Lesley To Keep Coveted Cambridge Land

Ending the hopes of those who wanted Harvard to acquire Lesley University’s campus and gain a choice parcel of land north of Harvard Yard, Lesley officials presented two options for the school’s future to local residents last night—both keeping Lesley firmly in Cambridge.

Harvard and Lesley have, according to administrators from both schools, engaged in occasional talks about land sales and swaps.

Last fall, when Harvard Law School (HLS) professors wrapped up a major study of the law school’s options for future growth, one of four scenarios they outlined involved HLS taking over Lesley’s dorms and turning them into housing and social space for law students.

But officials at Lesley—which recently acquired the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) and plans to move the fine arts school to Cambridge—told members of the Porter Square Neighborhood Association (PSNA) last night that they had begun work on a long-range plan for developing the school’s property in Cambridge.

Kathy A. Spiegelman, Harvard’s top planner, said last night that discussions between Harvard and Lesley have not yielded any results.

“Lesley and Harvard have had on-and-off discussions about property acquisitions or exchanges, but mutual interests have not been identified thus far that would create any plans,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Paul Karoff, Lesley’s Vice President for University Affairs, also said last night that there are currently “no live, active discussions at all” between Harvard and Lesley.

“There have in the past been very conceptual discussions about land that Lesley owns and that Harvard might control, but they went nowhere,” Karoff said in an interview after last night’s meeting.

He added that Lesley would keep a close eye on Harvard’s plans for expanding.

“We’re a very interested neighbor,” Karoff said.

Harvard owns a large swath of formerly-industrial land in Allston, and top University administrators are currently considering relocating part of Harvard’s own campus there.

This summer, the University’s deans heard a plan for Allston that centered around science and undergraduate housing, leaving HLS—long considered a top candidate for an Allston move—in Cambridge and hungry for room to grow.

Last night, Lesley officials told neighbors that their school, too, needs to grow and intends to do it in Cambridge.

Lesley representatives told residents they hope to present their board of trustees with a plan for their campus in March, and outlined the possibilities for using their property in Cambridge.

Officials indicated that a major priority for the school will be moving the AIB from its current location in Kenmore Square to a spot in Cambridge, alongside Lesley’s undergraduate women’s college and graduate programs in education and arts and social sciences.

Marylou Batt, Lesley’s vice president for administration, also said the university plans to improve its facilities for undergraduates by creating a student center and renovating its outdated library, classrooms and science laboratories.

She said Lesley officials would consider increasing the college from its current size of about 500 students and possibly making the school co-educational.

Although Lesley’s graduate programs take place at sites across the country, Batt said the heart of their undergraduate college belongs here, where it has been for almost a century.

“We really wanted an urban neighborhood environment, and that’s what Cambridge offers,” she said.

Lesley officials told residents last night that they are leaning toward a plan that would divide their facilities to create two “living and learning campuses” in their two areas of land holdings in Cambridge.

The AIB would be moved to Porter Square, while the land in the Agassiz neighborhood would become an enhanced campus for the undergraduate college.

This would allow the AIB to leave its current two buildings next to Boston University and create a new center for arts in Cambridge.

“The issue of creating a vibrant art community is a pretty exciting one,” Batt said.

Another option on the table would put all academic functions in Porter Square and use the Agassiz area for residential buildings.

But Batt said Lesley officials were leaning toward the two mixed-use areas, and several residents said last night they liked the idea.

Community members did raise concerns about putting more pressure on the already crowded Cambridge housing market and expanding even further into a neighborhood surrounded by institutional buildings.

“We don’t have that kind of space in that area anymore,” said State Rep. Alice K. Wolf, D-Cambridge.

Karoff emphasized to residents that Lesley was still at a very early stage of the planning process, and wanted to include the public at all points.

“We want for that input to occur both before, during and after we actually generate some specific design proposals,” Karoff said.

While Lesley officials said they were looking to make more efficient use of their existing property, their plans also hinge on whether they can expand their campus by acquiring air rights above the Porter Square commuter rail station.

Last June the cash-strapped Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) put out a request for bids to build on 50,000 square feet over the train tracks.

Lesley submitted a $2 million bid to use the site for three dormitories, but their bid did not meet the MBTA’s minimum of $4 million.

The other bidder, Cambridge-based Oak Tree Developers, met the monetary requirement in its plan to build condominium units—but failed to send in a deposit, as required.

Oak Tree is now looking into working with Lesley to develop housing that could become part of Lesley’s campus.

“We’ve been in Cambridge a long time and we’re here to work with the community and with Lesley and with the MBTA,” a representative from the company told residents last night.

But the process is now stalled as the MBTA seeks to get input from community members, who expressed outrage this summer when the sale of the air rights took them by surprise.

Wolf and members of the PSNA have planned a meeting on Oct. 28 to discuss options for the MBTA air rights space in Porter Square.

—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.