Town Rejects Harvard's Latest Offer

WATERTOWN, MA-This town has rejected Harvard University’s payment offer in lieu of property taxes. The Cambridge-based University recently purchased the Arsenal on the Charles here, a 30-acre commercial office center, for $160 million from O’Neill Properties. Local officials protested the sale because once the university takes over the site, it’s non-profit status will take it off the town’s tax payroll.

“We’re happy to meet again to continue to discuss the potential agreement,” Mary Power, director of community affairs for the university, tells GlobeSt.com. According to Power, Harvard offered Watertown a payment plan based on the tax revenue of the Arsenal. “Over the course of a 20-year window we are proposing a payment roughly equivalent to taxes,” says Power.

The town has estimated that the Arsenal would generate approximately $4.8 million in taxes once it is fully leased. But Power disputes that figure noting that the property is only assessed for $118 million. “The valuation would have to be over $200 million for the taxes to be that high,” she points out.