Suffolk University to Erect Academic Building with Support from $66 Million in MassDevelopment Bonds

December 14, 2010

Contact:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077

MassDevelopment has issued $66.285 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of Suffolk University, which will build an eight-story, flagship academic building at 20 Somerset Street in Boston. The building, totaling about 112,000 square feet, will provide the university with state-of-the-art classrooms and a permanent home for its New England School of Art and Design.

“Suffolk University has played an important role in preparing generations of students from Boston and beyond for productive lives and rewarding careers,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Robert L. Culver. “The university is committed to quality education and bringing this new building on line will support those priorities. MassDevelopment is pleased to help with this effort by providing access to low-cost financing.”

Suffolk will demolish a former Metropolitan District Commission building on the site to make way for the new facility, scheduled to open in January 2013. MassDevelopment has issued several bond issues on behalf of the university, dating back to 1997. Those bonds helped construct the Suffolk University Law School, residence halls, fund various renovations, and refinance existing debt.

MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development authority, works with businesses, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2010, MassDevelopment financed or managed 241 projects in 104 communities across the state generating investment of nearly $1.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy.