In 2016, the College took a bold step toward its second century when it announced the decision to build a 692-bed student residence on the site of Julie Hall. It was constructed by John Moriarty Associates and designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. It included an 18-story tower to enable the College to increase the proportion of students living on campus from 73 percent to 84 percent. It included: 155 two-bedroom apartments, 64 single apartments, a lobby that would serve as a common area for the whole community, with a cafe, convenience store, fitness center, dance studio and gathering spaces. It also included energy-efficient windows, LED lighting and water and energy-saving plumbing, heating and cooling equipment that met LEED Silver specifications. This expanded the College’s housing options with modern apartment-style accommodations that increasingly are standard for juniors and seniors at U.S. colleges and universities.

 

This was done to better position the College to attract promising students in today’s highly competitive recruitment marketplace as students and parents wanted movement away from the dorm model to contemporary, apartment-­style spaces. The new building housed not only Emmanuel students, but also students at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS University), which will lease a third of the building.

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