Big Business Wins As Little Men Flee From Putnam Square

The Small Businessmen appear to have lost another battle to the Big Capitalists, as rent increases of 400 per cent and impending eviction have driven the confused, alarmed, and upset shopkeepers of Putnam Square into a desperate search for relocation sites.

Putnam Square, located at the junction of Massachusetts Avenue and Mt. Auburn Street, is part of a recent $5.5 million real estate transaction in which Wasserman Development Corporation acquired the extensive land holdings of the estate of Bertha E. Cohen.

Although the University itself is not involved in the transaction, many members of the Harvard community are concerned about the effect that the sale will have upon the colorful, traditional "bargain center" of Cambridge, which has been the target for many long-term development schemes.

Late in September Hank Darrach, manager of the El Diablo restaurant on Mt. Auburn Street, noticed a man taking measurements in front of the wooden frame building. When asked what he was doing, the man replied, "Well, I'll be tearing this place down on the first of November, so I thought I'd take a look at it."

This was the first hint of any change of status in the neighborhood. For the past two decades, rents in the area had been depressed far below the market value, and the buildings had been allowed to fall into disrepair, out of simple neglect. Nobody cared. All that changed last month, as negotiations for sale began to intensify.

Maurice Simon, attorney for the Cohen estate, mailed out 30-day evic-tion notices to many of the shopkeepers, to take effect on Nov. 1, but he had no intention of enforcing them. To him, they were mere legal formalities necessary to complete the transaction.

To the shopkeepers, however, they were far more than that. Troubled and uncertain, they foresaw their businesses being torn out from under them-businesses that in some cases represented a lifetime. For weeks they heard nothing further.

Immediately following the closing of the sale, Wasserman spokesman Bruce Beal began contacting the tenants, and easing their fears. "We're not going to force anybody out. We're anyone who wants to relocate."

Round One ended, and everything seemed peaceful. Nobody was to be pushed out, and many of the delapidated and unsafe buildings would be repaired.

The Second Round opened when Wasserman himself went to speak to Mrs. Fred Salo in the Harvard Community Exchange, 1094 Massachusetts Avenue. Assuring her that he had no intention of hurting her or causing her any trouble, he quietly informed her that the rent would be increased from $400 to $2000 per month.

Mr. and Mrs. Salo have operated the exchange for 46 years, and they hope to stretch it out until Christmas. Salo doesn't know if he'll be able to. "In this kind of a bargain business, that kind of rent is simply out of the question."

Relocation

Wasserman and Beal have offered help in relocation, but Salo is skeptical. "They couldn't care less about relocating me. To them, I'm just too small to be interesting." Then he added, "A whole life of my work gone to pieces because of one man's decision."

Salo sees the change as one that will radically alter the character of the square. He predicts an influx of chain stores and big, modern retail outlets, that can survive the high overhead. "With Cambridge's rent control, Wasserman can't make much profit in his residential property, so he's got to make up for it on the commercial lots."

Darrach, however, sees it another way. El Diablo and the neighboring Tempura Hut are the first targets for change. The buildings, uninsurable firetraps according to both Beal and Darrach, are slated to be torn down soon. Darrach figures he's got one more month. Like Salo and most others, he doesn't know where he'll relocate. Instead of businesses and their high investments, however, he imagines construction of housing in the area, and gradual redevelopment of the whole square.

Unbelievable

In contrast to Salo's dismay at the "unbelievable rent rise," Beal refers to the "restructuring" of the rents as "undecided," and adds that "some of these 'poor little guys' are making fantastic profits in these businesses now, as strange as that seems."

Concerning relocation, Beal is optimistic. "First we're going to develop more space in the area by opening up some unused, but usable, basements. Next we determine how much space a particular business needs, and then we go to them and make our offer. It's not our objective to put anyone out of business."

Regarding the change of character in the square, Beal comments, "It's not going to be all bright and shiny new chrome. We're going to use old brick to redo some of the store fronts. On the whole we're aiming at upgrading the neighborhood."

Another portion of the recent transfer is across the street in Putnam Square. Despite Beal's assurances that "We have no plans whatsoever to demolish that block," the tenants are less than confident. Many of them are expecting their 30-day notices at any time, resigned to the fact that a 22-year-old business must inevitably yield to a shopping center or an apartment complex.