Residents Battle Proposed Complex

A developer's decision to defy the will of a neighborhood and build a condominium development near the Quad has left Harvard faculty members and other area residents up in arms.

Despite protests, developer Steven A. Cohen has been granted a building permit by the Cambridge City Council and is proceeding with plans to build a four-story complex at 33 Linnaean St.

Linnaean Street is referred to in several University publications as "Faculty row" because of the large number of Harvard professors who live there.

"[Cohen] just wants to make a profit and leave, but we live here," said Professor of Law Elizabeth Warren, a Linnaean Street resident.

Cohen plans to build the condominiums behind a single-family house that already stands on the lot. He also plans to construct an underground parking facility.

Warren said Cohen's plan raises "genuine" safety concerns because cars exiting the underground parking facility will face a blind spot.

Cohen called such arguments "silly and unreasonable," saying that other parking designs are much more dangerous.

The fate of a Japanese maple that stands in the way of the planned condominiums is also an issue.

This rare tree, described by neighborhood resident and Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry Elias J. Corey as "priceless," is the oldest of its species in the Northeast.

Standing 50 feet tall, it is a near perfect specimen, Corey said.

Cohen has proposed moving the tree, but Corey said experts doubt the tree would survive the move.

"If the neighbors would prefer that I cut the tree down, that's fine with me," Cohen said. "I'm the one going out on a limb to try to move it. I don't have any legal obligation to save it.

City Council

The tensions surrounding the development plans came to a head recently when the city council denied a petition by the residents to "downzone" the property.

The residents asked that any development of the site be restricted to a single-family dwelling.

Negotiations between residents and Cohen have produced few results.

Cohen said he has met with residents but cannot come up with a plan that satisfies everyone.

Some in the neighborhood offered to buy the property, but this plan fell through because the neighborhood group is unwilling to accept Cohen's demand that the group keep the property a single-family dwelling said James J. Rafferty, Cohen's attorney.

"If they're going to buy it, why don't they live by the restriction which they pushed for seven months?" he said.

But residents said Cohen has unfairly blocked their efforts at reaching an agreement.

"I met him four or five times in person," said William C. Hasiao, Li professor of economics in the School of Public Health and a neighborhood resident. "In my opinion and judgment, he never bargained with us in good faith.

City Council

The tensions surrounding the development plans came to a head recently when the city council denied a petition by the residents to "downzone" the property.

The residents asked that any development of the site be restricted to a single-family dwelling.

Negotiations between residents and Cohen have produced few results.

Cohen said he has met with residents but cannot come up with a plan that satisfies everyone.

Some in the neighborhood offered to buy the property, but this plan fell through because the neighborhood group is unwilling to accept Cohen's demand that the group keep the property a single-family dwelling said James J. Rafferty, Cohen's attorney.

"If they're going to buy it, why don't they live by the restriction which they pushed for seven months?" he said.

But residents said Cohen has unfairly blocked their efforts at reaching an agreement.

"I met him four or five times in person," said William C. Hasiao, Li professor of economics in the School of Public Health and a neighborhood resident. "In my opinion and judgment, he never bargained with us in good faith.