{shortcode-97ce2a1b9cb6223f176b4e9a07a1f75956a59a7b}
Harvard sold a seven-acre parcel containing Brighton Mills Retail Plaza in late October for $39 million to Urban Edge Properties, a New York-based real estate developer of shopping centers. The property in Brighton is currently home to Spring Shabu-Shabu, a Star Market, McDonalds, Petco, and 340 parking spaces.
This land sale is Harvard’s first in Massachusetts in a decade. In 2013, Harvard sold Arsenal on the Charles, a 29-acre parcel in Watertown, for $168.5 million. It also formalized the sale of a 60-acre parcel in the Arnold Arboretum to the town of Weston in 2015 after ten years of delays.
Harvard regularly leases lab space and housing complexes in Allston, and has donated multiple properties to affordable housing as part of its community benefits agreement with the neighborhood. However, permanent land sales are rare.
Harvard first purchased the Brighton Mills property at 307-350 Western Ave in late 2007 for $16 million. The site had previously housed the vacant Boston Tech Center, owned by the Marshall Field Family Trust.
The Trust originally intended to construct a campus for biotechnology labs on their land in Allston, including the Western Ave property. Harvard did not construct such a campus, despite a vision for expansion that could include new science and technology buildings, an idea floated by former University President Lawrence H. Summers in a 2003 letter to Harvard affiliates. The recession in 2008 delayed those plans.
Harvard is the largest landholder in Allston-Brighton, owning roughly 360 acres — approximately one-third — of the Boston neighborhood. The University has steadily built its portfolio over the last century, beginning with the construction of the Harvard Stadium and the Harvard Business School campus, in 1903 and 1927, respectively.
Some of the University’s purchases have been mired in controversy. For instance, between 1989 and 1997, Harvard quietly purchased 52 acres in Allston through Boston developer Beal Companies without the neighborhood’s knowledge. The Boston Globe called the acquisition “a stealthy land grab.”
The sale of the Brighton Mills Retail Plaza coincides with a trend of canceled lab construction and short turnover between land sales across Allston-Brighton in recent years.
In 2021, California-based developer IQHQ sold 103 North Beacon St. to New Balance at a $10 million loss after cancelling former plans to turn the lot into a lab complex. In 2024, National Development cancelled a $1 billion project to build labs, offices, and housing at 1600 Soldiers Field Rd. And though IQHQ received permission to build new labs at 155 North Beacon St. in 2023, the address remains a vacant lot.
For now, Urban Edge seems poised to continue to operate the site as a shopping center, according to listings on its website which includes a leasing brochure alongside its greater portfolio of properties. The company currently operates a shopping center three miles from Brighton Mills, bordering Fresh Pond along Alewife Brook Parkway that includes Central Rock Gym and Pet Smart.
—Staff writer Angelina J. Parker can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @angelinajparker.
—Staff writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @EmilySchwartz37.
