HMC Attempts Sale of Buildings

In a move that appears to contradict plans outlined by Harvard investment officials just a few months ago, the University has put up for sale a pair of Virginia office buildings valued at more than $120 million.

The buildings--located in Crystal City, Va., just a short drive from the nation's capital--constitute a sizable portion of Harvard's roughly $6 billion endowment, and make up nearly 50 percent of the endowment's real estate portfolio. As of June 30, 1992, the last date for which information is available, that portfolio was worth about $263 million.

The decision to sell the office buildings follows an announcement in March that the U.S. Navy's Sea Systems Command division, the buildings' principal tenant, plans to move out of Crystal city. The navy leases about 85 percent of the two 12-story buildings for slightly more than $20 million annually.

Harvard Management Company (HMC) President Jack R. Meyer, the principal caretaker of the University's endowment, said then that the move did not necessarily mean a financial loss for Harvard, adding that HMC had planned to refurbish the 23-year-old buildings following the Navy's departure as part of an effort to attract new tenants.

In addition, Meyer told The Crimson in March that the Navy's move did not come as a surprise to the University's investments officials. He said Harvard had no plans to lobby the Navy to stay in Crystal City.

But according to documents filed this month with the federal government, the University's Crystal Holdings Corporation subsidiary, formed to manage the Crystal City investment, has retained the services of a high-powered Washington D.C. law firm that specializes in lobbying.

Crystal Holdings Corp., which lists Meyer as its president, has contracted with the firm of McAuliffe, Kelly & Raffaelli to lobby members of Congress regarding "base closure," according to the documents.

The firm--which charges $250 per hour plus expenses--lists among its past clients the McDonnell Douglas Corp., the Johnson Controls Corp., and the governments of both Puerto Rico and Turkey.

G. John O'Hanlon, the attorney listed on the documents as representing Crystal Holdings, did not return repeated phone calls yesterday. Speaking through an assistant, Meyer declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the real estate agent who manages the Crystal City buildings for Harvard, and who has been contracted to find a buyer for the property, said yesterday that he was unaware of the University's lobbying effort.

The realtor, Joel R. Cannon, chair of the Washington office of the realty firm Grubb & Ellis, conceded that the buildings might be difficult to sell.

"Office buildings today are not easy to sell," Cannon said yesterday. "We've got a national vacancy rate that's very high. There's not a lot of financing available for any product."

Cannon said the most likely buyer of the buildings would be an invest ment banking firm or another institutionalinvestor.

But one local official said she believesHarvard has been negotiating to sell the buildingsto the Navy.

"My understanding is that the General ServicesAdministration and the Navy are looking at thepossibility of buying the Harvard buildings," saidMary Margaret Whipple, vice chair of the ArlingtonCounty Board.

Whipple said the Navy might stay in CrystalCity if it could buy the buildings from Harvardand avoid high rental fees.

Prior to the Navy's announcement last spring,Harvard's Crystal City investment represented abright spot in an otherwise lackluster real estateportfolio.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, the realestate portfolio returned O percent, compared witha return of 16.7 percent for the endowment as awhole. And over the last two years, Harvard's realestate investments have lost 3.5 percent of theirvalue, compared with a return of 14.2 percent forthe endowment

But one local official said she believesHarvard has been negotiating to sell the buildingsto the Navy.

"My understanding is that the General ServicesAdministration and the Navy are looking at thepossibility of buying the Harvard buildings," saidMary Margaret Whipple, vice chair of the ArlingtonCounty Board.

Whipple said the Navy might stay in CrystalCity if it could buy the buildings from Harvardand avoid high rental fees.

Prior to the Navy's announcement last spring,Harvard's Crystal City investment represented abright spot in an otherwise lackluster real estateportfolio.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, the realestate portfolio returned O percent, compared witha return of 16.7 percent for the endowment as awhole. And over the last two years, Harvard's realestate investments have lost 3.5 percent of theirvalue, compared with a return of 14.2 percent forthe endowment