Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn did not return calls by presstime, but he is quoted as saying that Harvard Business School Publishing is the entity that is considering buying the property. The publishing group, which is a division of the university, currently leases 112,000 sf at the Arsenal and is negotiating for another 21,000 sf there.
Wrinn also reportedly stated that a stipulation in the lease gives HBS publishing right of first refusal to buy the property. It is unclear why the university is interested in the 30-acre parcel of land. The Arsenal is a few minutes drive from Harvard and several bus lines connect the two campuses so there is the possibility that some of the university's operations could be moved there.
There is also the possibility that the purchase is a long-term investment. The asking price for the property is $185 million. Reportedly, a letter of intent has been signed and the sales price is between $175 and 180 million.
The deal could be an attractive financial prize for this town as well as for O'Neill Properties. Watertown has an agreement with O'Neill that if the developer sells this parcel, the town would receive a percentage of the sales price.
O'Neill was not available for comment but the company bought the land three years ago for $24 million, when it won the rights to redevelop this former base. The company renovated the existing buildings and built a number of new ones, renaming the base Arsenal on the Charles.
In June of 1999, a local consulting firm, Arthur D. Little signed a lease for 360,000 sf here, demonstrating the strength of this type of development as opposed to traditional office markets. Arthur D. Little, however, decided not to move out of its Cambridge offices and began marketing its Arsenal offices as sublease space.
Reportedly, Harvard will be interested in buying back the lease from Arthur D. Little. A number of dotcoms have moved in to the space but with the recent downturn in the high-tech sector some of those tenants have been facing increasing difficulties.
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