BALTIMORE — Morgan State University is planning to lease hundreds more housing units in Baltimore and Towson, citing ongoing record-breaking enrollment.
The university today approved plans to rent an additional 37 units at Varsity Midtown Apartments in Baltimore, 153 units at Towson Town Place apartments in Towson, and 180 rooms at the Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore.
The university expects to continue historic enrollment of more than 9,000 students, for the second time in history, and says the current housing capacity of 2,571 is inadequate, according to the agenda presented to the Maryland Board of Public Works today.
Renting these units would cost at least $11 million.
The Board of Public Works originally approved apartment leases for Morgan State last year.
The university had asked 7 hotels in the Baltimore area, and only two expressed an interest, according to the BPW agenda. The Lord Baltimore Hotel was the only one able to fulfill the need. ,
Besides the student housing, Morgan State also plans to lease the newly-restored Hoen Lithograph building on East Biddle Street in East Baltimore. The university plans to use the space to expand community-based research programs; the base rent for the space is $565,000 per year.
