Kenneth Boroson Architects
Northside’s proposed new mid-block complex at 842-848 Chapel.
Bailey File Photo
At the scene of the 2007 blaze.
A surface parking lot at the heart of downtown may soon boast a new six-story complex with 120 apartments — some as small as 400 square feet and renting for $1,250 a month.
Northside Development Company Founder and President Paul Denz gave that update on his plans to the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team (DWSCMT) on Tuesday night during its regular monthly meeting on the second floor of City Hall.
Denz, Northside Chief Operating Officer Christopher Vigilante, and local architect Kenneth Boroson pitched the 40 neighbors present on Northside’s new proposed development for 842 – 848 Chapel St. The half-acre parcel bounded by Chapel Street and Center Street between Orange Street and Church Street is currently a surface parking lot. It has been vacant ever since a fire ripped through the historic Kresge department store building soon after Denz bought the property in 2007.
Thomas Breen photos
Paul Denz (right) and Christopher Vigilante at Tuesday’s meeting.
“We believe the project as planned is pretty transformative” in taking a currently empty parcel and converting it into a 120-unit apartment complex, Denz said.
“The units are a little small,” he admitted. “We are trying to keep this project affordable for renters who want to live downtown.”
Northside’s proposal is up for site plan review at Wednesday night’s City Plan Commission meeting on the second floor of City Hall. (Update: The commission approved the plan.)
The Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team on Tuesday night,
Denz, Vigilante, and Boroson explained that the proposed complex will consist of ground-floor retail, five floors of apartments, and underground parking. The complex will contain 66 studios, 41 one-bedroom apartments, and 13 two-bedrooms. It will include 55 parking spaces for cars and 45 parking spaces for bicycles.
Vigilante said that the studios will likely range from 400 to 450 square feet, the one-bedrooms will range from 700 to 750 square feet, and the two-bedrooms will be around 1,300 square feet. He said the smallest studio apartments will likely rent at $1,200 to $1,250 per month, and the complex will charge separately for parking.
Architect Kenneth Boroson.
“It is new construction, so we can’t price it too low,” said Denz, who also owns the 18-story First Niagara office building at 195 Church St. Downtown. Vigilante said the proposed development will present more affordable “mid-step” market-rate rentals when compared to upscale apartments at the nearby Palladium Building and 360 State St. complexes.
He added that Northside also owns the adjacent property stretching to the corner of Orange Street and Chapel Street, including the building that currently houses Footlocker. He said the next phase of development for this site will likely bring 50 to 60 apartments to the corner of Orange and Chapel.
Anstress Farwell.
New Haven Urban Design League President Anstress Farwell asked if Northside could add some color or art or architectural ornament to the proposed building’s side facade facing Orange Street, so that passerby aren’t stuck with a big empty gray hovering over the block.
Vigilante said he is open to the suggestion. “We’re still working on it,” he said about the design of the side facade.
Kenneth Boroson Architects
The Center Street facade of Northside’s proposed development.
Carmen Mendez, the Livable City Initiative (LCI) neighborhood specialist for Downtown and Wooster Square, asked Denz about his company’s relationship with the Dollar Tree located in the building at 852 Chapel St., right next door to Northside’s property.
“Dollar Tree is not a good operation,” Denz said. He said, from what he has heard, Dollar Tree has given its landlord notice that it will be closing its Chapel Street location sometime within the next 12 months.
He said that Dollar Tree currently pays very little to rent from the building’s owner and that whatever retail Denz is able to bring into the ground floor of 842 – 848 Chapel is bound to make 852 Chapel a more attractive retail location as well.
Thomas Breen photo
Miriam Grossman.
Downtown resident Miriam Grossman asked Denz how his proposed development will affect the bus stop on Chapel Street between Orange and Church.
“I like my shopping at Dollar Tree,” she added.
Denz said he is aware of the citywide conversations about the potential relocation of bus stops and reconfiguration of the entire bus system away from the current hub-and-spoke model that currently prioritizes the Green. However, he said, he has no control over what the city and the state ultimately decide to do regarding that particular bus stop, or any other bus stops.
“The bus stop is not in my purview,” he said.