While all seven tenants have a lease in perpetuity—provided they continue to store books in the facility—the BPL has lately been considering a move to a larger site, according to Harvard College Library Spokesperson Beth Brainard.

Past negotiations between the University and the BPL have centered around Harvard donating $2 million to the BPL to fund a renovation project, according to minutes of the library’s board of trustees.

But for now, no deal has been signed, Brainard says.

“The only thing that is in the works is that the Boston Public Library has proposed a new storage facility for their archives, but any actual movement on that prospect has been delayed,” Brainard says.

Bob Hudson, B.U.’s head librarian and chairman of NEDL, was unavailable for comment this week.

The NEDL board will meet in two weeks, likely to discuss the BPL move, Brainard says.

Beyond Western Avenue

Like much of Harvard’s nearly-300 acres in Allston, the area beyond these four properties is encumbered with a number of tenants who have land leases that range from one year to the indefinite future.

Lying on the outskirts of Harvard’s current Allston holdings are parcels encumbered with long-term leases, including Genzyme Pharmaceuticals, which has a lease near the Charles River until 2057, and CSX, which has permanent rights to a 47-acre piece of land for its rail lines.

Despite these major roadblocks, Harvard is slowly making progress towards consolidating its holdings in Allston.

“Harvard is a landlord and that’s a reality for businesses,” says Harris Band, the director of physical planning for the University’s Allston Initiative. “The hope is that we give the business community assurances and protections.”

But the University must go to the table with dozens of other tenants before a new campus can begin to take shape across the river.

Spiegelman says she is confident about clearing the land in Allston.

“Each Allston tenant has a different relationship with us, and as we get closer to the final decision, we will decide how to handle them,” she says.

But no one involved with planning a new Harvard envisions a campus that shares its turf with the current tenants of the University’s property.