Apartment House May Rise Near Square

A 136-unit apartment will rise in the Cambridge skyline next spring, offering major relief to the acute shortage of housing for married graduate students, if the Board of Appeals approves a zoning variance Tuesday.

The brainchild of Thomas M. Payette, a 28-year-old architect, and Charles Kirkwood, a 27-year-old member of the Coast Guard, it is almost a direct answer to repeated pleas for more local housing. It has received no official endorsement from the University, however, although the project is in line with Harvard's own policy of vertical expansion.

Exceeds Height Limit

Planned for the corner of Mellon and Oxford Streets, the private structure will be 110 feet high, almost twice Cambridge's 65-foot limit, and must be approved by the zoning board. (A proposal before the Cambridge City Council would remove the height limit for the Harvard Square area, but require 100 per cent parking facilities).

The plans provide underground parking for half of the units, and, if an attendant were provided, the facility could accommodate almost ninety per cent, Payette said. The parking lot, along with a swimming pool on the roof and patios for the duplex units, contribute to the high cost--tentatively budgeted at considerably over a million dollars, with $200,000 for the garage.

The expensive high-rise design results from the land cost of eight dollars a square foot, almost twice what Harvard has offered for the Bennett St. MTA yards. Projected but highly indefinite rentals are $120-$140 for most of the apartments.

The project will be financed entirely through insurance companies, Payette noted. As yet, the collaborators have not decided whether to buy the land outright or to take a long-term lease.

Chances Called Good

Payette believed that chances for approval of the variance were "good" at the moment, and added that real estate dealers in the area are strongly supporting his application. The new zoning ordinance, however, complicates the situation.

The Program for Harvard College included $1.5 million for graduate student housing, without definite plans, and none have been revealed since. There has been no suggestion whatever that Harvard would contribute to the project.

Plans include eight three-bedroom duplex apartments, 14 two-bedroom units, 88 one-bedroom, and 26 rooms with adjoining alcoves.