Residents of the neighborhood north of Harvard Yard voted by a wide margin on Tuesday, Dec. 16, to support a deal which will allow the University to carry out 1.6 million square feet of construction in the area over the next quarter-century.

Under the pact—which neighborhood representatives and University officials will likely sign later this month—Harvard will provide millions of dollars worth of benefits to the Agassiz neighborhood and the city of Cambridge.

But both sides say that the main benefit of the deal is the peace of mind a 25-year deal provides.

Agassiz is home to the Law School, the Divinity School and the science departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)—all of which are pressed for space and looking to expand.

The deal-making process, which consisted of a full year of negotiations periodically re-affirmed by neighborhood-wide votes, stands in sharp contrast to Harvard’s traditionally fractious relationship with abutting neighborhoods.

About 20 residents turned out for the Dec. 16 vote—less than half the number that voted last December to authorize a neighborhood delegation to go to the table with Harvard.

Including absentee ballots, the final vote was 60 residents in favor of the deal, four opposed and four abstaining, according to William Bloomstein, one of the four representatives from the Agassiz Committee on the Impacts of Development (ACID) that negotiated the deal with Harvard.

“I think it was a very strong vote of support for the good work of the neighborhood over the course of more than a year,” said Harvard’s Senior Director of Community Relations Mary H. Power. “I think it bodes well for the relationship that we’re trying to grow through this agreement.”

The deal lacks details on what the University will build and when—and precisely what amenities the neighborhood will get in return.

Under the terms of the agreement, University officials and neighborhood representatives will meet in a working group to review specific building projects as they come up and to negotiate benefits to go with each one.

Some residents at the Dec. 16 meeting raised questions about how many votes would be necessary to make the deal official.

Bloomstein said at the meeting he was “disappointed” that more people did not show up to vote. He said he was hoping for 80-100 votes.

According to Amy King, the community liaison of the Agassiz Neighborhood Council, a neighborhood e-mail list has about 130 subscribers.

But Ellen Friedman, another member of the ACID negotiating team, said the deal should not be delayed because people chose not to come.

“If people are not interested, there’s no way we can force them to be interested,” she said.