Seminary to Buy Grozier Estate; Sale May Affect City Tax Policy

The Episcopal Theological School will buy the biggest piece of privately-owned land in Cambridge in a transaction that could seriously affect Harvard's tax position.

Theological School officials said yesterday that they had reached an agreement to purchase the two-and-one-half-acre Grozier Estate, located four blocks west of the school on Brattle St., but refused to disclose how much they would pay.

Observers noted that because an educational institution and not a commercial developer was buying the land, Cambridge will be deprived of potentially high tax revenues. They expressed the fear that the City may therefore be less cooperative when other institutions wish to purchase land.

They predicted that the sale may also make it difficult for institutions to win tax exemptions in questionable cases, such as that of Harvard's married-student housing center. Although the City has not yet ruled whether the center is taxable, it has taxed similar dorms at M.I.T.

The Rev. John B. Coburn, dean of the Theological School, said it would buy the Grozier Estate "for protection." "The school is growing. We're going to have more people in the near future and we decided to buy the land while we had the opportunity," he said.

Coburn said the land would be used first for faculty housing, probably beginning next year. He said the school would probably not undertake new construction, since a three-story mansion and a stable converted into a two-family dwelling are already standing.

Richard Crozier '09, editor and publisher of the Boston Post, originally owned the estate. Grozier died in 1946, and the death of his widow earlier this year led to the sale of the property.