to purchase the Hampton Inn at 65 Prescott Street and the Courtyard Marriott at 72 Grove Street, two buildings adjacent to our Gateway Park properties. 

Until today, we have been unable to provide a community update while we have been engaged in confidential discussions. We are now able to share the following detailed information.

For many years, we have been exploring strategies to address a projected student housing shortage in ways that will provide our students with affordable, accessible, and desirable housing options. As you know, WPI guarantees on-campus housing for all first-year and transfer students, but we do not have enough space for our upper-level students. 

Many of you live in the city and therefore know that the Worcester housing market is extremely tight, with ever-increasing apartment rents and a vacancy rate of 1.7%, one of the lowest in the country. This situation puts considerable strain on our students’ ability to find affordable housing and adds pressure to the city’s housing crunch.  Our plans to increase our on-campus housing will not only help our students, it will also create space in the market for families and other renters impacted by the housing shortage.  

Here are the details:   

• With this purchase, WPI joins a long list of universities with hotel properties. 
• Initially, both hotels will continue to operate as they do now, with the same capacity.
• We do not foresee the loss of any jobs for those currently employed at the hotels; we will retain the current management company.  
• After the purchase, both buildings will remain on the city’s property tax rolls and will generate hotel tax revenues for the city while they continue to operate as hotels.  
• We will transition the Hampton Inn to student housing in 2026. 
• The Courtyard Marriott will continue to operate as a hotel through at least 2030. This will continue to help meet the lodging needs of guests who attend events held on campus and in the city.  

This approach will help serve our students by providing housing close to campus, which will foster their engagement with our vibrant campus life.  

Each year, WPI makes substantial payments to the City pursuant to our longstanding PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the City. Our current PILOT payment exceeds $815,000 each year. Since 2009, we have paid $9 million to the City in PILOT payments.  Over the course of our PILOT agreement, WPI will have paid the City a total of approximately $18 million in PILOT payments through the year 2034. 

But our relationship with—and our commitment to—Worcester goes much deeper than that. Our university has stood upon this hill for 159 years, and we have continually proven ourselves to be a solid community member and a good neighbor. 

Our 2023 Community Impact Report highlights such contributions as tens of thousands of hours of community service, $5.6 millionin grants and scholarships for Worcester residents, and nearly $14 million in business for Worcester suppliers and vendors. Beyond these contributions, we have provided support, training, and tutoring in Worcester schools, partnered with the city on public safety initiatives, and enriched our community in countless ways.  

We are proud that this academic year our students are coming from 47 states and nearly 100 countries, carrying the name of our home city and this university around the world. Almost 450 WPI employees reside in Worcester, helping to make the university and the city a better place. And as of 2023, WPI technologies and resulting local and regional spin-out companies have employed more than 400 people and raised approximately $1 billion in investment. 

WPI is strongly committed to our home city, and we will continue to partner with Worcester to make this a hub of education, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. WPI and Worcester have accomplished great things together, and we look forward to our continued partnership. We plan to further update our community as this moves forward.  

Thank you for all you do for our community and for helping to make WPI a valued partner to our city. Best wishes as we start an exciting new academic year.  

Michael Horan CPA, EdD                                                  

Executive Vice President & CFO       

Philip Clay

Senior Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management