WPI Sophomore Housing Requirement and Hotel Tax Agreement

At a glance

What: Tony Economou (with John P. Fresolo and Satya B. Mitra) asked the City Manager for a report on Worcester Polytechnic Institute's notice that students entering from fall 2026 must live on campus for their first two years.
Where it stands: report order adopted 9-2 on 2026-10-06 (King and Ojeda opposed).
Next: report from the City Manager pending.

Asks about the effect on the two hotels WPI bought in 2024 (a Hampton Inn and a Marriott, per the order), on landlords who invested in student housing near the school, and on nearby businesses.
Economou called it another slap in the face from a university not committed to the city and worried about neighborhood stability and DCU Center event lodging.

Eric D. Batista: the city has no jurisdiction over WPI's student policy.
Under the tax agreement the first hotel was slated to become a dorm in 2026 and the second around 2030, with WPI continuing to pay a percentage of taxes through about 2034 once a hotel goes tax-exempt.
WPI has since told the city it has no active plans to convert either hotel; both are operating as hotels and paying full real estate, hotel and meals taxes.
Rental vacancy has risen from about 1.7 percent to roughly 3 to 4 percent.
Landlords who built communal student suites would need to reconvert them to individual units to rent to the public.

Khrystian E. King and Luis A. Ojeda voted against, saying freeing student housing helps families in a housing crisis and questioning the 'unstable neighborhoods' claim.
Supporters said it was only a report and a chance to open talks with WPI.

2026-10-06 - City Council — Order adopted 9-2 after a long exchange; Batista answered questions on jurisdiction, the hotel tax agreement and vacancy rates. Debate speakers are hard to attribute in the captions beyond Economou, King and Batista.