Harvard - Allston Campus

Harvard-owned property in Allston, generally west of N. Harvard St. (It owns a lot more to the east, off the map-edge.)




SNAG-01894B5.jpg


Red is property Harvard owns. (The existing site of Charlesview, wedge-shaped parcel NE corner of Barry's Corner) is presumptively Harvard-owned.

Lavender is WBZ which Harvard and WBZ have talked about Harvard buying.

Royal purple is the most recent acquisition, a machine shop south of Brighton Mills. (The white stripe to the parcel's right is a street.)

Light blue is owned either by the city or state.

Green is the Smith playground / recreation fields

Brown marks the proposed sites for the relocated Charlesview apartments. The other part of the largest of the three sites is Brighton Mills.

The keystone block is on the east side of Barry's Corner, showing the two parcels that Harvard does not own.

The big parcel at screen bottom (nearly bordering the Mass Pike) is the former Boston Technology Center, which was vacant for years before Harvard bought it several years ago.

BSC is the Boston Skating Club.

The pale yellow indicates parcels owned by a single, private real estate trust.
 
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Profs Weigh Leaving Harvard over Allston Slowdown

Profs Weigh Leaving Harvard over Allston Slowdown
Published On Sunday, March 01, 2009 6:57 PM
By PETER F. ZHU and ESTHER I. YI
Crimson Staff Writer

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In the sharpest reaction thus far to the recent decision putting the brakes on the University?s planned expansion into Allston, two professors in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology have considered leaving Harvard, fearing that fallout from the slowdown will harm their research.

The University?s plans to deal with the slowdown by re-assigning MCB laboratory space to the stem cell researchers who were originally slated for Allston has raised concerns that basic biology research is being de-prioritized in the current financial crisis, according to several professors contacted by The Crimson last week.

Those concerns have taken a toll, as professors in MCB have grown uneasy about their ability to continue their work amidst planning for the move and increasingly frustrated by their treatment at the hands of University administrators.

Tom Maniatis, an MCB professor renowned for his work in molecular cloning, has made plans to leave Harvard to chair Columbia?s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, according to his lab administrator William C. McCallum.

While Maniatis did not respond to repeated requests for comment last week, two colleagues confirmed that the University?s decision on Allston had cemented his departure plans.

Once slated to become a centerpiece of the new Allston Science Complex as early as 2011, the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology will now occupy the Sherman Fairchild Biochemistry Building, uprooting the MCB researchers currently situated there.

The impending move, likely to occur by summer, has already posed an ?enormous distraction? to research, said one professor, whose laboratory, like that of Maniatis, is housed in Fairchild.

The professor?who asked that he not be named in order to preserve his relationship with the University?said that he would certainly consider opportunities to leave Harvard in light of the disruption.

MCB Professor Matthew Meselson, whose laboratory has been stationed in Fairchild for nearly 30 years, said that while he still awaits further details of the move from administrators, any decision hampering his research would be ?very serious? and force him to confront senior University officials.

The move out of Fairchild?which could take weeks?would also require lengthy consultation with architects and planners, according to several professors with laboratories in the building. To accommodate incoming stem cell researchers, Fairchild would have to be gutted and reconstructed.

Faculty members also expressed concerns that the Northwest Science Building?the most likely destination for the displaced MCB laboratories?may provide inadequate facilities. Northwest was only completed last year and still features unpainted drywall and cement flooring in many rooms.

?There are so many people [in Fairchild], so many labs full of equipment,? said MCB professor Guido Guidotti, who noted that the building had been constructed expressly for biochemical research. ?Is there going to be comparable space? There probably is not.?

Some MCB department members also said they were concerned that the University?s eviction of MCB faculty to make way for the stem cell department is indicative of a ?corporatization? of science that comes at the cost of basic research. Meselson questioned the University?s prioritization of stem cell research, a highly specialized field that, he speculated, may not exist in 100 years.

Jim Henle, a lab administrator in Fairchild, said he wrote a letter to University President Drew G. Faust criticizing the administration?s decision to relocate the MCB facilities and asking the renowned historian to envision an analogous situation facing her own department.

?What I said was, imagine Robinson Hall getting an announcement that some hotshots from the Kennedy School are going to take over, because they?re in with Obama. The history department has to live in freshman dorms,? he said. ?Okay, so they?ll still have a place to live, but it kind of sends a message,? Henle added.

Several MCB department members in Fairchild said they were concerned by the administration?s failure to consult them regarding the logistics of the move. All news about the impending exodus has been relayed by top University administrators to Department Chair Catherine Dulac, allowing no faculty dialogue during the decision-making stages, the professors said.

?It will be nice to have information directly from the administration rather than having me tell you what I am told by my chairman what the administration told her,? Guidotti said. ?It?s somewhat of a roundabout way.?

?Staff writer Esther I. Yi can be reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.

?Staff writer Peter F. Zhu can be reached at pzhu@fas.harvard.edu.
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http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=526836
 
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GW2500 said:
Ok, I'm not a finance person, or economics major, but how can't take 1 billion out of there endowment to finish it off, if they still have 20-something billion? Especially when leaving it as is isn't free either. And if the economy never recovers and their endowment keeps decreasing then their screwed anywase.
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AP IMPACT: Some nonprofits can't touch their money

By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press Writer, Sunday March 1, 2009

"It's a frustrating quandary for universities, orchestras and other nonprofit organizations in two dozen states. They have the money they need to save jobs, offer scholarships and put on a solid schedule of programs, but face state laws that keep them from using any of it."


Full story with map(s):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_on_re_us/untouchable_endowments

(Unfortunately, Yahoo tends to delete their stories after a few months. I'll search for a more permanent link through AP.)
 
Ron Newman said:
In that map of Harvard property, what is '385' ?
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385 Western Ave, AKA as 1280 Soldiers Field Rd., is a one story brick building with loading docks, owned by a Sherman Starr et al. Lot size is one acre. Assessed for about $2.5 million.

If you google 385 Western Ave. for street view, google takes you to 1280 Soldiers Field Rd. The google street view shows what appears to be a For Lease sign on the front.

There are six parcels of privately-owned land on the north side of Western Ave that Harvard doesn't own. The largest are the two parcels owned by the Boston Skating Club, then 385 Western Ave. two smaller parcels that impinge on where Charlesview would build its condo mid-rise, and a parcel next to WBZ.
__________
Clarification of a point in the original post: the car wash at 365 Western Ave is not Harvard owned; it is one of the smaller parcels that bound the proposed site for the Charlesview mid-rise condos.
 
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More forum rabblerousers in the news:

Allston Looks for ?Creative Solutions?
Published On Monday, March 16, 2009 1:21 AM
By PETER F. ZHU and BORA FEZGA
Crimson Staff Writers

In a walking tour of Allston and Brighton Saturday morning, local residents reiterated their concerns about the slowdown in construction of Harvard?s Allston Science Complex, but also said the University should focus on finding ?creative solutions? to improve the current state of the neighborhood.

Tim and Jane McHale, Allston residents and members of the Allston Brighton North Neighbors Forum, emphasized the need to connect the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods?currently separated by empty industrial facilities and the Brighton Mills Shopping Center?perhaps by building small-scale housing and parks. And Anne C. Lusk, a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Public Health and a Brookline resident, said that Harvard and the city should take advantage of the economic downturn to focus on other aspects of Harvard?s development plans?such as reducing automobile usage and facilitating bicycle transportation.

?I think especially with the downturn in the economy, we need hope, some forward movement in creative ways,? Lusk said, suggesting that University and city planners look at constructing European-style, barrier-separated, bicycle tracks with a parallel sidewalk in Allston. She noted that because Boston is sorely lacking in bike lanes and cycle tracks, such a development strategy would make Allston a model for alternative transportation.

Lusk said that Harvard and city planners have been receptive to including bike paths and cycle tracks in their development plans, but that budgetary restrictions may be forcing the University to prioritize other initiatives.

Zakcq Lockrem, a member of the Boston Planners Network which advocates for socioeconomic justice through urban planning, said that one inexpensive and short-term project that would increase foot-traffic in Allston would be to install public art?possibly in cooperation with the Graduate School of Design?on vacant Western Ave. storefronts.

?We now have opportunities...to start thinking about [community development] from perspectives that aren?t as time-crunched,? Lockrem said.

Harry Mattison, an Allston resident and founding member of the Allston Brighton North Neighbors Forum, echoed his long-standing concerns about Harvard?s vacant property holdings in the neighborhood, and lamented that Barry?s Corner?the intersection of North Harvard St. and Western Ave, envisioned as a center of commerce akin to Cambridge?s Harvard Square?is still largely defined by an abandoned Harvard-owned Citgo Station.

While he acknowledged that finding ?the right kind of tenants? in order to attract customers and foot-traffic is difficult given Allston?s current state, he said that filling property vacancies is crucial to improving the existing neighborhood and would not require expensive new construction projects.

?[Harvard] needs to start thinking creatively,? Mattison said. ?Something has to jump-start this, some sort of stimulus.?

The walking tour, coordinated by Mattison, aimed to provide Harvard students and Allston residents with an opportunity to see the University?s impact on the community first-hand. For several residents?and the three Harvard students that attended?Saturday was the first time they saw the massive ?hole in the ground? at the Science Complex site.
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A tour through the Garden of Folly.

Art installations in storefronts to generate walking? Do these folks live in la-la land?

If there hadn't been so much community "consultation", might something have been built before the crash?

Harry, there's no love in the process.
 
I bike to work occasionally, and I love it. I'm also very fit and live 5 miles from where I work. Naturally, I only bike on good weather days, and never on days when I have client meetings, otherwise I have to bring a suit, shoes, belt, tie, etc. and leave it at the office and change. So I bike about 3-4 times per month. In the warm months - not in the winter. And not if I'm running late in the morning. That being said, I am the most active biker in my office of 50 people.

It's so fucking ri-god-damn-diculous to keep hearing these "let's bike to work!" cries when it is only feasible and plausible for a teeny tiny fraction of the population, on certain days of the month.

Do the math for your own offices, but at mine, with about 50 people:

- about 10-15 people live beyond 128, making biking into the city silly/dangerous

- about 5-10 people have health problems or are elderly making biking to work silly/dangerous

- we have two pregnant women at the moment

- Our 12 account managers are on the road all day visiting clients, so even if they biked to work, they would need a car once they got here

- About 5-10 people have to drop kids off at school/daycare before coming to the office. This leaves no time for returning home and then hopping on a bike, or biking home, getting the car to then pick up the kids.

- about 2-3 people are fat and lazy and would not bike to work even if they could. It is their choice to never bike to work no matter what.

Biking to work is awesome, I love it. I wish I could bike to work more than I do. I recommend it and chide my coworkers for not trying it out. On certain days. When I can. But if I hear another politician or Brookline/Harvard/JP Clown talk about biking as a reasonable mode of transportation I am going to vomit. In 2009, in Greater Boston (not just the city core) the only reasonable, convenient and inexpensive method of transport is a cheap car.

I would hope the very last thing Harvard spends a dime on in this economic environment would be under-used bike lanes.
 
But we're talking about a college campus here. Lots of people bike to and on college campuses in all kinds of weather.
 
There isn't a college campus there though. This woman's idea is that in the absence of building the college campus, at least build bike lanes. I say do the opposite. Bike lanes last.
 
I'm guessing Harvard was planning to finance this campus through it's earnings on endownment? How much did they raise for the campus directly?
 
Oakley said:
I'm guessing Harvard was planning to finance this campus through it's earnings on endownment? How much did they raise for the campus directly?
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Harvard was considering undertaking a big fund-raising campaign, but then Larry Summers was shown the door, to be replaced by an interim president for a year, then by the current President, Drew Faust. While all this was happening, generous would-be benefactors found that their wallets and purses were suddenly lighter, so the campaign is postponed indefinitely apparently. (I once worked for the chairman of the board of trustees for a major university with a substantial endowment. The rule of thumb supposedly is that you announce the campaign only after you already have pledges and commitments for about half the sum you intend raising.)

Harvard had imposed a 0.5 percent levy on its endowment funds to help pay for Allston construction, which was fine when the endowment value was 30 percent higher than presently, and before Harvard had to sell bonds to finance cash needs after it discovered its endowment was illiquid.
 
see money(25mill) can buy you happiness

Annual Report on the Cooperation Agreement 3/31/09
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=527516

Allston Locals Praise Harvard
Residents appreciate community benefits, especially education portal
Published On Tuesday, April 07, 2009 1:07 AM
By PETER F. ZHU
Crimson Staff Writer

While recent Harvard Allston Task Force meetings have been dominated by heated discussions of the University?s vacant neighborhood properties, last night?s meeting took on a decidedly more subdued tone, with local residents cautiously praising the University for its progress in delivering community benefits over the past year.

Maile Takahashi, senior community planner for the Allston Development Group, presented a synopsis of Harvard?s first annual report on the Allston Science Complex Cooperation Agreement signed one year ago. The agreement required the University to provide $25 million worth of neighborhood benefits in order to proceed with construction.

The report, which was posted on the ADG?s Web site last Tuesday, detailed the University?s public improvement work, local educational partnerships, and workforce development programs.

The Harvard Allston Education Portal, which opened in June of last year and provides science, math, and writing enrichment for local youth, was particularly lauded by community members. Edward A. Kotomori, a local resident, said that both parents and children have expressed appreciation for the program.

?If I were a boss, I?d make sure that you got a good raise,? Kotomori said to Takahashi. ?You?re doing a terrific job.?

The meeting also focused on Harvard?s progress in designing Library Park, which is slated to open in 2011 and will be located behind the Honan-Allston Library. Project manager Dennis Swinford presented the current concept designs and said that the Boston Redevelopment Authority had hired landscaping firm Michael Van Valkenburg Associates to develop construction documents, which should be available by the year?s end. He said that while a contractor for construction has not yet been hired, construction should begin next spring.

Despite the less heated tone of the meeting, local concerns about Harvard?s vacant property holdings in Allston continued to simmer.

At the previous Task Force meeting on March 25, University officials had presented a map detailing Harvard?s property holdings in Allston and their current occupancy status, but local residents asked Harvard to come back and provide the information in a list format. Tensions briefly flared last night when local resident Paul Alford noted that a property list distributed to meeting attendees by Chief University Planner Kathy A. Spiegelman failed to include the requested occupancy information.

While Spiegelman initially replied that it would not be productive to discuss each property?s leasing situation individually with the community, she later agreed to provide a new list including the occupancy information displayed on the map.

Task force member and local resident Harry Mattison had also raised concerns after last week?s meeting that Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was no longer holding firm to his requests for Harvard to provide more detailed information and plans regarding its science complex construction slowdown. Menino had sent a letter to University President Drew G. Faust in late February with specific dates for information requests, most within 30 to 60 days.

But Michael F. Glavin, the BRA?s deputy director for institutional development, said that the Mayor has the right to grant some flexibility in the specific deadlines, provided that real progress is being made on the issues listed in his letter, and that Harvard is acting in good faith within a reasonable time frame.

?Staff writer Peter F. Zhu can be reached at pzhu@fas.harvard.edu.
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http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=527516
 
In regards to the science project, the white wall/fence/barrier that runs along Western Ave has recently gotten bigger. It's like they are adding a second story to this wall. Not sure what that is all about, especailly if they are only going to bring it up to ground level and then wait.
 
GW2500 said:
In regards to the science project, the white wall/fence/barrier that runs along Western Ave has recently gotten bigger. It's like they are adding a second story to this wall. Not sure what that is all about, especailly if they are only going to bring it up to ground level and then wait.
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The new fence was requested by the residents of Charlesview and decided upon prior to the slowdown. The Charlesview residents thought the previous wooden fence with its covered walkway (pretty traditional for construction sites) was inadequate at shielding the construction going on.
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Separately, Harvard has said its annual capital construction budget will now be about $500 million a year rather than $1 billion. Spending could rise if a generous donor(s) funds a building, or the endowment amount recovers better than currently expected.

While $500 million might seem enough to complete the science complex pretty near on schedule, Harvard is probably placing a higher priority of renovating the older residence houses and the Fogg renovation/expansion.

Assuming that Fogg will cost $300 million, and the river houses will cost $1+ billion over 10 years or so, that would leave Harvard about $200 million a year to spend on Allston, rather than $600 or $700 million.
 
There are 600+ buildings at Harvard, and many of them are currently undergoing renovations of some kind (from very minor to moderate). I'm thinking that money will get spread a lot thinner than what you are projecting.
 
one-year moratorium on purchasing new properties

This sucks:

Harvard officials announced this week a one-year moratorium on purchasing new properties at Wednesday night?s Harvard Allston-Task Force meeting. It was a concession that Allston-Brighton residents have fiercely demanded since Harvard announced in February that it would slow construction on its First Science Complex.
?I think this also clearly reflects the will of our local officials,? said Kevin McCluskey, Harvard?s director of community relations.
According to a letter from Harvard President Drew Faust to Mayor Thomas Menino, the university?s short-term focus will still be leasing and improving it?s current holdings. University officials were unavailable for further comment at press-time.

Planning Allston
Last night?s meeting, designated as a Community Wide Planning meeting, was the first to follow the new format of breaking into smaller groups for discussion before reporting back to the entire assembly. BRA Chief Planner Kairos Shen said this new approach should give the community a better chance suggest modifications to plans for the neighborhood.
The debate was framed by a brief presentation from BRA Chief Architect Robert Kroin. The BRA?s plans for the Holton St. Corridor revolve around better uniting the community with an improved network of streets and parks. ?The industrial history of North Allston has left it with major gaps in the infrastructure,? that could have helped connect the community, said Kroin.
He presented three potential designs for the corridor, all containing an extension of Telford St. to link Western Ave. with Lincoln Street. Plans also call for building a neighborhood park between Western Ave. and Lincoln. Residents looked at three different park proposals: one for passive relaxation, another for active sporting use, and a third combining both active and passive uses in two separate, smaller parks.
After Kroin's presentation, the meeting dispersed for an hour into three discussion groups, each populated with residents officials from the BRA and Harvard. Representatives from each group, assigned to report back to the audience, spoke of a consensus among neighbors for increased home ownership for a wide range of income levels, using the Telford Street extension as a pedestrian-friendly artery, and keeping commercial development near Western Ave. and Lincoln St.
?Home ownership brings stability to the neighborhood. We should push the envelope. Let?s bring in a real mix and diversity of people,? said resident Tim McHale.
The BRA plans to compile the night?s discussion and report back to the community at the May 27 meeting of the Harvard-Allston Task Force, according to Mike Glavin, the BRA?s deputy director for institutional development.
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/news/x340401101/Harvard-announces-moratorium-on-Allston-purchases
 
New roadways suggested in Harvard's Allston plan

By Christopher Girard
Globe Correspondent / June 11, 2009

Responding to citizens' input, representatives from Harvard University and the Boston Redevelopment Authority presented a revised neighborhood plan to residents at a meeting last night about the use of Harvard's property in North Allston.

Harvard employee Kathy Spiegelman, chief planner of Harvard Allston Development Group, presented the plan in reaction to citizen preferences for the development collected through the North Allston-Brighton Community Wide Plan.

Spiegelman said Harvard is very interested in "creating connections" between the Charles River and the neighborhood, building more east to west roadways to link North Allston with North Brighton and designating open space for community use, potentially for a school or community center.

Spiegelman said the university has been forced to slow the pace of its redevelopment projects largely because of the faltering economy and debate about Harvard's plans.

The meeting, held at the Honan-Allston branch of the Boston Public Library in North Allston, was attended by about 55 people, including mayoral candidate and City Councilor Sam Yoon.

After the meeting, Allston resident Harry Mattison, a member of the neighborhood planning task force, expressed frustration with what he sees as foot-dragging by Harvard.

"Getting high-level conceptual agreement is nothing new and is pretty meaningless at this point," Mattison said. "Harvard has been land-banking for years. It's time to develop it."

During the meeting, however, Carlos J. Montanez, senior planner for the BRA, said he didn't "think it would be responsible for Harvard or the city to say what is feasible at this point."

Sal, a North Brighton resident who did not want to give his last name, said that the BRA has taken extraordinary measures to help the community and that Harvard has gone the extra mile, but he questions whether the board of Charlesview Apartments, which is to be redeveloped under Harvard's vision, "will allow the plan to come to a point."

Another meeting will be held June 24 to continue discussion about the redevelopment.

Link
 
makeing one big hole in the ground then stopping ,It was surpposed to be their new science center,there's a pix on here some where!
 
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