Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez: The Hill's happening.
Two affordable housing developments are a step closer to materializing in the Hill, along with the nearby revival of the old Coliseum site, thanks to approvals from the Board of Alders.
Alders voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve the following three items:
- A $995,600 Municipal Brownfield Grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to demolish and remediate the former Electrix lighting factory at 10 Liberty St. The city will pass this funding over to developer LMDX, which plans to build 150 units of below-market housing at the site. Read more here.
- The sale of a city-owned vacant lot at 756 – 762 Congress Ave. to Denise Keyes for $43,025. Keyes plans to build 20 below-market apartments there, geared toward elderly tenants. Read more here.
- Another state Municipal Brownfield Grant, worth $999,000, to clean up 265 South Orange St., on the border of Downtown and the Hill where the historic New Haven Coliseum once stood. The city will pass that funding onto developer Ancora Partners, which plans to construct a biotech center there. Read more here.
Hill South Alder Carmen Rodriguez, whose ward includes the forthcoming Coliseum revival and 10 Liberty St. projects, celebrated the approvals on Tuesday night — especially the Liberty Street housing, which she said would “make sure our residents are able to stay in the area.”
The three projects advanced on Tuesday are part of an influx of commercial and residential projects proposed for the Hill, in close proximity to the train station and Yale-New Haven Hospital. Other expected developments include the old Church Street South housing complex, a planned revitalization of Union Station, and another residential building by developer Randy Salvatore, new housing slated for Congress and Davenport, and the redevelopment of a former Hill Co-Op.
“It’s a very exciting time,” Rodriguez said. “I’m happy to see that the Hill’s the place to be.”