.....No other universities—including expected bidding rival Boston University (B.U.), which is located adjacent to the property—put in a bid.
B.U. spokesperson Kevin Carleton said that B.U. chose not to put in a bid because of other ongoing projects including $600 million of construction in the pipeline, the renovation of a new law school, three student residence halls, and a computer science building.
“We have identified that there could be future development in the area, but we are not focused on it right now,” Carleton said.
And although Zeckhauser [Harvard] said she heard rumors that B.U. was not bidding, she said that B.U.’s status did “not affect Harvard’s pricing at all.”
The parcel was valued at $100 to $125 million nearly two years ago, but a story in the Boston Globe said that internal Turnpike authority papers estimated that Harvard would need to pay up to $150 million to win the property.
“We thought that people may look to our North Allston Landing price and compare it to this parcel, and wonder,” Zeckhauser said. “But this parcel is much more encumbered, and the economy is of course very different now than when we bought North Allston.”
“We knew all along that we were going to bid on something,” Zeckhauser said.
But Harvard officials said they were not particularly interested in the property as recently as a few weeks ago. Harvard planners previously said they were hesitant to put in a bid for the property because they were concerned about the property’s encumbered nature and a possible bidding war with B.U.
