Harvard to Build Office In Lot Behind K-School

A Cambridge zoning ordinance has forced Harvard to build a $51 million office building with no specific occupant in mind.

Construction will resume in January on a six-story building located at 91 Memorial Drive adjacent to the Kennedy School of Government and will be completed by February 1986 according to University officials.

The buildings foundations were laid last spring because the city demanded that the University start building by last June or else forfeit its license to build in its desired manner.

The office building will probably not be the property of one school in particular, but will rent space to a variety of academic interests, said Edward Lashman, Director of External Projects.

To accommodate the uncertainty about who will occupy the building, the architects. Architectural Resources Cambridge Inc., will create a "highly flexible" interior with changeable fixtures and walls.

Instead of giving out space on credit Harvard sells or tents its facilities to its schools and departments according to Lashman. Formal negotiations for leases have not yet begun.

A loan from the Health Education and Finance Administration a Federal arena that gives low interest and to universities and hospitals is providing the needed capital for the project said Paul Dunham, an official in the Planning Office. The building will be three-fifths the size of the neighboring Belfer Center for Public Management.

The opportunity still exists for a specific interest such as the K-School, to purchase the building from the University.

Whether the Kennedy School can annex the building depends on if the school can afford it according to Vice President for Administration Robert H. Scott.

"Buildings got to stand on their own one way or another," Lashman said.

"It would be desirable for us to have that space. Raising money for that building is a major priority for the K School," said Bayley F. Mason '51 associate dean for resources at the K School.

The K-School envisions the new six-story structure as a home for the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and the K-School's related programs as well as a place for future expansion Mason said.

The building's proximity to the K-school leads Mason to believe that "we are not competing with other schools to buy the building, although others migh want to rent it."

"Informal discussions" are currently being conducted with several major-donors, Mason said, adding that he had "no idea" when the School could raise teh necessary funds.

Mason said he expected that $3 million would be the price-tag demanded by Harvard for the building.

In an attempt not to compete with the ongoing Harvard Campaign, the K-School is trying to find a major donor for the building rather that several small donors, Mason added.

Urban Canvon

At their annual meeting two week's ago, the Harvard Square Defense Fund, a community preservations group, said they wanted to be included in discussions about the Memorial Drive building. Existing plans would create an "urban canyon" the group's outgoing president. Dean Johnson, said.