168 More Apartments On The Rise In Dixwell

“We are building, building, building,” Mayor Justin Elicker declared before the rising metal skeleton of what will eventually become 168 mixed-income apartments, in a part of the city rendered nearly unrecognizable by a flood of new housing construction.

The once-vacant lot on the corner of Canal, Ashmun, and Henry Streets is now an active construction site, its patchy grass replaced with a layer of rocks, a mound of dirt, and the scaffolding for a future five-story apartment complex.

City officials gathered in brutal heat on Wednesday in front of the Dixwell construction site at 222 Canal St. to celebrate progress on the long-awaited development, which has been in the works since 2016.

The press conference highlighted the fact that 58 of the 168 forthcoming housing units will be considered ​“affordable” — an example of what Elicker hailed as ​“inclusive growth.” 

Specifically, 10 apartments will be reserved for Section 8 voucher holders, 15 units will be reserved for tenants making up to 50 percent of the Area Median Income (for example, a family of four making $57,350 in 2023), and the rest will be reserved for tenants making up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income (for example, a family of four making $91,750 in 2023).

When it came to the number of affordable housing units, ​“it was a very, very intense negotiation,” reflected developer Yves Joseph, of RJ Development & Advisors LLC.

Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, who pressed RJ Development to increase the number of affordable units in the complex, praised Joseph for working to provide more units at below-market rates.

“This being a majority African-American, Black community, people have been taken advantage of,” said Morrison. ​“It is important that people can live in this community — can stay. People are gonna have luxurious apartments right here in Dixwell — and not have to pay” exorbitant rents.

Joseph, meanwhile, heralded the ​“public-private partnership” behind the project, which received both a local tax break and American Rescue Plan funding in order to fill financing gaps.

According to Joseph, two-thirds of construction workers at the site, managed by Whiting Turner, are Black, Latino, and/or women, and almost 20 percent are New Haven residents. 

Livable City Initiative Director Arlevia Samuel recalled working with Joseph from the project’s inception in 2016, and pushing through numerous bumps in the road. ​“I told you we’d get here,” she said to Joseph. ​“Job well done, bro.”