Digital Bulletin

PROVIDENCE -- Brown University announced today that it has signed an agreement to purchase seven buildings in the city's Jewelry District, one of the largest purchases in the school's history and a major step in expanding Brown's holdings off of College Hill.

The purchase comprises 232,000 rentable square feet in seven buildings, as well as a 400-car parking garage and other parking areas. The school has not yet released the purchase price.

Brown already leases space in two buildings and owns another in the Jewelry District -- the former Speidel building, which was converted into a million biomedical and genetics center. And Last year, Brown bought an 11-story building -- the home of Hemenway's seafood restaurant -- on South Main Street for $31.5 million.

The university says it has not determined how to use the new space and that it will honor existing leases on the buildings, which largely consist of office space and limited retail space. Should Brown eventually convert the space into university use, the property would eventually become tax exempt.

The properties aquired by the university include 196, 222 and 233 Richmond Street; 1 and 10 Davol Square; and 339 and 349 Eddy Street.

Brown submitted a master plan to city official earlier this year that outlines plans to move beyond College Hill for expansion as one of three primary goals. The document reflects the university's strategy to avoid expanding into residential neighborhoods on College Hill.

Brown officials said in March that they were looking at opportunities to expand in the city's Jewelry District, where the university leases space in two buildings and purchased the former Speidel building on Shipp Street in 2003. The school spent $23 million to convert the building into laboratory and research space for molecular microbiology and related sciences.