When University President Lawrence H. Summers laid out the main goals for his tenure and for Harvard’s next century at his installation ceremony last October, he said the University must come together to expand into Allston.

“If we make the right choices—if we take full advantage of a physical opportunity across the river in Allston—an opportunity to create a campus that is several times as large as this whole yard—we will have earned the gratitude of future generations,” he said.

But before Harvard can begin its new campus, it must consolidate its 271 acres, much of it acquired over the last 15 years, scattered in fourteen small parcels and two large, contiguous plots, rented out to dozens of tenants with leases that vary in length from one year to perpetuity. Harvard is starting to close its first moves to gather the land together and clear it for development.

In the coming months, Harvard will likely begin by moving administrative offices into pre-existing buildings facing the river along Soldier’s Field Road, according to Kevin A. McCluskey ’76, Harvard’s Director of Community Relations for Boston.

In the near term of the next few years, construction will start on graduate student housing, most likely in an area adjacent to the Harvard Business School (HBS).

But the large, contiguous areas required for a new academic campus remain heavily encumbered by railroads with permanent rights-of-way, long-term housing and industrial facilities, and a popular shopping center.

Administrators say that Summers’ dream—a new campus in Allston—could be underway in less than a decade.

“If clearing hurdles to the use and configuration of land is successful, we are talking about a 5- to 10-year timeframe for starting campus development,” Kathy A. Spiegelman, associate vice president for planning and real estate, wrote in an e-mail.

Small Victories

Opening a key space at the center of Harvard’s Allston real estate, three tenants between HBS and Harvard’s recently acquired 48-acre parcel of land to the south are preparing to leave their properties.

“We’re thinking first about the contiguous property,” Spiegelman says.

Harvard has worked out a deal—not yet closed—to buy out WGBH’s lease and gain its facilities on both sides of Western Avenue, and to buy an adjacent property from WGBH that now holds a Pepsi bottling plant, according to WGBH’s Vice President for Communications Jeanne M. Hopkins.

Harvard helped WGBH find a new home at Brighton Landing where it could consolidate its various Allston buildings into one facility.

By keeping WGBH in Boston, Harvard has stayed in the good graces of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who took a personal interest in WGBH staying in the city.

“He’s been pretty emphatic” says Kathy L. Kottaridis, Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Director of Economic Development.