Amid rumors of the sale of Suffolk’s Fenton building, professors whose offices were housed there have begun moving out of the Derne Street building, which is currently on the market.
Though some professors have said that Fenton has been sold, Suffolk University President James McCarthy has confirmed that the building still belongs to the university.
Faculty were notified they would have to move out of Fenton, which houses Suffolk’s English and mathematics and computer science departments, toward the end of the spring semester, according to Quentin Miller, the chair of the English department.
Fenton has been a university-owned building since 1975, but was put on the market with investment management and real estate company Jones Lang Lasalle in January, a move first reported by the Boston Business Journal. The city has assessed the building’s worth at just above $9 million.
Miller said the College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kenneth Greenberg notified professors of the need to relocate via email.
On a Wednesday afternoon in late May, Miller sifted through stacks of papers, files, and a collection of books that piled up over 15 years as he prepared to move to 73 Tremont. The two departments in Fenton will relocate to the eighth floor “for the foreseeable future,” Miller said.
“Fenton is a kind of charming building in a great location,” said Miller, reminiscing of his walks through the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood. However, he said he is excited to move to 73 Tremont, which will allow professors to be geographically closer to other university departments.
“It’s a difficult process, but it’s a healthy one,” Miller said of moving.
Classes that were scheduled to be in Fenton have been moved to other buildings, according to McCarthy.
Edith Cook, the chair of the mathematics and computer science department, said professors and staff have not yet moved out of the building, but will be settled in 73 Tremont by July 1.
“Seventy-three Tremont is a newer building than Fenton,” said Cook. “I don’t think there’s anybody who’s upset to be moving.”
Though she does not remember who first notified her that the department would have to relocate to 73 Tremont, she said “at some point we did get an email from Dean Greenberg that said we would be moving.”
The math department is currently on two floors of Fenton, and Cook is excited to have all the staff members connected on one floor in 73 Tremont.
Cook and Miller have been seeing extra traffic in Fenton the last few months — both said they speculate that representatives of JLL have been taking potential buyers through tours of the building.
Miller remembers “parades of guys in suits walking around measuring” the building.
“I got the sense that there was a sale in process,” said Cook of the visitors. “There are certainly rumors that there’s a buyer and a sale in process.”
