Promoter Arouses Harvard Concern

A Boston entrepreneur's campaign to develop high rise apartments on land partially owned by the University has begun to cause concern and raised eyebrows in Massachusetts Hall.

The proposed construction site is an existing group of houses beyond the stadium on North Harvard St. The promoter is Judge John C. Pappas, who, along with his brothers, owns Suffolk Downs and controls a large portion of the wholesale produce imports to the Boston area.

Pappas' plan calls for the Redevelopment Authority to condemn the section as a "blighted area," and thus to pave the way for demolition of the present structures, some of which Harvard rents to graduate students. Although originally Pappas planned for a building of 500 units, the Authority reportedly has reduced him to about 280 in what might be a ten story apartment house.

University Reserves Judgment

"The University is not basically opposed to the idea of suitable apartments on that location," Charles P. Whitlock, Assistant to the President for Civic Affairs, said yesterday. Whitlock said that suitable apartments might provide more housing for married graduate students.

At the same time that the Authority cut down the size of the project, it instructed Pappas that he would have to provide parking for ten cars per 14 apartments, with 50 per cent of the parking to be underground. This instruction will raise considerably the price of the project.

Loan Approved

Although the Federal Housing Authority approved a loan to Pappas on the basis of plans submitted by Architects Collaborative, the Walter Gropius firm, it is reported that he has since ceased talking to that firm. A reliable source has indicated that the building, if approved again under different architects, might be of light construction for sale soon afterwards.

If the University were to decide that the proposed building is not "suitable," it would have effective means of opposition. It is common knowledge that Boston can show approximately $2,000,000 urban renewal credits because of Harvard development, particularly at the Medical School.

It is debatable that the City of Boston would risk losing so much credit towards further federal loans by approving an apartment house which the University considered unsuitable.