The university has bought two large
1920s-era apartment buildings that
flank the intersection of Charles and
33rd streets, across from the Homewood
campus.
For the immediate future, the Charles
and Blackstone apartments will continue to
offer leases on the open market and will be
managed by a private company hired by the
Office of Johns Hopkins Real Estate.
The hope eventually, however, is to incorporate
the buildings into the university’s
student housing system, providing increased
opportunities for juniors and seniors to live
in university residences.
“With the planned opening of the Charles
Commons in August, the university already
is taking the first steps toward offering upperclassmen
university housing," said James T.
McGill, senior vice president for finance
and administration. “Once the Charles
Commons is launched, we will begin a planning
process that will include an evaluation
of how these two new facilities might eventually
fit into the residential program."
Charles Commons, now under construction
in the same area of North Charles
Street as the newly acquired buildings, will
offer housing to about 600 students. The
Charles and Blackstone, occupied primarily
already by Johns Hopkins students, can
accommodate a total of 236 tenants.
McGill said that no firm decision has been
made about the future of the two buildings
and there is no timetable as yet for making
that decision.
"No funding has been identified that
would allow any major renovations to the
Charles or Blackstone for the purpose of
bringing them into the university housing
system," he said. “Still, this purchase marks
another important step forward as the university
seeks to realize our long-term goals
for student life."
.