Harvard the landlord in Allston & Harvard the landlord in Cambridge - Which would you prefer?

As we know too well, in Allston and Brighton Harvard keeps buying up property and has proven itself incapable of finding tenants that will create any significant, permanent jobs or any needed neighborhood services.

What a difference a mile makes! As the current issue of Boston Magazine reports, Harvard has leased space in a building and paid rent while the space sat empty while looking for a grocery store that would open there. This addition to Harvard Sq will bring a real benefit to the Harvard Sq community - unlike the Western Ave wasteland Harvard has given us.

Gown Feeds Town - Harvard paves the way for a new market

Harvard University owns 30 storefronts in Harvard Square, and almost all are leased to independent businesses. But this winter, when a new grocer opens at the corner of Brattle and Church streets, Harvard will have exerted an unusual influence over the area—by acting as landlord in someone else’s building.

While the school may have a bad rep for gobbling up and controlling land, the market is a welcome thing: People there have been clamoring for one since the 102-year-old Sage’s Market closed in 2000, only to be replaced by a Sprint PCS store. After Sprint left in 2005, Harvard worried the space again would be snatched up by a chain. So it leased it, paying rent on the vacant storefront while searching for a market to sublease to. New Haven grocer (and Tufts grad) Peter Whang signed on in June, and plans to open shop soon.