The College plans to purchase 15 properties which currently house approximately 100 undergraduates, leaving it unclear whether the properties will remain student housing in the years to come.
The students who hold leases for the properties -- which include apartments above Caf Buon Gustaio and the house known to students as "the Crack House" -- received letters this week notifying them that although standing lease agreements will not be affected, leases will not be renewed and no sublease will be accepted for next summer.
The properties which currently house undergraduates are among 19 properties currently owned by the Hanover Investment Corporation which are being sold to the College for an undisclosed sum. According to Director of Real Estate for the College Paul Olsen, the sale includes three parking lots and 16 buildings.
The sale includes properties located in the block behind the Lodge, in the block between Currier Place and Sargent Place, some properties on East South Street, and the buildings currently occupied by Big Green Cuts, Ramunto's Brick and Brew Pizzeria, and Caf Buon Gustaio.
John Webb '01 said he received no warning about the impending sale of the Crack House, where he planned to live senior year.
"I highly doubt that I'll be able to live there. I doubt the College will be renewing leases," he said. "I think the College is going way out of line."
Students who previously signed a lease for the upcoming year received a letter this week from Larry LeClair, the treasurer of Hanover Investment. The letter states the College plans to buy a number of the properties currently owned by the company. While the sale will not alter any standing lease agreements, it will prevent the renewal of any such leases, and no subleases will be accepted for next summer.
The sale will be finalized by the summer of 2000.
While the Trustees' Initiative did not prompt the College's decision to buy from Hanover Investment, Olsen said, it may still play a role in plans for the use of the properties.
Crackhouse resident Casey Noga '00 voiced his fear that the Initiative did play a role in the decision to buy the properties.
"I think that's what everyone thinks...This will facilitate the implementation of the College's grand experiment in social engineering," he said. "I think they're trying to get us all in one place."
Webb echoed that sentiment. "They want to get rid of the fraternities, so where else are people going to live?"
"I got to live into a very nice place coming into my sophomore year," he said. But if the College takes over these properties, "it's only going to be seniors and superseniors living in these houses," he said.
Olsen said there may be a housing crunch as a result of the sale, but it is still "too early to tell" how the College will minimize the impact on students.
"If a lease is terminating ... students should expect not to be able to renew their leases," he said.
What the College plans to do with the properties remains unclear.
Olsen said the College has no specific plans for the properties at this time, but in the future will meet with the Town Planning Board to discuss their development.
"We're considering faculty housing, or continuing undergraduate housing...We're thinking about all sorts of things," he said.
Before deciding to make the properties available to students, the College will want to make sure they meet Dartmouth standards for student occupancy, Olsen said.
"We may need to go in and do a bunch of renovations," he said.
Webb said he sees making the Crackhouse into College housing as a conflict of interests.
"The Crack house doesn't go anywhere near standard College housing, but people want to live there now, as it is," he said. "It has a very homey atmosphere."
Housemate Noga concurred. "I don't think it's possible. It's not only the first church in the area, it's also the first crack house in the area," he said.
Daniel Stulac '01, who currently lives in an apartment above Caf Bon Gustaio, said he didn't understand why the College would want to spend the money to bring the properties up to code.
"I can't imagine students living here and paying dorm rent," he said.
More importantly, Stulac said, "the sale will affect the fact that there will be less places off-campus to find housing."
Matt Hood '00, who holds the lease to an apartment above Caf Buon Gustaio, agreed.
"They would have to do a lot of renovation," he said. "Part of the appeal of the housing we are living in right now is that it is a lot cheaper than living on-campus." Renovating the properties would make them more expensive and therefore less appealing to students, he said.
"I think the College thinks students move off-campus because they have to, but it's a lot cheaper and they like it better," said Noga. "Though you may be living in a crackhouse, you don't have to live under the scrutiny of over zealous S&S ... Now you're going to have to be really wealthy to live close to campus or have your own car and be living 15 minutes away."
Olsen did not know whether or not students would be subject to College and Safety and Security housing regulations if the College chose to make the properties available to students.
Olsen said the College always looks at what real estate is available on the market.
"At some point we became aware of the properties for sale," and the College and Hanover Investment have been negotiating for about six months, he said.
"It was a good opportunity to acquire properties close to campus," he said. "It's an important piece of property ... [which will] potentially impact how the downtown will appear in the future."
College Treasurer Win Johnson would not say how much the College will spend on these properties, but he did say the College has a tentative sales agreement with Hanover Investment, and that the College did not have a right of first refusal for the properties.
Johnson also said the College has bought properties adjacent to campus for various reasons, depending on the property.
Hanover Investment is a real estate corporation owned by an anonymous British investor.
