Housing Petition

A petition asking the State Legislature to allow Cambridge to bar evictions of tenants in cases where landlords want to convert their properties to condominiums would have little effect on Harvard's housing policies, Sally Zeckhauser, director of Harvard Real Estate, said yesterday.

The Cambridge City Council approved the resolution Monday night, and instructed City Councilor Saundra Graham to file the bill in the legislature next session.

Harvard has no plans to convert any of its properties into condominiums, Zeckhauser said, adding that the University has tried to reserve apartments for student and faculty housing.

"Even if we convert property to condominiums in the future, we wouldn't evict tenants to do it. We go along with the City Council's goal of preventing evictions" Zeckhauser said.

Councilor Alfred Vellucci, and Cambridge attorney David Sullivan accused Harvard of giving developers an incentive for increased condominium conversion by announcing that it would provide $2 million in loans for faculty housing in the city.

Zeckhauser, however, said that Faculty members have indicated they will buy single-family houses.