Brown raises $100.7 million for residence hall construction, building renovations

PROVIDENCE — Brown University will fund the construction and renovation of three projects through $100.7 million raised through a bond.

The biggest project will be two residence halls on Brook Street, near the Power Street parking garage and the Vartan Gregorian Quad. The two buildings will house 350 third- and fourth-year students, according to Brown's website.

The combined area of the two buildings will be 125,000 square feet.

Initial plans called for Brown to build a 375-bed dormitory, which was slimmed down by 25 beds, and a retail space was added to one of the buildings.

Buying spree: Brown University buys 10 Jewelry District properties in bid to build new lab

The two buildings, at 250 and 259 Brook St., have replaced a small strip mall and a parking lot. The final steel beam was set into place in July.

How Brown acquired the funds

The Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation, a self-supporting state agency that help nonprofits finance school and health care building projects, closed on the $87.2-million bond for Brown University on July 27.

While Brown only borrowed $87.2 million, it was sold at a $13.5-million premium, generating a total of $100.7 million for the university, Executive Director Kim Mooers said.

Apartments for grad students: Brown buys Jewelry District apartments for $75 million

Since 1968, the corporation has facilitated 27 bonds for Brown, worth $1.3 billion, according to a corporation news release.

In a separate deal, Brown recently purchased 10 Jewelry District plots for $16 million from Care New England, as it plans to build a new lab in that area.

Brown also bought the 174-unit River House apartments on Point Street, also in the Jewelry District, for $75 million in 2021. That building is intended to be used by graduate students.

Deafening: Opponents of College Hill apartments worry about noise, excessive height

Brown was a central player in the redevelopment of the old power station next door to River House in the South Street Landing complex, which hosts Brown offices and a nursing education center for the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.

Money to be used for Churchill House

The money will also be used to construct an addition to Churchill House at 155 Angell St., which will include space for Brown's Department of Africana Studies as well as the Rites and Reason Theatre, according to the news release.

Bound by blood: Medical workers reunite in RI a decade after their Kandahar hospital tour

According to Brown University's website, the building, constructed in 1907 for the Rhode Island Women's Club, will undergo an extensive renovation, a two-story addition that will add 3,000 square feet, and a new terrace and accessible entrance.

A comprehensive study concluded that the addition and renovation were needed due to the growth of the Africana Studies program.

Lincoln Field Building to be renovated

Brown will also use the money to renovate the Lincoln Field Building on the Simmons Quadrangle and build an addition. The building is home to the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription. Here's our latest offer.

Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown University raises $100.7 million for new residences, renovations