ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS
The proposed new lab and office tower at 101 College.
A planned new bioscience lab and office tower to be built at 101 College St. will be between 350,000 and 550,000 square feet large, cost the developer roughly $100 million to construct, create upwards of 1,000 new permanent jobs, and include a privately-owned public plaza and a maximum of 175 on-site parking spaces.
Those details, and many more, are contained within a package of documents submitted Monday by the city’s economic development administrator to the Board of Alders. They spell out a proposed Development and Land Disposition Agreement (DLDA) among the city, the city’s parking authority, and WE 101 College Street LLC.
The proposed DLDA concerns the development of 101 College St. by Winstanley Enterprises, the Massachusetts-headquartered firm that also built the 14-story, 513,000 square foot laboratory, research and office building across the street at 100 College St., also known as the Alexion Building.
The project would coincide with Phase 3 of Downtown Crossing, the city’s federally funded efforts to stitch back together the Hill and Downtown neighborhoods through infill development, new city blocks, and reconfigured traffic patterns that seek to undo the Urban Renewal-era Rt. 34 connector.
According to the proposed DLDA documents, the state has agreed to contribute $8 million towards public improvements associated with the project. That’s on top of the $20 million federal “TIGER” grant already received by the city for all three phases of Downtown Crossing, upwards of an additional $10 million needed to complete an extension of Temple Street, upwards of $1.5 million in parking authority-financed improvements to the Temple Street Garage, and between $10 million and $12 million more from the city to cover other on-site public improvements.
“Economic conditions remain very uncertain and there is of course the potential that the Project simply cannot move forward due to ongoing issues with the pandemic,” city development chief Michael Piscitelli wrote in the DLDA submission cover letter. “Even with this uncertainty, I believe it is better for us to prepare and to take the necessary steps that will be needed to re-establish our strong economic base.”
Click here, here, here, here, and here to read the documents submitted as part of the proposed DLDA package.
Other 101 College St. plan details include:
• The developer will create a 101 College Street Community Benefits Fund, to which the developer must contribute a minimum of $400,000 after closing on its purchase of the public land. If the developer plans to construct a building over 500,000 square-feet large, the developer must make an additional contribution to the fund equal to one dollar for each useable square foot of the building in excess of 400,000 gross square feet.
• The developer can use the as-of-right city tax assessment deferral program and the state enterprise zone program, but taxes will be due from the start and then be phased in further. It must pay all those taxes and assessments. If the developer sells the property to a tax-exempt nonprofit, the parcel “shall be treated as taxable through a PILOT [Payment In Lieu Of Taxes] agreement for a period of 30 years from the effective date.”
• The developer shall “endeavor to create” a 50,000 square-foot incubator space in the building that will be made available at discounted rates to tenants qualifying through small business programs operated by the Elm City Innovation Collaborative, the New Haven Small Business Academy, iHaven, and Gateway Community College. That incubator space will also include classroom space for use by the New Haven Public Schools for STEM academic programs, made available at no charge for a minimum of 10 years from the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the building.
• The city will work with Career High School and Gateway Community College to set up an “innovation workforce pipeline” focused on preparing students to study biosciences at the college level. The developer shall also partner with New Haven Works to develop skill profiles, host three career open house events, and establish a protocol for job postings and candidate referrals regarding support services work associated with the operation and management of the building, parking structure, and on-site public improvements.
• The developer must take a “climate awareness approach to the construction of the building, the parking structure, and the 101 College St. Plaza and it must provide the city with a copy of its Climate Resiliency Plan prior to requesting a certificate of completion.
• The city and the developer shall work on developing a “Buy Local” resource guide and outreach opportunities for tapping into local vendors during the construction and subsequent operation of the building.
• The 101 College St. Plaza shall be open to the public, shall not be fenced in, and shall allow for permitted temporary events and performances as well as “a mix of quiet, passive and social active group spaces.”
According to the DLDA documentation, Winstanley has developed over one million square feet of lab and office space in New Haven, including 100 College St., 300 College St., 25 Science Park, 275 Winchester Ave., and 344 Winchester Ave.