Watercolor rendering provided by Jay Brotman, Svigals/Partners Architects.
City Plan commissioners Wednesday night unanimously approved a site plan for a seven-story multi-use building to rise on the sloping block along College from Crown to George.
The plans calls for replacing a current surface parking lot along with two defunct stores at College and George with a building that will fill the entire lot, with 160 apartments above street-level retail, and a below-ground parking garage that will house 160 vehicles.
Allan Appel Photo
The lot in question today, facing 300 George Street.
The plan, submitted by Robert Landino and his Centerplan College Square LLC, replaces their previous proposal, which had envisioned 19 stories and 272 apartments. Click here for a story of why that proposal did not fly and for the zoning relief for the new plan given to the developers by the Board of Zoning Appeals last month.
In his presentation to the commission Wednesday night, project architect Jay Brotman offered some details: The lower levels will be made of pre-cast concrete. Above, brick will be used “to break down the scale and to harken back to [the look] old New Haven.”
The schematic drawing provided shows peaked roofs, but those will go, said Brotman. Instead of peaks, the building will have flat roofs to allow for installation of solar panels and other climate-smart features.
The commission’s aldermanic representative, Adam Marchand of Westville, asked why, when other downtown developers are configuring buildings to have less than one parking spot for each apartment, Landino plans a one-to-one ratio.
Centerplan’s Robert Landino and Yves Joseph.
The developer’s attorney, Anthony Avallone, said it was a marketing decision. If spaces are left vacant over time, “we can come back to the city” seeking relief from parking requirements, he said.
Landino and Centerplan’s Yves Joseph addressed traffic concerns. They said the entrance and exit from the garage will be from a single curb cut on George Street, with excellent visibility and natural gaps in the waves of traffic, since George is one-way.
“We have confirmed interest in [leasing the building’s new storefronts] the area. We have great confidence we’ll be able to lease these spaces,” said Joseph.
If all goes well, Landino said, they hope to break ground in the spring of next year and complete the building by the fall of 2015.