WORCESTER — The day after news spread that Worcester Polytechnic Institute had completed its $46 million purchase of two hotels at Gateway Park, some city councilors said the city should take a more aggressive stance toward keeping properties on the tax rolls and evaluating how much colleges pay the city.
“The number of years I’ve been on the council, I think this might be the biggest example of getting our pockets picked,” Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman said.
On Friday, two limited liability companies whose signatory is WPI Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Michael Horan signed deeds to purchase the Hampton Inn & Suites at 65 Prescott St. and the Courtyard by Marriott at 72 Grove St.
They were both owned by BRE Hotels & Resorts, based in New York City.
WPI confirmed the purchase in an email to the university community.
In the email, WPI administrators wrote that acquiring the hotels and converting them to student housing benefits both WPI and Worcester, and that they will continue talking to the city about the purchase. They said the converted hotels would create more affordable student housing and ease the housing burden for the city at large.