Prospects for developing a West Campus site mentioned in Boston University’s most recent Master Plan were given a boost Monday when the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority put the Allston Landing site up for sale.
The 90-acre site, located adjacent to the Charles River Campus and south of the Harvard Business School, is of great interest to both universities, but is not without some development issues.
The five parcels of land are located near the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority toll plaza and are cut in half by the turnpike. The land is currently occupied by CSX rail freight yards, where it has an easement on the property. The land is covered with train tracks and equipment, weighing on the outcome of development plans.
‘At this point all I can tell you is that we’re interested in that parcel,’ said BU spokesperson Kevin Carleton. ‘We will be exploring what opportunities we have right now. It is a very large, open piece for athletic fields and other potential developments. It is unequaled in its potential for its very long range.’
For the past several years, BU has expressed interest in the site, outlining its goals for the site in the most recent version of the school’s Master Plan. The plan identifies part of the site as an area in which to develop recreational, athletic and academic uses such as research facilities.
‘We truly have to think in terms of centuries,’ Carleton said. ‘We look at that space as an area where the development of the university can evolve over time.’
Carleton compared the potential development of the Allston Landing to the developments in the Armory area, where the Student Village and Athletic complex are being built.
‘If you look at development of the rail yard … it is no longer an industrial dominated area,’ Carleton said. ‘It really doesn’t make much sense anymore for a rail yard to be there. That is kind of what happened with the National Guard and the armory complex.’
‘The opportunity arose for them to move out and for us to move in,’ he said later. ‘It is a synergistic development.’
But the bidding process may not be so simple. BU may have to compete with Harvard, which has expressed similar interest in the site. Harvard bought an adjacent 48 acres two years ago for a cost of $151 million, according to an article in The Boston Globe.
Turnpike documents also show that Harvard would pay an estimated $150 million for the new Allston Landing Property, according to the Globe. A year and a half ago, the price tag for the land was estimated at $100 million to $125 million.
According to a recent Harvard Crimson article, Sally Zeckhauser, vice president for the Harvard administration, expressed hope in reaching an agreement between the two schools if both decide to bid on the area.
‘It’s fair to say that we don’t want any kind of adversarial relationship with BU,’ she said in the Crimson. ‘If there were any interest [for the land] we would like to come to some form of an agreement.’
While Carleton would not comment on potential bid amounts, he indicated the possibility of a dialogue with Harvard regarding the site.
‘It is entirely possible that we engage in some discussion with them at some point,’ Carleton said.
Bids for any or all of the property are due on March 31.