Tenant Says That Wasserman Is Forcing Her Out of Business

The owner of a parking garage located on a prime commercial lot in Harvard Square says she's been forced out to make way for a high-rise development complex.

Helen H. Shannon, manager of the Harvard Square Garage for 22 years, sent notices last week to regular renters, saying she would no longer operate the garage after December 31. The garage is located over, under, and around stores fronting on Boylston, Mt. Auburn, and Dunster Streets, and was recently purchased by Wasserman Development Corporation as part of the massive Bertha Cohen estate.

Corporate Giant

Wasserman Corporation, one of the biggest development firms in metropolitan Boston, acquired the entire estate in October for $5.5 million. There has been little actual renovation or construction to date, but tenants say they are convinced that rent hikes and evictions are not far off.

Shannon claims that she was pressured by the new owners either to pay greatly increased rents, or to move out. Yesterday she declined to comment further, saying, "I'm just too upset to talk about it."

"As of now, we have no plans with respect to that property," said Wasserman spokesman Bruce Beal. "We're studying it, trying to determine what is economically feasible, and what makes sense."

Beal claims that no pressure had been exerted upon Shannon to move out, and that her decision to do so came as a surprise, possibly caused by the sudden death in October of her business partner, Jimmy Doucette.

"To the best of my knowledge," Beal explained, "this was not initiated by us. There was no pressure to move, and the rent was not changed."

On November 17, Shannon sent a letter to Wasserman indicating her intention to end her status as "tenant at will." Similar notices were delivered to her regular renters at the end of the month. On November 23, Beal wrote back, acknowledging the notice, and accepting her statement.

According to Beal, the first word ofShannon's intentions came shortly before her letter, in a telephone conversation with Max Wasserman.

One possible explanation for the apparent contradiction between Beal and Shannon could be that Wasserman himself applied the pressure without telling Beal. This has apparently happened before.

For example, late in October, on the same day that Beal said, "We're not going to force anyone out of the Putnam Square area," Wasserman was informing the Harvard Community Exchange that rent on their building would soon be quintupled.

"We move in about 100 different directions at once," Beal admitted, "so it is conceivable that something else could have happened." Wasserman is currently vacationing out of the country.

Other tenants in the Harvard Square area have not received eviction notices, but most say they expect them soon.

"I've been through these things before," says Joe Tello, owner of the Countdown boutique at 87 Mt. Auburn Street next to the garage, "and I know these developers don't buy anything unless they've already got the plans made up. There's going to be a mall going in here soon, probably within a year."

"This property won't remain a garage forever," Beal said. "But we'll operate it as such until we decide what to do with the building."