Hospital May Bid On Stillman Site

An old agreement with the Mt. Auburn Hospital may destroy University hopes to provide tax revenue for the City through the sale of the Stillman Infirmary plot to a private developer.

Sealed bids for the Stillman property are due today, but the University Corporation has given Mt. Auburn Hospital (which adjoins Stillman) the "right of first refusal" on the land.

Under the agreement, the Hospital will be given a chance to see the top bid submitted by private developers, and switch it if it desires. If Mt. Auburn does buy the Stillman site, the property will remain exempt from taxation by Cambridge.

Although the "right of first refusal" was granted several years ago, Mt. Auburn officials had not expressed any interest in the property for a long time. In addition, the Hospital still has two Soors vacant in a recently completed addition to its main building.

When Harvard decided to sell the Stillman Infirmary last fall, the Corporation assumed that Mt. Auburn was not interested and announced that the University would require the buyer to use the land to develop revenue for the City through real estate taxes. At the time, L. Gard wiggins, Administrative vice President, suggested that a high-rise apartment building would be ideal for this purpose. Since the Corporation's decision to sell, however, Mt. Auburn has expressed a renewed interest in the Stillman property and has invoked the "right of first refusal" agreement. If it does buy the site, the Hospital plans to use it for a parking lot, rather than developing it immediately.

University officials have pointed out that the present situation is "a conflict between two good things." Although on the one hand, Mt. Auburn may someday be able to use the land to expand its facilities, on the other, the property, if sold to a private developer, could produce an additional and lucrative source of revenue for the City.