The December master-plan announcement
A December 2017 article described Harvard’s filing of a master plan for the Enterprise Research Campus in Allston. It placed the site south of Western Avenue, near Sanofi Genzyme properties and the planned John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The account dated the public announcement to December 7, 2017. That event date is not proof of the article’s exact publication day. It recalled the concept becoming public in 2011 and renewed real-estate leadership during 2017.
Research, housing, hotel and retail intentions
The plan covered approximately 14 acres and up to 900,000 square feet. Two office or laboratory buildings, residential space with ground-floor retail, and an approximately 250,000-square-foot hotel and conference center were among the uses discussed.
Officials anticipated up to 900 parking spaces across three surface lots, with the possibility of redeveloping those lots later. The article described connections among research, business and everyday living, not a guaranteed profitable retail environment or a completed campus.
The university’s innovation context
Pagliuca Life Lab, the i-Lab and the Launch Lab were cited as models for collaboration. The account reported 17 ventures at Pagliuca, 130 workstations and 34 companies at the Launch Lab, and as many as 100 ventures in residence at the i-Lab. Those were figures reported in the 2017 article, not present participation counts.
The campus was not assigned to one particular academic program. The article discussed links with Harvard Business School, engineering and applied sciences rather than identifying final tenants.
Industrial land and an approval still ahead
The report described former CSX land used by Romar Transportation Company for trucking operations. It reported an $88 million transaction under which CSX would remove structures, with environmental work still relevant to redevelopment. This account should remain distinct from the separate $97 million Allston Landing transaction reported in 2015.
The master plan was under review, and community discussion involved an Impact Advisory Group. A master-plan filing did not itself approve individual buildings. Developers, project phases and later construction remained to be determined; the article’s optimism is not a present completion or environmental-clearance claim.
Historical account attributed to the original Boston City Properties article. Underlying records and later outcomes have not been freshly verified.