Aliyya Swaby Photo
IRIS’ current offices at 235 Nicoll St.
New Haven’s refugee resettlement not-for-profit is moving a block up Nicoll Street and getting twice the amount of space — and the use of an elevator.
Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), currently based out of 235 Nicoll St., got the go-ahead from the Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday night to move its offices into part of a storage unit warehouse at 285 Nicoll St.
The resettlement agency requested a variance to use about 8,000 square feet of space on the second floor of the five-story building, in a light industrial district. High-end gymnasium mActivity received permission to open in another part of the warehouse in December 2014.
Zoning staff agreed that IRIS’ presence in the building would not affect parking in the area or change the neighborhood’s character.
Chris George, director of IRIS, told the Independent he was excited to finally “have an elevator” after eight years in a building without one. The agency will also have more room to install much-needed “public space,” allowing refugees access to computers, a library, and larger child-care areas. It will be easy to manage the move to 235 Nicoll St., since the two buildings are just a block away, he said.
East Rock resident and IRIS volunteer Kevin McCarthy (pictured) spoke up in favor of the move. No one spoke against it.
Board members unanimously passed the variance.