Proponents say the proposed development will transform the area into a more vibrant sector for the public.

"The idea is to bring back the idea of the neighborhood shopping district, where after work people can stop by to pick up things at the grocery store, or maybe drop off dry cleaning," says Maggie Cohn, who serves as executive director of the Mission Hill Main Streets program, a group focused on improving small business areas.

The new retail area will include a "Village Square"--a pedestrian plaza among the retail stores containing benches and ornamental paving as well as outdoor seating for restaurants with views of the downtown Boston skyline.

Cohn says she hopes the new development will change existing attitudes about the area.

The Mission Hill area has been plagued by crime and drug problems in the past and remains one of Boston's poorer neighborhoods.

"I think what this will do is put a better face on Mission Hill, so that the impression that people who don't live here have will be in keeping with what the neighborhood is really like," Cohn said.

Moving Out

While it may seem unnatural for Harvard--which spent much of the last decade scooping up real estate in the Boston neighborhood of Allston--to sell a large portion of land next to its currently expanding medical school, University officials say that Harvard has no use for this land.