Dorms, dorms -- everywhere

Michael Stoler provides a New York dorm update in today's Sun, the alarmingly titled "From Condominiums, Dormitories May Rise."

As he writes:

Fordham University is aiming to increase the population at its Lincoln Center campus by 2,500 students, to 10,500; New York University's long-term plan calls for 1,000 new students locally, and the City University of New York has reported record high enrollments for the past eight years, and now claims 230,000 students citywide.

The New York State Education Department reports that more than 475,000 full- and part-time students receiving school credits were enrolled at colleges and universities in the five boroughs last fall, up from 417,000 in 2000.

With the sales of residential condominiums sluggish of late, industry leaders say some will be redeveloped to serve as residential dormitory halls. In March, NYU purchased Gramercy Green, a newly completed 21-story, 300-unit building at 316 Third Ave. at 23rd Street. Originally planned as a residential condominium, the building is slated to open in the fall, providing housing for 900 undergraduate students as well as faculty.

He reports that renovations are under way at the former residential tower, the Booth House, at 318 E. 15th St., between Second and First Avenues. In February, Arun Bhatia Development Corp. paid $56 million to New York Downtown Hospital for the 129,000-square-foot property.

The New York Sun has learned that the developer plans to convert the property into dormitory space to house students and faculty of the New School, a university comprising eight schools with a total of 9,400 undergraduate and graduate students.

Meanwhile, a little closer to home:

On the Lower East Side . . . construction is nearly complete on a new dormitory for the School of Visual Arts. The 20-story, 80,000-square-foot building is situated at Delancey and Ludlow streets on the former site of a Duane Reade. The new dormitory will house 350 students in a building that will be leased to the school for 40 years with an option to purchase at the end of the lease.

I don't have a problem with students...But. I have a problem with how the student population changes the types of businesses a neighborhood attracts. This means more things that cater to the taste of students. Yogurt shops, for instance. Chains like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Things that will drive up rents. And force out the (remaining) mom-and-pop stores.