Harvard expands land holdings in Allston

By Andreae Downs, Globe Correspondent

Harvard University has added to its land holdings in Allston-Brighton, purchasing a building that houses a machine shop.

Kevin McCluskey, Harvard’s director of community relations for Boston, announced the purchase of 90 Antwerp St. today in an e-mail to neighborhood residents. The Brookline Machine Co. will remain as a tenant, according to the e-mail.

The ½-acre tract is assessed at more than $1.7 million. According to documents filed with the Registry of Deeds, a holding company that eventually merged with Harvard Real Estate Allston LLC paid $1 for the property Dec. 16.

Neighborhood residents expressed worries that Harvard might not have immediate plans for the property.

“If the building ends up sitting empty and blighted, like so many of Harvard’s Allston holdings, it’s a bad thing,” said neighborhood activist Harry Mattison.

The land deal was first reported today by The Harvard Crimson.

The acquisition was announced as Harvard considers dramatic steps to deal with the Wall Street crisis, which has taken a heavy toll on the university's endowment. In November, President Drew G. Faust said Harvard was assessing all aspects of its sweeping expansion plans in Allston.

McCluskey’s e-mail said that discussions around the Antwerp Street purchase “began many months ago.''

The property abuts Harvard’s holdings of Brighton Mills, which include a Shaw’s on Western Avenue. That property has been slated for the relocation of the privately held affordable housing complex called Charlesview Apartments, which sits at the corner of North Harvard Street and Western Avenue.

Harvard proposes trading the current Charlesview site for the Brighton Mills site.
Neighbors, concerned at the economic segregation of the proposed new Charlesview development, have proposed a mixed-income development over a larger amount of property.

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