Students Discuss Square Business With Developer

Eight College seniors met with an influential Harvard Square developer at a local restaurant Tuesday evening to help brainstorm ideas about how to bring more student-oriented businesses into the area, including the space formerly occupied by the Rock Bottom bar.

John DiGiovanni—president of the Harvard Square Business Association and of Trinity Property Management, a major Harvard Square property holder—listened as a group of students chosen by Undergraduate Council President Rohit Chopra ’04 discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the array of businesses that students frequent in the Square. The group met over dinner at John Harvard’s Brew House in the Harvard Square Garage, which Trinity Property Management owns.

Chopra and DiGiovanni work together on the Harvard Square Design Committee, a group charged with proposing a redesign of the area. After agreeing that a meeting on Square business would be beneficial both to College students and property managers like DiGiovanni, Chopra culled a group of students from the Undergraduate Council’s Boston summer e-mail list.

“I often talk to him about wanting to rejuvenate the Square with more student-friendly businesses, because there’s a need for more student space and more options for students in the Square,” Chopra said.

While the dinner meeting had no specific goal, it follows on the heels of the closing of the popular Rock Bottom bar and restaurant in June. Students made varied recommendations for the sort of business they would like to see replace the defunct brewery in its now-vacant space on Church Street, also managed by DiGiovanni’s firm.

Students’ recommendations for future Square venues included a sports bar, grocery store, video rental store and walk-in eatery with 24-hour service.

DiGiovanni said he was eager to hear students’ thoughts on the future of local business, largely because he considers the Square and the University to be closely—and uniquely—bound through their proximity.

“There are very few universities that have an authentic urban experience as part of a real campus,” he said.

DiGiovanni provided little indication of the sort of business he was considering for the vacant Church Street venue. He said space would probably contain some sort of restaurant, because the site retained its liquor license—a certification that costs several hundred thousand dollars in the Harvard Square area.

Students came to the table with varied thoughts on the direction that business planning in the Square ought to pursue, discussing which aspects of local businesses they considered most successful.

Some said slightly “pretentious” businesses seemed popular among students. Some said the area needed an eatery with more varied vegetarian options. Most agreed that the Square offered a dearth of dance space. Many, touting the student-run Quincy Grille as a successful on-campus venue, sought relaxed settings with long hours.

“People are looking for low-key things to do late at night,” Chopra explained.

Several of the students present agreed that restaurants such as John Harvard’s Brew House, which has seen about 10 years of success, were popular among student because they generally card individual customers at the table rather than at the door, allowing underage and drinking-age students to eat together.

DiGiovanni said he recognized a greater demand for more late-night eateries.

“I think a few of those would be very positive for the Square,” he said.

But the hours each business keeps depends primarily on its own resources, rather than on outside factors, he explained.

And he said much of the challenge he faces in bringing new businesses into the Square comes as a result of the diversity of the city.

“It serves so many people, which is why it is difficult,” he explained.

He said an ideally designed Square would contain equal proportions of national chains, regional chains and local business. Otherwise, he said, “the Square would have no character.”

As the meal drew to a close, DiGiovanni said the students’ thoughts would be very helpful as he tried to help chart the future of Square business. He said he might hold another, similar meeting once he had assembled a group of candidate business concepts to fill the vacant Church Street space.

“I don’t know why this hasn’t happened before,” he said.

—Staff writer Nathan J. Heller can be reached at heller@fas.harvard.edu.