While ANC members said they do not want to lose the museums—which many say are important cultural additions to the neighborhood—they said they would drop these two items from the list in an attempt to compromise.

Power said Harvard has also shown signs of cooperation, including their willingness to participate in the traffic study.

“The key thing is that the neighborhood is focused on mutual benefits and Harvard is focused on mutual benefits, and as long as we can keep that shared goal as the target I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to ultimately reach a positive agreement with the neighborhood,” Power said.

Vice President of Government, Community and Public Affairs Alan J. Stone said that he would not comment on the specifics of the wish list until he had spoken to residents, but that the University would continue to engage in conversations with neighborhood activists.

“We look forward to continuing to work with them and I know that things are evolving,” Stone said.

But while Bloomstein told residents he hopes for “demonstrable progress” in negotiations by this June, Power said that timetable would be difficult, since HLS and Harvard Divinity School are still at early stages of physical planning.

“We may be able to construct some sort of agreement regarding the projects that are further along in planning in that short time between now and June,” Power said.

The Law School will present its feasibility study to the neighborhood at a meeting next Tuesday, and Power said she will also meet with Bloomstein and other ACID representatives next week.

Bloomstein said at the ANC meeting that he hopes to send Harvard a clear message: residents want to work with the University on development issues, but they will expect benefits in return.

“I want Harvard to think that for every square foot they build, there’s a dollar amount associated with that,” he said.

—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.