The Harvard Planning and Real Estate Office (HPRE) has taken a major step toward alleviating the problem of graduate student housing, beginning construction this month on a new dorm primarily slated for Harvard Business School (HBS) students near Soldiers Field Park.

Though Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Peter T. Ellison says that Harvard wants to maintain its character as a "residential University," limited housing options have made this goal increasingly difficult.

In September 2003, graduate students will find new housing operated and managed by HPRE at One Western Ave. The building, often referred to as "gateway to Allston," because of its proximity to Harvard's newly acquired land in the area, will cater largely to HBS students.

The 235 square feet of housing in the complex, which fuses red brick and courtyards with modern architecture, features 240 apartments for 356 occupants and a parking lot for 625 vehicles. The apartment complex will also include 18,700 square feet of new green space along the Charles River.

According to the project's website, it "transforms an existing surface parking and storage lot into a pedestrian-oriented campus environment."

HPRE decided to make use of the space in response to the "tremendous demand for housing," said Susan K. Keller, Director of Residential Real Estate.

When plans were first submitted, the Brighton Allston Task Force, which includes members of the Harvard community and other City departments as well as members of the civic and business communities of Brighton and Allston expressed concerns that the building did not incorporate enough green space, that it was too large, and that it needed a distinct entrance off of Western Ave.

The Machado-Silvetti architectural firm and Project Architect Peter Lofgren then redesigned the plans based on the Task Force's suggestions, and the plans were approved in November 2000.

The building permit was obtained in mid-March, and construction began earlier this month. It is expected that construction will end in July 2003, Keller wrote in an email.

But for the present, the project has placed an undesirable impact on several existing Soldiers Field Park apartments adjacent to the construction site.

Current residents in apartments that are most directly affected whose leases terminate on June 30, 2001 will be offered the opportunity to relocate to a different apartment or receive a monthly rent reduction.

Noise and dust due to construction has already started affecting nearby residents. Normal routes of access to Soldiers Field Park will be affected, and the visitor parking lot will be eliminated.

Andrew S. Lazzaro, HBS `01, is tired of the "nonstop, incessant jackhammering" at early hours in the morning from general construction in the Soldiers Field Park area.

"Another construction project leaves a bitter taste in my mouth," said Lazarro. "Those who pay the price will not reap the rewards," he said.

By the time construction on this project is completed, current business school students will have graduated.

Lazarro says he feels that HPRE has not shown enough sensitivity to students who already live in SFP.

And though the new building "will do a lot to alleviate the housing crunch," said Lazarro, "HPRE is thinking only about long term implications."

Business school students removed from the center of construction are more than pleased with their Soldiers Field Park accommodations, but getting a good number in the HBS housing lottery is the only way to ensure favorable housing.

Hans G. Erickson HBS `02 said, "Once you're in, they [HPRE's SRP apartments and studios] are phenomenal."

HPRE, which will market the building in a housing brochure found in business school acceptance letters, will price the apartments at market rents, said Keller.