CORA LEWIS PHOTO
Farwell questions Caico and Forlenza.
Comcast’s Chapel Street building might come down in 2014 to make way for luxury apartments, as housing continues to sprout at the edges of downtown and Wooster Square.
Spinnaker Residential LLC, based out of Fairfield, revealed plans Tuesday night to buy the 250,000-square-foot Comcast property at 630 – 673 Chapel and replace it with ground-floor storefronts and four stories of apartments, supported by a mix of off- and on-street parking.
Frank Caico and Mark Forlenza, principals with the company, spoke to some 20 neighbors at at the monthly meeting of the Downtown/Wooster Square management team, held at City Hall. The developers said they wanted to “say hello,” reveal the plans, and test the waters before formally seeking zoning approval.
They promised to market the the apartments to “first-choice renters,” who include young professionals, empty-nesters, and people making career changes.
“These groups tend to be people who can afford a single-family home in the suburbs but are choosing to rent, in order to be closer to cultural resources and entertainment – people who want a walkable experience,” Caico said.
The project would likely total about 200 apartments, both one- and two-bedrooms, with rent comparable to that of apartments at the 360 State Street tower, starting at $1,500 or $1,800. The immediate area has seen a boom in upscale housing, first in the conversion of the old Strouse-Adler factory on Olive Street, then 360 State St.
“We see this as a transitional area between downtown and central business district and Wooster Street area, and we’re trying to do something to make the connection between the two areas,” said Caico.
Currently, the Comcast building is underutilized, they said: “It’s pretty dead. It’s boarded-up storefronts and a vacant lot.” Caico said Spinnaker would try to “activate the street, create more of a lively place for pedestrians.” Firestone, next door, is not part of the land purchase or development proposal.
The new building would rise five stories, more than twice as tall as the Comcast building and comparable to the Yale Surgical building at Olive and Chapel.
Wooster Square Alderman-Elect Aaron Greenberg noted that some of Spinnaker’s previous work, such as in South Norwalk and Portland (Oregon), involved adaptive reuse of industrial buildings. “This [visualization] does not look a lot like the Comcast building,” he said. Forlenza agreed that they would not be reusing much, if any, of the existing structure.
Caico explained that this is a wholly private deal. “We’re looking for about the same as what is allowed under current zoning,” he clarified. But he said the current zoning does not allow mixed-use or residential, so the developers will seek that permission from the zoning board.
Spinnaker has not yet purchased the building. But if the developers receive the approval they seek, they will go through with the buy, he said. Construction, from start to finish, would take an estimated 18 months.
“In general, there has been no negative impact to property values in other locations. I think it’ll have a positive effect on the neighborhood from a valuation standpoint,” said Forlenza.
In terms of amenities, the developers envision a roof deck, an interior landscaped courtyard. “The building looks like a doughnut,” Forlenza said. They also envision a fitness center and a coffee shop.
Comcast is looking to relocate within the area. “They have not been a good neighbor. We’re not sorry to see them go,” said one neighbor.
After the meeting, Anstress Farwell of the Urban Design League pitched the idea of rebuilding a bridge that use to connect Crown Street downtown to Union Street (and the general vicinity of this project) over the railroad tracks. She later sent in this reaction to Tuesday night’s presentation:
“This project has started the public review process squarely on the right foot. We only saw two preliminary elevations, and no site plan, so the information available at this point doesn’t support a definitive statement. But it was enough to start a conversation, and the developers were very engaged with us all. The scale, style, and materials shown were well thought out, complementing the character of historic and modern buildings in the area, while creating a distinct and fresh design. The architects seized the rare opportunity opportunity to shape a whole streetscape with good, solid, warm, classic urban insular-type buildings.
“The proof of the pudding will be creating a new zoning tool to foster the appropriate development of places in New Haven where the scale and uses need to form a transition zone, built out with 3 – 5 story mixed use buildings between high density, commercial and institutional districts, like Downtown and the Medical Area, and low scale, close-knit neighborhoods. We tried and failed to get City Hall to take the time to do this during the debacle of the RMS development on Chapel and Howe. The City rushed through an inappropriate zone for that area — the Downtown BD‑1 zone. By doing so, double damage was done — a low quality project was pushed forward on a site which was much too important for a second rate job, and the area will now continue to struggle with the wrong zone, until it is hopefully changed.”