New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Official: Proposed Union Station deal good for 35 years
NEW HAVEN — A 35year deal between the city, state Department of Transportation and New Haven Parking Authority to operate and improve Union Station — which eventually could be a 55-year deal — is “a deal that will stand the test of time for the next 35 years,” the city’s top development officer said.
The long talked-about agreement first was laid out in September 2020 after years of squabbling between the city and the state over who would control the station’s future, and what it might be.
It will result in the construction of a new 600space garage with a “front
facing” component and renovate the station’s first floor, second floor and basement to create a new retail environment, according to Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli.
It will enlist the New Haven Parking Authority, which has run the station since it reopened to the public after being renovated in the 1980s, to continue to run the station and garage and ensure that “the money that’s made at Union Station, stays at Union Station,” Piscitelli said.
Piscitelli and other officials said the changes brought by the new agreement will elevate Union Station — already a key factor in the city’s develop and a linchpin of several different plans to reconnect the city — to an even greater level of importance.
Union Station was completed and opened in 1920. It was designed by renowned architect Cass Gilbert, whose other works included the Woolworth Building in New York City — the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930 — and the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. It was closed and in disrepair for many years before being renovated and reopening in the 1980s.
“This is a 61⁄2 million operation. About 4 million people a year during normal times are going through this station, carried by three different railroads,” Piscitelli said. “This is a big deal.”
Having recently garnered the unanimous approval of the Board of Alders’ Finance Committee, the deal, contained in several different documents, is now headed for the full Board of Alders for a vote Nov. 4.
The three key documents include:
A lease, operating and funding agreement between the city and the state DOT to manage and operate Union Station and the nearby State Street Station, along with their parking lots and garages. While it has a 35-year initial term, it offers two 10-year options to renew it.
A Capital Partnership Agreement that specifies “broad terms” to redevelop Union Station and its campus, including 600 new parking garage spaces, an “intermodal center” for bus riders and an improved and upgraded retail environment at the station.
A subcontracting agreement between the city and New Haven Parking Authority that transfer full authority to manage the station to the authority. It would offer an initial term of five years, with automatic five-year-term renewals to follow.
The existing lease with the state expires on June 30, 2022, and all the implementation instruments must be in place before then, Piscitelli told the alders.
“We are very committed and look forward to this 30 years of partnership,” said DOT Rail Administrator Rich Jankovich. “...
It’s been a great relationship working through with your team.”
Douglas Hausladen, executive director of the New Haven Parking Authority, told the alders the new agreement “will redefine that partnership” that already exists “and bring a new generation of investment and opportunity for our New Haven region to bear.”
It outlines three major scopes of work, including management of the station’s retail and commercial operations, managing development of the Union Station campus and parking and building operations and providing additional fiscal oversight and transparency, including monthly public meetings.
“New Haven Union Station is really a treasure for a city,” said City Plan Director Aisha Woods. “This work will really transform Union Station ... as a catalyst for the whole area. It will be both the welcoming point for visitors to New Haven, but ... also very much a destination and an asset for New Haven residents just to go visit the train station and enjoy the new retail offerings there.”
“This is really kind of reshifting a center of gravity around Union Station,” Woods said. “It’s really an opportunity to do some really thoughtful transit-oriented planning” to reconnect parts of the city, including achieving the longtime goals of reconnecting the Hill and Long Wharf to downtown.
The changes that follow from the new agreements will help make the city more walkable and “elevate Union Station as kind of a new center or additional center” of New Haven.
“It’s really a tremendous opportunity that’s before us,” she said.
Finance Committee members agreed.
“I am starting from a place of wanting to see Union Station thrive and become an even bigger asset for the city,” said Vice Chairman and Westville Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, although he had a number of questions — one of which was what’s different between the proposed agreement and the original agreement with the state.
Among the major differences is that the state has agreed to allow the money generated by Union Station to remain there — and that while the city and the state would have a 35-year agreement, the initial agreement with the parking authority is for five years, renewable based on performance, said Piscitelli.
Alders Salvatore DeCola, D-18, and Jeanette Morrison, D-22, both were interested in who would get the jobs that future work at
Union Station might provide, with Morrison particularly concerned about what opportunities for apprenticeships might be available to give city residents the skills to get those jobs.
The Finance Committee asked city staff to amend the resolution to highlight those things before it goes to the full board for a second reading.
Alder Anna Festa, D-10, said she wanted to know what financial benefits there were for the city.
“It is creating an inbound move to New Haven which generates economic activity,” and “the more we can grow the service ... the more we can support the rail system, the better” — because it reduces traffic on Interstate 95, Interstate 91 and other area roads, Piscitelli said.