Harvard University acquired ownership of the Hasty Pudding building on Holyoke Street Oct. 2, deeds obtained by the Crimson show.

The proprietorship transfer ends months of negotiations between the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Institute of 1770, the graduate board of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and Social Club.

"The ground and building are now owned by the President and Fellows of Harvard College," Scott Levitan, director of University and Commercial Real Estate, confirmed yesterday.

The University has owned the land on which the Pudding complex is situated since 1986--initially indirectly, through an entity called the Holyoke Street Nominee Trust.

Legal documents show that Harvard has terminated its lease to the institute for use of the land, and then in a subsequent filing with Middlesex County, assumed ownership of the building as well.

Three trustees of the institute, one of whom is deceased, were named as defendants in the Sept. 1 civil suit filed by the restaurant UpStairs at the Pudding, the building's current tenant.

Two trustees of the Harvard-controlled Holyoke Street Nominee Trust were also named as defendants, and the owners of the restaurant hope the suit will allow it to stay in the building, despite Harvard's plans for a $10 million renovation to turn the space into a student theater.

The institute recently responded to the suit with a motion to dismiss, claiming the institute no longer has an interest in the building.