HRES proposes 2003-04 increases for Affiliated Housing

Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES) has proposed a 0 percent rent increase for the majority of current Affiliated Housing residents who live in the approximately 2,500 Harvard Affiliated Housing apartments. A small number of residents whose rent is significantly below the current average market rent (20 percent or more) will be receiving a 4 percent rent increase. In addition, those residents at Soldiers Field Park, whose rent was reduced due to the construction of One Western Avenue, will no longer receive the reduced rate effective July 1, 2003, and therefore will receive a rent increase. The proposed rents for current Affiliated Housing residents have been reviewed by the Faculty Advisory Committee on Affiliated Housing and will take effect July 1, for a term of one year, when the 2003-2004 rental season begins.

Online applications for housing available

Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES) offers a variety of apartments with different amenities so that a Harvard affiliate can select an apartment that fits his or her individual budget. Housing Advisers in the Harvard Housing Office can assist affiliates who are searching for housing. As an added convenience, affiliates may now apply for Affiliated Housing online at http://www.hpre.harvard.edu/RRE/affiliate/appproc/index.html.

The Harvard Housing Office also has private landlord listings on a computerized listing network and bulletin boards, roommate cards, and listings of housing opportunities that exchange work for rent. Stop by the Harvard Housing Office at 7 Holyoke St. or call (617) 495-3377 for assistance.

Affiliates may also access information about a variety of housing options by visiting HRES’s Housing homepage at http://www.hpre.harvard.edu/RRE/index.html.

In keeping with the University’s fair-market rent policy that was established in 1983 by a faculty committee chaired by Archibald Cox, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Emeritus, Law School, the rents for Affiliated Housing are set at prevailing market rates. The original faculty committee determined that market rate pricing was the fairest method of allocating apartments and that setting rents for Affiliated Housing below market rate would be a form of financial aid that should be determined by each individual school, not via the rent-setting process. Additionally, the cost of housing should be considered when financial aid is determined.

“Since the rents being recommended to the Faculty Advisory Committee by HRES will not go into effect until July of 2003 and the latest economic indicators show that there has been a slowdown in the economy, we prefer to have rents set at the lower end of the band of market rents,” said Susan Keller, HRES’s director of residential real estate. “Therefore, HRES will not increase the rents for the majority of current residents,” said Keller.

Specific rents for all 2,500 apartments will be detailed in the lease renewal packages that will be distributed to all affiliated residents in March. Current affiliated residents who would like additional information or help in determining their continuing rent rates for 2003-04 may call Harvard Real Estate Services’ Affiliated Leasing Office at (617) 495-1459.

Proposed increases for continuing former rent-control residents:

Proposed rent increases for continuing former rent-control residents who reside in Harvard’s properties will be announced in late March or early April.

Proposed 2003-04 rents for new affiliated residents who sign leases as of July 1, 2003:

HRES performed market research before proposing this year’s rent increase. In setting the proposed 2003-04 rents, a database covering more than 4,200 Cambridge and Somerville apartments listed with the Harvard Housing Office by non-Harvard property owners over the past three years was analyzed. Market indicators from outside sources and historical demand trends in the local market were also considered.

The result of the analysis was a recommendation that the overall market rent on average should not increase for Affiliated Housing on July 1, 2003. However, to support the fair market rent policy on a unit-by-unit basis, some unit types will increase, some will decrease and some will stay at current rates. The proposed new market rents have been reviewed by the Faculty Advisory Committee on Affiliated Housing and will apply to affiliates who sign leases as of July 1, 2003.

All revenues generated by Affiliated Housing in excess of operating expenses and debt service are used to fund capital renewal of the facilities and new construction. Examples of how capital funds are used are the refurbishing of 29 Garden St. and the building of One Western Ave.

Twenty-nine Garden St. was originally built as a hotel in the 1920s and has been newly redesigned to contain 75 apartments with modern amenities to provide Harvard graduate students an affordable housing option. Scheduled for occupancy in September 2003, 29 Garden St. will feature a new apartment configuration known as a double studio. Available in two styles, the double studios are an economical housing option for single graduate students living with a roommate. The on-site dining facility (Buttery 29), a student lounge, and a group study area will provide opportunities for informal learning and interaction by graduate students.

One Western Ave., located on the corner of Western Avenue and Soldiers Field Road in Boston, is adjacent to the Harvard Business School. The newly constructed complex, scheduled to open in July 2003, overlooks the Charles River. Ranging from one to 15 floors, this 235,000-square-foot, 235-unit apartment community will accommodate more than 350 residents. It is open to all full-time Harvard affiliates and has been designed to support graduate-student living. Many of the two- and three-bedroom apartments have two bathrooms to meet the needs of residents who live with a roommate.

Market rate averages for affiliated apartments are listed below.

18 Banks/8A Mt. Auburn: one bedrooms $1,347-$1,437; two bedrooms $1,721-$1,771.

Botanic Gardens: one bedrooms $1,295-$1,375; two bedrooms $1,769; three bedrooms $2,285.

DeWolfe Street: one bedrooms $1,457-$1,474; two bedrooms $1,830-$1,845; three bedrooms $2,520.

29 Garden St.: studios $910-$931; double studios $1,370-$1,550; two bedrooms $1,610-$1,630; three bedrooms $2,380-$2,400.

Haskins Hall: studios $1,100; one bedrooms $1,230.

Holden Green: one bedrooms $1,110-$1,248; two bedrooms $1,400-$1,538; three bedrooms $1,889.

Kirkland Court: one bedrooms $1,280-$1,434; two bedrooms $1,660-$1,857; three bedrooms $2,266-$2,341.

65 Mt. Auburn St.: studios $1,112; one bedrooms $1,280-$1,426; two bedrooms $1,700.

One Western Ave.: studios $1,268; one bedrooms $1,535; two bedrooms $1,930-$2,005; three bedrooms $2,555.

Peabody Terrace: studios $1,014-$1,059; one bedrooms $1,157-$1,202; two bedrooms $1,525-$1,570; three bedrooms $2,063.

Shaler Lane: one bedrooms $1,225; two bedrooms $1,587-$1,697.

Soldiers Field Park: studios $1,152-$1,268; one bedrooms $1,405-$1,535; two bedrooms $1,752-$2,025; three bedrooms $2,483-$2,670.

Terry Terrace: studios $1,091-$1,176; one bedrooms $1,259-$1,397; two bedrooms $1,776.

Walker Street: two bedrooms $1,814; three bedrooms $2,245.

The proposed average rent ranges listed below are in buildings that were formerly rent controlled. These rents are for new residents who will sign affiliated leases for the 2003-04 rental season:

472-474 Broadway: one bedrooms $1,299.

27 Everett Street: one bedrooms $1,297-$1,531; three bedrooms $2,153-$2,332.

2 Holyoke St.: one bedrooms $1,212-$1,326.

1306 Massachusetts Ave.: studios $1,008; one bedrooms $1,158; two bedrooms $1,592.

8 Plympton St.: studios $1,006-$1,070; one bedrooms $1,244; two bedrooms $1,700-$1,782; three bedrooms $1,970-$2,034.

16 Prescott St.: studios $1,026; one bedrooms $1,222-$1,325.

18 Prescott St.: studios $1,026; one bedrooms $1,222.

20-20A Prescott Street: studios $1,081; one bedrooms $1,273-$1,437; two bedrooms $1,785; three bedrooms $2,251-$2,348; four bedrooms $2,434.

22-24 Prescott St.: studios $1,026; one bedrooms $1,221.

85-95 Prescott St.: studios $1,062-$1,143; one bedrooms $1,369.

9-13A Ware St.: studios $1,070; one bedrooms $1,246; two bedrooms $1,637.

19 Ware St.: two bedrooms $2,276; three bedroom $2,347.

Wood Frame Buildings, Agassiz Area: studios $998; one bedrooms $1,178; two bedrooms $1,581; three bedrooms $1,886; four bedrooms $2,733; five bedrooms $3,764.

Wood Frame Buildings, Harvard Square/Mid-Cambridge Area: studios $1,001; one bedrooms $1,137; two bedrooms $1,527.

Wood Frame Buildings, Riverside Area: studios $932; one bedrooms $1,313; two bedrooms $1,477; three bedrooms $1,879.

Written comments on the proposed rents may be sent to the Faculty Advisory Committee on Affiliated Housing, c/o Harvard Real Estate Services, 10 Mt. Auburn St. – Lower Level, Cambridge, MA 02138-6010. Comments to the committee may also be sent via e-mail to leasing@camail2.harvard.edu. Any written comments should be submitted to either of the above addresses by March 6, 2003.

The comments received will be reviewed by the Faculty Advisory Committee, which includes Peter T. Ellison, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; William Hogan, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Public Policy and Administration, John F. Kennedy School of Government; Jerold S. Kayden, associate professor of urban planning, Graduate School of Design; Daniel P. Schrag, professor of earth and planetary sciences, Harvard University; Steven Shavell, Samuel R. Rosenthal Professor of Law and Economics, Harvard Law School; and Sally Zeckhauser, vice president for administration (chair), Harvard University.

After the comments are reviewed and considered, the final rent schedule will be published in March.