Square Owners Ponder Empty Space Near Coop

In Cambridge's heated real estate market, one prime location has been left empty.

An empty storefront between Fleet Bank and the Harvard Coop has stood neglected for four years. Area business owners say the vacant building is an eye sore that needs filling.

A mural of Harvard scenes and multi-colored flyers now masks the spot, the former home of the Coop.

According to Coop Vice President

Allan E. Powell, the Coop did not to renew its lease from Bay Bank, which owned the building four years ago, prompting the store's move to 1400 Mass. Ave, the address where it currently stands.

"When Bay Bank began its merger with BankBoston, our lease renewal was coming up," he said.

Despite many efforts on the Coop's part to renew the lease, Powell said that the Bank encouraged them to "let it run out."

And so, ownership of the building was subsequently transferred to BankBoston.

But it's been four years since the Coop moved out. Why has the building remained empty for so long?

Before Bank Boston had a chance to begin renovation work on the space, the bank merged with Fleet Bank.

Allison Gibbs, a spokesperson for Fleet Bank, declined to comment on Fleet's exact reasons for not making the building operational.

According to Gibbs, Fleet representatives have been in deliberations about the building's future, but discussions have been complicated by the building's landmark status.

Meanwhile, many Harvard Square business owners are none too pleased with the empty storefront.

"It's an eye sore," said Bob Backman, owner of Leather World, located on JFK Street.

Dick Getz, who manages property in the area, said that the vacant space doesn't help to bring foot traffic or business into the area.

But Ed and Mary Verplaner, who have owned the Dickinson Bros. hardware store for the last 37 years, were more concerned with the increasing commercialization of the Square.

Rents in the Square have skyrocketed in recent years. According to a representative from Harvard Square Realty, although rent prices depend heavily on contract negotiations, most often, commercial spaces in Harvard Square now rent for $75 to $100 per square foot each month.

Square business owners complained high rents have pushed small businesses out of the Square.

And that, the Verplaners said, has caused the Square to lose some of its charm.

"People used to be attracted to the Square by its uniqueness," Mary Verplaner said. "Now the only people who can afford the rents are the big chains."

And an empty storefront doesn't help the situation. "It certainly doesn't add anything to the community," said a Harvard Square Defense Fund spokesperson.

But the fate of the building ultimately rests in Fleet's hands. According to Gibbs, the problem is "currently being analyzed."

"[I] expect some decisions [to be made] about the building in the first quarter [of 2001]," she said.

But Square business owners like Joyce Sarmanian of Leather World remain skeptical.

"That building will stay empty until doomsday," she said.