Unfinished Construction, Unreliable Utilities: Residents Detail First Months Living in Luxury Apartments on Harvard’s ERC

Harvard Kennedy School student Oleksandr “Alexander” Kutovyi moved into a new apartment on Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus a year ago. Upon arrival, he felt the apartment building had “overpromised and underdelivered.”

The Verra Apartments opened in July 2025 as a part of the broader ERC — imagined to be a bustling new hub for research in Harvard’s backyard. And Verra had been touted as a “premier destination” with “best in class” amenities for residents.

Verra includes 343 residential units across an eight-story mid-rise and a 17-story high-rise. It is part of the roughly 900,000-square-foot first phase of the ERC, which spans about 14 acres. The complex advertised luxury units and offered an outdoor terrace, golf and games simulator, cinema, and proximity to the Harvard campus as draws to residents.

But nine current and former residents detailed security concerns, issues with heating, and a lack of access to many of the promised amenities. Many said that they expected minor improvements to be in progress when they arrived, but moved into a building that was still under construction.

Kutovyi, who moved into a Verra unit roughly a month after the complex opened, lived on the 17th floor until he moved out in May. He said construction was still in progress on the majority of the floors, leaving exposed pipes and open walls for at least four months after he moved in.

“As a new building, they were just finishing up some construction sites around it,” Kutovyi said. “In my opinion, they clearly did not manage to deliver in time, and still were heavily pushing to start letting people in.”

The first residents moved into the complex last August, several months before other parts of the ERC. The Atlas Hotel opened in January 2026, and the David Rubenstein Treehouse, a 55,000-square-foot conference center, opened in late October 2025.

Jesse S. Ellis, a current Verra resident, said that he had toured the complex before moving into a unit last October.

“At the time of signing my lease, I was informed that the building was still under construction and some amenities were still being finalized,” Ellis said.

In a statement, Verra Apartments wrote that each resident received and signed an addendum to their lease indicating acknowledgement of ongoing construction activity and unfinished amenities.

“While we regret and do our best to minimize any inconvenience faced by our customers, it is anticipated that newly constructed buildings will experience some initial challenges, especially those that open prior to full completion,” Verra wrote.

Still, four residents told The Crimson that construction on the ERC often began as early as 5:30 or 6 a.m. Boston’s regular construction hours begin at 7 a.m. on weekdays, though the city can issue permits for after-hours work.

Residents said the ongoing construction left many of the complex’s advertised amenities unusable for the first several months the complex was open. The outdoor terrace and parking garage were incomplete and unavailable for residents to use until much later.

Verra confirmed in a statement that the outdoor terrace on the second floor opened on May 15 — nine months after the first residents moved into their units. The parking garage became operational slightly earlier, opening in February.

But when it came to living in the units, residents raised a slew of concerns about living conditions and security at the complex.

A former resident said that when she moved into her apartment last August, she began to find small insects in her windows and bathroom vent. When she raised the concern to management, she said she was blamed for attracting the pests after pest control was unable to locate the source of the infestation. After two months of negotiating with the leasing office, she was able to move to a different unit.

Verra and Greystar Management, which manages the apartments, did not comment on the infestation.

Residents also complained about unreliable utilities in their apartments. Some residents reported that they did not have heat during the winter. Instead of fixing the heating system, Verra gave the affected units space heaters. Others said that hot water only began running after they had left the tap on for ten minutes.

Elevators were also frequently malfunctioning, according to multiple residents. Residents reported that people had been stuck in an elevator for two hours without a functioning help button or phone service.

Verra wrote in a statement that all elevators in the complex are “certified and have passed all required testing under Massachusetts regulations.”

And though most of the amenities and utilities are now accessible a year later, some residents still don’t feel the luxury apartment’s price tag is fair.

“If I would go back, I would still pick Verra,” Kutovyi said. “I would still live there, although I still think that they are ridiculously overpriced.”

But Kutovyi conceded that Verra is still the “best option in the area” because of the quality and proximity to Harvard’s campus.

The complex’s cheapest units are priced at $3,479 to $3,753 on average — almost double the average of $2,025 for Allston. Roughly 86 units are income-restricted as part of Harvard’s commitment to supporting affordable housing in Allston through the Institutional Master Plan.

A substantial proportion of Verra’s initial tenants were first-year students at the Harvard Business School, the closest Harvard campus to the ERC. Many said they experienced similar issues to Kutovyi in their first months after moving in.

Last September, a group of 36 Harvard affiliates wrote a collective demand letter to Tishman Speyer, the developer of the ERC, outlining a list of issues spanning from safety concerns about the elevator, fire-code concerns and claimed negligence on part of Greystar Management, which manages the apartments.

In response, legal representatives for Greystar replied to the students’ letter on Oct. 22, 2025, denied the accusations levied against Verra, citing an “in-depth investigation and analysis” of the claims.

A number of the HBS students who initially moved into Verra in the fall of 2025 have now moved out of the building. Residents reported improvements in the amount of construction and incomplete amenities by the spring.

Verra said that demand for their units remain strong, citing their nearly full occupancy.

“We are extremely proud of the first-class living experience we have created at Verra and by the positive reception from our resident community. Verra is currently 97 percent leased, and our lease renewal rate significantly exceeds industry standards,” Verra wrote.

—Staff writer Thamini Vijeyasingam can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @vijeyasingam.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at [email protected].