Two hotels recently acquired by Worcester Polytechnic Institute will no longer be transformed into student housing on the originally planned timeline.

The university made the announcement Tuesday afternoon in a letter to it's community. Last year WPI purchased the Courtyard By Marriott and the Hampton Inn in the Gateway Park section of Worcester.

In the letter WPI said the Hampton Inn will "continue to serve WPI and the City of Worcester by operating as a full-capacity hotel under it's existing management company." As for the Courtyard By Marriott the letter stated that it "will remain an operating hotel until at least 2030 as previously announced." The decision means the university has postponed the conversion of the Hampton Inn that was scheduled for 2026. The university will review the status of the Hampton Inn when it reevaluates its student housing needs annually.

WPI pointed to "changing dynamics" as reasoning for the decision highlighting cuts in federal funding, declines in international student enrollment and the effects of a shrinking pool of domestic students.

Worcester leadership opposed the transformation of the hotels into student housing when WPI's purchase of the properties was made public.

According to the WPI letter city officials were updated about the change in the time line for the conversion.