Developer Offers Land To College in MTA Bid

Boston developer and attorney Samuel P. Coffman revealed last night that he would sell or lease the University a large portion of the Bennett Street MTA yards if his bid on the property is accepted by the MTA Board of Trustees.

Coffman and presumably Cambridge attorney Francis J. Roche will submit proposals for the use of the land at a Trustees meeting today. Both Coffman and Roche had obtained a ten-day extension on the January 8 deadline for presenting specific plans for developing the property.

The proposal which Coffman will enter includes four to five acres which will be offered to the University for its own development. The land would amount to up to 40 per cent of the total property.

In addition to this offer, Coffman has outlined a plan for some $37 million in commercial development on the remaining property. These plans would include three 20-story apartment buildings, two 12-story office buildings, a 2800-car garage, a 200-room. Howard Johnson's Motel, a Howard Johnson's restaurant and cocktail lounge, and a 300,000 square foot shopping center.

Coffman claimed last night that his proposal would provide the city with more taxable enterprises than that of any of the other three bidders. He also claimed that his bid of $2.3 million dollars plus the cost of re-locating the MTA facilities now occupying the property actually amounts to the largest sum offered for the property. Coffman estimates that the cost of re-locating the facilities would be approximately $5 million.

The bid which Roche and his associates entered amounted to $6,135,000. The only other bids were those of the University which offered $5,010,000 and developer John Briston Sullivan who offered $4 million.

Coffman further stated that he had made the offer of a parcel of land in a letter to L. Gard Wiggins, administrative vice-president of the University, but had not received an answer. Wiggins, who was unavailable for coment last night, aparently still hopes that the University's bid on the property will be accepted. Asked earlier if the University would consider raising its offer, Wiggins indicated that it would not and emphasized that the MTA was under no obligation to accept the highest bid.

Due partly to the fact that his proposals would evidently satisfy both the city's need for additional tax revenue and the University's need for land, and partly to the amount of his bid, Coffman insisted that the MTA "could not help" but accept the offer.