University to Buy Building, Then Sell to Non-Profit Firm

Harvard officials recently announced that they will exercise their option to buy a rent-controlled building on Ware St. that they have rented from a private landlord for 10 years.

Harvard's plans for the building will not lead to evictions, said Sally Zeckhauser, vice president for administration and director of Harvard Real Estate (HRE) But their proposal has drawn criticism from tenants who say they were not sufficiently informed about the plan.

"We feel Harvard could have been a little more forthcoming instead of dropping it in our laps like this," said Melissa T. Chase, a tenant of the 52-unit apartment house at 18-20 Ware Street.

After buying the building, HRE will resell it immediately at no profit, said Zeckhauser.

Harvard's option to buy the building will expire at the end of 1988. said Kathy Spiegelman, assistant director of Harvard planning. Harvard plans to resell the building to Home-owner's Rehabilitation Inc. (HRI), a non-profit organization that builds affordable housing in Cambridge with partial city funding.

"The city was very excited about it," Spiegelman said. She said Harvard chose to sell to HRI after consulting Assistant City Manager Michael Rosenberg.

Harvard officials said they chose to buy and immediately sell the building because their option to do so expires at the end of the year. They could not legally own and rent the building in any case because the property lies outside the "red line," a perimeter that formally limits University growth.

"It's a good opportunity to help the city create some affordable housing," Zeckhauser said. She added that because of its location. HRE never considered keeping the building.

But the tenants have protested Harvard's action, saying they have not been sufficiently informed about the proposals. About 80 percent of the tenants of the building signed a letter to Zeckhauser with question about the details and reasons for the purchase, said Jacqueline C. Kennedy. who has lived in the building for a year.

Kennedy said she received a response to the letter last Friday, two days after a meeting held with Harvard officials, among them Associate Vice President for State and Community Affairs Jacqueline O'Neill, Ware Street tenants and members of HRI.

"I was furious when I got that letter because it's insulting," Kennedy said. "It does not answer the letter we sent."

Among other questions, the tenants' letter asks why the option agreement that allows Harvard to purchase the building is not on file with the city registrar for them to view.

"People at HRE have just decided it's private," Spiegelman said yesterday. "It's very common when you have an agreement like that not to want all the details to be discussed."

During the past year, Harvard has filed several petitions for rent increases. Kennedy said. So far, their requests have been turned down. "There were certain building code violations that had to be repaired before the petitions went into effect," she said. She added that many of the repairs, such as holes in the walls and ceilings, had not been made.

Zeckhauser said HRE had filed the most recent petitions in December in response to requests from HRI.

As to whether the non-profit developer will buy the building. Zeckhauser said. "I think prospects are very good," Members of the development group could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Tenants and officials said that if HRI buys the building, it may eventually convert it to condominiums under a limited equity co-op plan that would make the tenants co-owners. Such an arrangment would require the consent of 80 percent of the tenants.

"No one I've talked to wants to buy into this building. It's just not worth it," Kennedy said. "I can hear conversations and footsteps of the person below me. I can hear when the guy next door goes to the bathroom."