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After scrutiny from Brighton residents and city officials, the Boston College (BC) Institutional Master Plan (IMP) was renewed for two years instead of four years on November 13.

In October 2025, BC submitted their IMP Notification Form to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, seeking to extend its current IMP without any modifications for four more years. However, residents and city officials say that the university has not delivered on its longstanding commitment to expand on-campus undergraduate housing.

Amid community frustration with BC’s limited progress on its housing goals, the Boston Planning and Development Agency approved a shorter two-year renewal effective from November 13 through December 11. 

According to city data, the university’s recent projects have received a net total of 240 undergraduate beds, representing 19 percent of the institution’s 2009 housing goal. In its 2009 IMP, the university pledged “a net increase of 1,280 undergraduate student beds over the next ten years.”

With 1,111 BC undergraduates living in off-campus housing in Allston-Brighton, BC has the fifth highest number of undergraduate students residing in private housing among Boston academic institutions. 

Some residents say that BC’s shortage of on-campus housing poses a problem for Brighton’s housing market. 

In a public comment, members of Brighton-based Lane Park Neighborhood Association argue, “The demand for off-campus housing has had a destabilizing effect on the neighborhood. It has and continues to encourage developers to build high capacity ‘private dorms’ and reduces the inventory of affordable houses that appeal to long-term residents.”

While residents have pushed for more on-campus dormitories, the college’s recent development efforts have centered on expanding its athletic and recreation facilities. Five of the six major projects completed on the Brighton campus in recent years have been dedicated to athletics.

“Boston College seems more concerned with improving its athletic facilities, attracting more alumni and donor support, rather than meeting its now long ago commitment to house all its students,” says Brighton resident Barbara Parmenter, who leads the Allston-Brighton Housing Action coalition, in a public comment. “Residents and elected officials have continually brought up the housing issue, and Boston College has made and then failed to keep its promise.”

Representatives from BC did not respond immediately to a request for comment. 

City councilor Elizabeth “Liz” Breadon, who represents the Allston-Brighton area, said BC’s Brighton campus development has stalled amid leadership transitions. 

“They’re in a holding pattern at the moment,” Breadon said. “I’m hoping that when the new president gets inaugurated, that we will be able to sit down and have a conversation about his vision for the camp, for BC and and really also talk to the new president about the relationship between BC and the community.”

Breadon said the short-term renewal is intended to give incoming BC President John ‘Jack’ Butler, who takes office in summer 2026, time to shape his own vision for the campus. “The renewal is really just kicking the can down the road for two years,” she said. “The idea was that extending the existing IMP would give him a chance as a new president, to put his mark on the future and development of space there.”

With a new president set to take office, neighbors and city councilors alike are watching to see whether the university will follow through on its long-standing commitment to increase on-campus housing for its students. ■