Harvard Medical School (HMS) will not lease office space in the immediate phase of a redevelopment plan for the Crosstown area of Roxbury in Boston, but HMS is considering Crosstown as a location for future development, said Eric P. Buehrens, associate dean of HMS.

In his inaugural address in January, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino had invited Harvard to expand its medical facilities into Crosstown as part of a redevelopment project to create a biomedical corridor in the economically struggling neighborhood.

But Harvard officials recently said they are not planning to develop in the Crosstown area in the immediate future.

The announcement that Harvard would not be leasing space in the Crosstown development project, first reported in the Boston Globe in mid-June, drew a negative response from Menino.

“It’s unfortunate that Harvard, which continues to buy up property in the city, doesn’t feel that it needs to make a commitment to the city,” Menino told the Globe last month.

Menino was informed of the decision by the media—not Harvard officials.

“It was basically a mistake, a miscommunication,” said Alan J. Stone, Harvard’s vice president for goverment, community and public affairs. “We thought we had let the mayor know, but it didn’t get through to him. It was an unfortunate mistake. We regret it.”

One Boston city councilor claimed racial prejudice may have been a factor in Harvard’s turning down the Crosstown site.

“Employers are unwilling to come into a neighborhood that is essentially black and Latin,” said councilor Charles Turner, who represents Roxbury. “Maybe Harvard is thinking that in five or 10 years, more people in the neighborhood will have been moved out and they would feel more comfortable bringing in what is essentially a white operation.”

Harvard officials denied race was a factor in their decision.

“That premise is way out of bounds and not even worthy of a response,” said Kevin A. McCluskey ’76, Harvard’s director of community relations for Boston.

Other Boston councilors also disagreed with Turner’s assessment of Harvard’s decision.

Councilor Michael Roache, who chairs Boston’s university relations committee, called Harvard a “champion of civil rights, a champion of people of color.”

Harvard officials emphasized that Harvard has been, and still is, interested in developing in the Crosstown area.

“We have always said that we are interested in Crosstown for more than two years, before the mayor’s speech,” Buehrens said.