New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Planners OK 76-apartment project in center of downtown
NEW HAVEN — The project protects historic buildings, adds to the city’s affordable housing stock and creates another transit-oriented development.
It also consists of a new, 4-story structure across 294-310 State St. that will join with the existing building on the corner of 742 Chapel St. as one contiguous property.
Additional apartments will be built on the upper floors of 754, 756, 760 and 768 Chapel St.
Much was made of the fact that the State Street building will fix the “missing tooth in the State Street smile,” as engineer Geoff Fitzgerald put it.
Beacon Communities got final approval for its 76-apartment plan in the center of downtown at Chapel and State streets in a City Plan Commission vote this week.
The development converts a parking lot to a higher use that helps with the city’s affordable housing goals and goes well beyond what would be required under the Inclusionary Zoning proposal currently being studied by the city, officials said.
The new State Street building is designed to complement the aesthetics of the Chapel Street buildings, according to attorney Greg Muccilli, who represented Beacon.
The plan calls for 18 studio units, 19 one-bedroom units and 39 twobedroom units with approximately 5,700 square feet of commercial space at street level, nearly
4,000 square feet of amenity space on the first floor and indoor space for 48 bicycles.
The apartments are across from the State Street train station and a short walk to Union Station.
LeeAnn Hanfield, director of development for Beacon, said 80 percent of the apartments will be affordable. She said 15 will be rented to persons with incomes at 30 percent of area median income, 31 at 50 percent of AMI and 14 at 60 percent AMI.
At 30 percent of AMI, Hanfield said the rent would be $579; $965 at 50 percent AMI; and $1,150 at 60 percent AMI. The remaining 16 apartments will be market-rate housing.
She said the plan is to use project-based vouchers on a portion of the units to help those who need the subsidy.
Beacon is a well-known developer in New Haven, having bought the nearby 335-unit Residences at Ninth Square, also a mixed-income, residential and commercial development in the heart of downtown.
It was the first such successful blending of income ranges among tenants.
The plan already had a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals for three parking spaces, given the number of public garages in the area.
The plan also calls for reestablishing trees along State Street.
Architect Jay Szynanski said the commercial tenants will remain. The plan is to repair and repoint the existing brick facades on the Chapel Street buildings, as well as replace windows and generally clean up the storefronts.
Beacon still is waiting for a decision by the city on tax abatement, with the developer seeking an agreement to pay $400 per unit, while the Low Income Supportive Housing Tax Abatement committee is recommending $1,500 per unit for 17 years.
“I like the way this project sounds. I like the way that it looks. I particularly like the filling in the tooth in the State Street smile. That was really cool,” City Plan Commission Chairwoman Leslie Radcliffe said.
She and her fellow commissioners also welcomed the affordability aspect, which is not the purview of the commission.
Commissioner Adam Marchand said it was a “very positive project,” something with which Commissioner Ed Mattison agreed.