“If we had our dream world, we wouldn’t have it be graduate student housing. But we’re not the only people at this University,” Montauk says. “Aesthetically, [graduate students] probably wouldn’t want the building to be as tall as it’s planned to be either.”

But the undergraduates’ complaints about the new building have left some graduate students feeling that their needs are not being valued.

“I hope the undergraduates will just appreciate what [the building] might mean to the graduate students and especially the graduate student families who live there,” says Ryan J. Larsen, an applied physics graduate student who currently lives in Belmont.

As the University seeks to finalize its construction plans and mediate between the needs of undergraduates, graduates, and neighbors, Saks says people on all sides will need to compromise.

“The University is clearly putting a lot of effort into trying to make the best outcome possible,” Saks says. “Honestly, I just think these issues are really difficult and there are always people who are going to be made worse off.”

—Staff writer Katherine M. Gray can be reached at kmgray@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Natalie I. Sherman can be reached at nsherman@fas.harvard.edu.