Thomas Breen pre-pandemic photo
New day coming: ConnCAT’s Clemons pitches project at public meeting.
Dixwell Plaza’s planned redevelopment took a key step forward as alders voted to sell two parcels in the decaying mid-century shopping strip to a local team that plans to build apartments, stores, and cultural venues in the heart of New Haven’s historic Black neighborhood.
That unanimous vote occurred Tuesday night during the latest bimonthly meeting of the full Board of Alders. The virtual meeting was held online via Zoom and YouTube Live.
The vote represented one of the most significant advancements yet for an estimated $200 million redevelopment project that promises to build up the fraying, decades-old commercial condos on Dixwell Avenue between Webster Street and Charles Street with a grocery store, 150-plus apartments, an office tower, a performing arts venue, and more.
The project must now win approvals from the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Plan Commission before the redevelopers can begin construction.
ConnCORP LLC
Prospective designs for ConnCAT Place.
“This is about lives. This is about jobs opportunities. This is about growth,” Beaver Hills Alder and Community Development Committee Chair Brian Wingate said in support of the deal. “I really believe we need this in the community at this time.”
Prospect Hill/Newhallville/Dixwell Alder Steve Winter, who represents the area that includes the current Dixwell Plaza, agreed: “This Development and Land Disposition Agreement [DLDA] lays a strong foundation for what promises to be a transformative development.”
“This is really going to be a plus-plus for the Dixwell community,” Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison said. “This is the time for Dixwell. This is the time to ensure that the Dixwell community has all of the amenities that it needs.”
As part of the amended DLDA approved Tuesday night, the city will sell the current Stetson Library building at 200 Dixwell Ave. and the city police substation building at 26 Charles St. to ConnCORP LLC for $750,000. (The library is moving across the street to the new Q House, current under construction.)
ConnCORP is a for-profit subsidiary of the Science Park-based job training nonprofit Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT) that has spent the past few years buying up condos in the Dixwell Plaza complex.
The DLDA then requires the redevelopers to build at least 150 new residential units — with 20 percent set aside at deed-restricted affordable rates — and at least 50,000 square feet of new commercial space.
Zoom
Tuesday night’s Board of Alders virtual meeting.
Those are the minimum requirements for a proposed development that the community-rooted lead backers — including Carlton Highsmith, Erik Clemons, and Paul McCraven — have promised will include much, much more.
The project, to be built out across two phases, will include ConnCAT’s new headquarters, a child daycare site, a grocery store, a food hall with restaurants and spaces for locally run food businesses, a banquet hall that would host receptions and concerts and other artistic events, a 30,000 square-foot outdoor plaza, up to 350 underground parking spaces, a fitness center, a slew of other retail storefronts, a 150-unit multi-family apartment tower, a 350-seat performing arts center, a 50,000 square-foot office building, an above-ground 240-space parking garage, and 15 to 20 townhouses designed for affordable homeownership.
The DLDA also requires the redevelopers to set aside 20 percent of new residential units — or no less than 30 units in total — at “affordable” rates. Half of that affordable allotment must be reserved for tenants earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), and the other half for tenants earning no more than 60 percent AMI.
More Job Training, More $ For Q House
Dixwell Plaza, soon to disappear.
As part of Tuesday night’s vote, the alders approved an amendment introduced by Winter that included several changes to the initial DLDA based on community feedback and criticism during last month’s public hearing.
The amendment, which can be read in full here and which was unanimously approved by the Board of Alders Tuesday, stipulates that:
• The city shall host three job training cohorts for Dixwell neighborhood and city residents. Two of those training cohorts will be training for skilled construction trades, and one for laborers. The training cohorts shall be organized and coordinated by the city’s Small Contractor Development program.
• The developer shall host four job fairs across the two phases of the project. In each of those phases, the developer shall host one job fair to promote contracting jobs created by the construction of the project, and one job fair to promote and familiarize the public with permanent jobs to be created as part of the development. Those latter jobs could include jobs with ConnCAT, maintenance of the facility, and at the grocery store, among other jobs.
• The city shall set aside $100,000 of the $750,000 Dixwell Plaza sale proceeds into the Q House Development Fund.
• The police substation at 24 Charles St. will remain in its current location throughout Phase One and until demolition starts for Phase Two of the project. That’s not anticipated to begin until December 2021. Upon demolition of the existing Charles Street building, the developer will work with the city to temporarily relocate the substation on the site during construction, and then come up with a long-term on-site spot when construction is done.
• The city and the developer will host a charette-style design review to present the project design to the community and to solicit feedback from residents in the area.
More info on related issues, organizations:
• Empower underserved communities in Connecticut
• Learn about New Haven community wealth-building initiatives
• organizations that support community development