Portland lease agreement will add student housing at USM

COURTESY / UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE, OFFICE OF MARKETING AND BRAND MANAGEMENT University of Southern Maine President Glenn Cummings. The president lauded the efforts to establish dorms for the university in Portland.

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By Staff

A “critically important step to meeting student needs” has been taken at the University of Southern Maine, after a UMaine System Board of Trustees’ committee approved a proposal to bring student housing to Portland beginning next fall.

The proposal must now receive full approval from the Board of Trustees at its Nov. 14 meeting. If it’s given the go-ahead, USM will move forward in an agreement with Blue Vista Capital Management to lease 200 beds at Bayside Apartments, located less than one mile from the Portland campus.

The lease agreement between USM and Blue Vista is for two years, with the option for three one-year extensions.

It is projected that the cost to students will be at least 30% less than the average monthly rental of a one-bedroom apartment in Portland, according to a news release.

“This is a critically important step to meeting student needs,” USM President Glenn Cummings said in a news release. “We are already at over capacity in our residence halls on our Gorham campus, and with our enrollment growing and Portland rents rising, it is essential we offer lower cost affordable housing for both our graduate and undergraduate students.”

USM provided student housing for several years at the Portland Hall dormitory on Congress Street in the city’s downtown before it was closed in July of 2008 to help curb costs. As Mainebiz reported at the time, Bayside Maine LLC purchased the 645 Congress St. building for $2.2 million, which was then converted into an apartment complex.