A British company that aims to transform the concept of college dormitories is making a major investment in Boston.

Scape said it will spend $1 billion to develop privately run dorms in Boston that could accommodate several thousand college students, a move that could help ease the housing squeeze in the city.

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Scape is importing a concept popular in London, where the company operates five buildings for college students, that could break the longstanding model in the United States of on-campus housing linked to a single school. Scape’s buildings would be open to students of any nearby school, and potentially could be cheaper than many on-campus options.

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Boston officials say they have met with Scape executives and are enthusiastic about the company’s plan, though details remain to be worked out.

“We welcome Scape to Boston and look forward to working with them to create well-managed, high-quality student housing,” said Sheila Dillon, the city’s chief of housing. “Building housing for students that come to Boston to study will free up housing that was built to house our workforce.”

The Walsh administration has pushed schools to build dorms with mixed success in recent years. After an initial wave of new housing for students, progress has slowed, with some schools hesitant to finance projects amid fears that enrollment could dip in the future. 

Increasingly, local universities have partnered with private-sector developers to build housing — including two buildings at Northeastern University and the first dorms at the University of Massachusetts Boston — on land the schools control.

Scape’s model takes that concept further. The company builds, runs, and owns the student apartments; there’s no lease or financial relationship with any school, only a requirement — per city zoning — that residents verify enrollment at a local college or university.

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