MTA Yard Sale Stalls As McLernon Rests

Hopes for quick sale of the MTA's Bennett St. Yards took another nose-dive yesterday as MTA General Manager Thomas J. McLernon, left for a month-long vacation in Florida. Sale of the Yards to any of the top bidders will not be arranged while McLernon is away.

Reliable sources are increasingly pessimistic about chance for sale of the Yards for at least two years. It is possible that the MTA's Board of Trustees will not take any action at all on the present bids for at least 18 months.

The MTA was reportedly disappointed by the University's bid of slightly over $5 million, but several of Boston's most reliable real estate developers have continued to assure Harvard officials that their bid is more than $1 million above the land's fair market value.

Other Offers Thought Unsound

University officials do not believe that the offers of either of the other top bidders-attorney Francis J. Roche of Cambridge and developer Samuel P. Coffman of Boston-are very sound. The University has refused to reconsider its $5 million bid.

Presently, the MTA can gain nothing from moving its switching and storage facilities to Codman Sq. and will not be forced to move unless the Authority takes over the Old Colony railway line. Any such action is at least two years in the future.

The CRIMSON has also learned that Roche's plans for development of the 12-acre site are about ten years old and were not drawn up for the present series of bids.