Northeastern University wants to develop another privately built and operated dorm

Northeastern University has filed plans to build another privately developed and operated dormitory, this one at 840 Columbus Avenue in Roxbury.

The tower on what’s now a 32,382-square-foot surface parking lot would stretch to 26 floors and include 975 beds, per plans filed in early November with the Boston Planning and Development Agency. The first five floors of the approximately 525,000-square-foot building would be academic and office space with the remaining 21 floors dedicated to the dorms.

“The mix of academic and office space will be determined later in the design process, depending on [the] university’s needs,” the filing said.

Northeastern submitted the letter of intent to the BPDA with American Campus Communities, the Texas outfit that co-developed and now operates 744 Columbus Avenue in the South End, a 20-story, 825-bed dormitory that opened in September.

That dorm—dubbed LightView—is open to third-, fourth-, and fifth-year undergraduates at Northeastern, and includes 12,000 square feet of interior amenity and shared space. That includes a fitness center, a 24-hour study hub, and social and recreational lounges. There is also 2,000 square feet of retail as well as on-site management.

LightView is not part of Northeastern’s usual student housing lottery. Instead, students lease directly from the developer—though residents are held to the same code of conduct in place in other Northeastern housing spaces.

Mayor Marty Walsh said at the time of LightView’s opening that such privately developed and operated dorms could be a key to easing Boston’s notorious housing crunch.

The proposal for 840 Columbus might help do the same. It will also be open to third-, fourth- and fifth-year students, per the Globe’s Tim Logan. And, when the dorm opens, Northeastern plans to end master leases at smaller apartment buildings in Boston, freeing them up for the city’s general housing supply.

The 840 Columbus proposal could also, of course, mean the end of yet another surface parking lot in Boston. That trend has picked up decidedly in the past few months. Stay tuned.