Harvard, private developers should move now on Allston

The university’s new plan for its vast land holdings in Allston reflects an appropriate concern for both goals, but still risks falling short if the university fails to move quickly enough and doesn’t succeed in persuading enough of its own departments to move to the new site.

Produced by a team of deans and experts with an eye toward reducing costs, the new plan is still quite ambitious. Beyond the eventual resumption of work on the science center and the construction of a long-discussed housing and retail area in the Barry’s Corner area, the plan also calls for a new hotel and a biotech business district to rival Kendall Square. By relying on private developers - to an extent that’s unusual for Harvard - to build out Barry’s Corner and the new business area, the university hopes to get these projects started faster and at less expense to itself.

But Harvard, which remains the wealthiest university in the world, still won’t commit to a speedy resumption of work on the science building, the linchpin of its expansion in Allston. The university quickly scaled back its plans after the plunge in its endowment amid the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. Harvard officials have indicated that restarting the project will depend on the success of a new fundraising campaign. Construction likely will not resume until 2013.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty continues about which research activities will be housed in that building once it opens. The original vision was grand; not only would it become one of the world’s foremost centers of stem-cell research, but it would also include underground parking, a child care center, and other public amenities. But it’s hardly clear that Harvard’s scientists are eager to leave their existing quarters. And even as the new plan for the building cuts down on nonscientific uses, while expanding lab space to make room for activities that could bring in research grants, university officials are still discussing which departments might move there, and have mused aloud about bringing in medical-imaging activities from nearby Harvard-affiliated hospitals.