Harvard Buys Lot for Affiliated Housing

After more than two years of wrangling, Harvard has purchased the St. Paul's Church parking lot and adjoining rectory, the largest undeveloped plot of land in Harvard Square.

The University, which paid an undisclosed sum for the property two weeks ago, will build faculty and affiliate housing on the land, the parish pastor said yesterday.

Harvard's plans for the site include 80 rental units for Harvard affiliates, 10 to 12 units of low-cost housing and a child care center, according to The Harvard Gazette. The Boston firm of Goody, Clancy, and Associates has prepared the plans for the two additional buildings Harvard will construct, The Gazette reported.

Father John P. Boles, the pastor of St. Paul's, said Harvard would make the lot "available" for a developer to build about 10 low-to-moderate-income units, but will work with the parish to find the right developer.

Harvard officials, who first said in February they were negotiating for the site, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But before any new construction can go forward on the St. Paul's lot, hazardous chemicals found on the property last summer will have to be removed from the land.

Boles said three studies done on the lot had concluded that the chemicals can be eliminated, but added he was not sure how much the clean-up would cost. The hazardous chemicals under the black top of the lot probably came from oil tanks of old houses that used to stand there, Boles said.

The Gazette reported that the parish has agreed to put $500,000 of the purchase price towards the clean-up of the chemicals. If the cost is lower, then the extra money will go to St. Paul's.

Cambridge neighborhood activists, who in the past have complained about Harvard's unwillingness to consult the community on development issues, said yesterday they did not know any details of the St. Paul's deal.

R. Philip Dowds, a member of the Cambridge Citizens for Liveable Neighborhoods, said Harvard was planning a "show and tell" session at the church tomorrow. Harvard will present the plans for the lot tomorrow night in St. Paul's lower church.

Harvard's association with the lot goes back to 1986, when the University entered a bidding war for the site, offering an unsuccessful $4 million plan for graduate student and faculty housing.

Because the parish wanted low income housing on the land, Harvard lowered its offer to $3 million and promised to build the low-cost hous- ing. But the University lost out to a $7million offer made by Boston developer H.J. Davis,and the church announced the closure of the saleto Davis.

But this February, a source close to the churchsaid that Davis had stopped making payments to theparish after learning of the chemicals lastsummer.

City assessor's records showed that as ofJanuary 1988, the land was still owned by theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. There was norecord of a mortgage or a bid on the property