ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS
The planned new 101 College St. biotower.
Alders unanimously approved a public land deal and underlying zoning updates designed to enable the development of a new 10-story, 500,000 square-foot bioscience lab and office tower to be built atop the former Route 34 Connector.
Local legislators took those votes Monday night during the latest full Board of Alders meeting, which was held online via the Zoom videoconferencing platform as City Hall remains largely closed to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The alders threw their support behind the planned new 101 College St. with two sets of unanimous votes.
The first approved an amended Development and Land Disposition Agreement (DLDA) among the city, the city’s parking authority, and a holding company owned by the Massachusetts-based developer Winstanley Enterprises for the 1.75-acre parcel bounded by College Street, South Frontage Road, Temple Street, and M.L.K., Jr. Boulevard.
At that location, right across the street from the Winstanley-built Alexion Building at 100 College St., the developer plans to construct a new 350,000 to 550,00 square-foot lab and office tower with a 20,000 square-foot privately owned public plaza on the east side and no more than 175 on-site parking spaces.
Click here and here to read more about the project, which will include dedicated classroom space, a new “innovation workforce pipeline” for local high school students, incubator space, and at least a $500,000 contribution by Winstanley to a “Together, We Grow” community benefits fund.
The amended DLDA approved Monday night also includes Winstanley’s agreement to pay up to $200,000 towards infill work that either the city or developer will do to reopen the currently closed section of Columbus Avenue that runs through the former Church Street South complex.
Zoom
Monday night’s Board of Alders meeting.
The second 101 College St.-enabling vote taken by the alders Monday night was in support of a series of environmentally-friendly zoning updates to the BD‑3 Central Business / Mixed Use district. The changes would allow developers to build larger in the city’s Rt. 34 “bioscience corridor,” where 101 College is slated to be built, by allowing for a higher floor area ratio (FAR) in exchange for the use of green building methods, ecoroofs, and the inclusion of public plazas. Click here and here to read more about those zoning changes.
The next step for the project is site plan review by the City Plan Commission. Winstanley Enterprises Principal Carter Winstanley has said at previous public meetings on 101 College that he hopes to begin construction on the project by August.
Beaver Hills Alder and Community Development Committee Chair Brian Wingate praised the planned development for potentially bringing millions of dollars in economic activity to the region, thousands of temporary construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs to the city, and for boosting bioscience education and workforce training prospects for local students.
“We’ve had community benefits agreements before,” he said. “This one raised the bar. Hopefully, we have more like this in the future.”
Hill Alder Ron Hurt described the project as a “great victory in the Board of Alders’ long campaign to secure good jobs for New Haven residents,” in no small part because of a recently inked agreement between Winstanley and New Haven Works that calls on the developer to prioritize hiring locally for the project.
And Downtown Alder Abby Roth said that 101 College, like the larger Downtown Crossing project of which it is one component part, will help stitch back together the Hill and Downtown, which for decades have been severed by the never-completed Route 34 Connector mini-highway-to-nowhere.
“Planning for New Haven’s future amid the challenges associated with the Covid-19 public health crisis is difficult but vital for our future,” Mayor Justin Elicker stated in a email press release sent out after the two 101 College St. votes.
“Our foremost priority continues to be managing and mitigating the devastating effects of this pandemic; however, we must continue to move forward to further establish New Haven as a significant bio-cluster hub in the State and innovation is the key to spark growth and create a significant rebound for our local economy,” he concluded.
Click here to read an 18-page summary of the 101 College St. project.