New Haven tackles CT housing demand with more housing units, multi-use commercial space for Downtown
As seen on https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/
By Jennifer Cuevas
The City of New Haven is taking on two new developments to address the housing demand in Connecticut.
On Tuesday, city officials held a conference along with the project developers to provide details on the 450 new housing units and 3,700 square feet of retail and commercial space coming to George and State Street in Downtown New Haven.
“The State of Connecticut needs around 90,000 new units to be able to support the demand for housing and New Haven is leading the charge as far as the number of building permits issued as far as the number of new units we are creating, have created and will create,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
The first site is being called Site A and will be developed by Gilbane Development and Xenolith.
Site A will go from Fair Street to Chapel Street and will be built on two acres for a total of 279 housing units, of which 70 will be affordable units.
It will also include over 1,500 square feet of community and retail space, according to the mayor.
Senior Vice President and Head of Affordable-Mixed Income for Gilbane Development Roj Robinson said the project will help assist in the reconnection of Wooster Square to Downtown 9th square district.
Andrea Kretchmer with Xenolith said her team is looking forward to beginning the predevelopment process for Site A.
“At Xenolith, we love a good RFP, particularly one with a demonstrative commitment to community outreach and engagement,” Kretchmer said.
Kretchmer added the project will also focus on the the three c’s of development: climate resiliency, carbon reduction, and career-oriented jobs.
As for Site B, close to 175 units will be built on one acre of land from State Street to Orange Street and will be developed by Glendower Group and Elm City Communities along with LMXD.
Similar to site A, site B will also include thousands of square feet in commercial space.
Out of the 175 units, 51 units will be marked for affordable housing.
President of Glendower Group and Elm City Communities Karen Dubois-Walton spoke about the need for bringing the units to New Haven.
“We are at over 40,000 families on our waitlists so that’s the real. Those are the families that are waiting for us to build and to turn parking lots into really quality housing.”
Dubois-Walton said they will be able to use the base vouchering by the federal government to ensure affordability.
“The affordable units that we develop with our project base vouchering, families will never pay more than 30 percent of their income towards their rent cost.”
Mayor Elicker added the developers have nine months to finalize their project designs.
During that time, community outreach will take place, beginning in late August to September, to get community feedback on the projects.
City officials and developers said they are hoping to break ground by 2025, but added the timeline may be pushed to 2026.