Site plans for the development
Another parking lot is set to become an apartment building in the center of town, as the Downtown Wooster Square Community Management Team learned on Tuesday evening.
The lot to be converted sits at the southwestern corner of Crown Street and High Street. New Haven Towers, which owns the only two buildings on the block, is spearheading the development.
Crown Court at 129 York Street, visible in the background.
Dov Feinmesser of Newman Architects presented site plans for the project to management team members at their June meeting in City Hall . Feinmesser was joined by Shalom Andrusier, the architecture firm’s principal, as well as attorney Caleb F. Hamel of Susman, Duffy, and Segaloff.
New Haven Towers currently owns two apartment complexes on the block: Crown Towers at 123 York and Crown Court at 129 York. The two buildings meet at a right angle by the intersection of York and George. Inside the corner formed by the two buildings is a small courtyard for residents, which Feinmesser called “somewhat underused.”
Beyond those buildings, “Crown Street basically just stops,” Hamel said.
The remainder of the block, an L‑shaped area along the Crown and High Street intersection, currently functions as a parking lot.
New Haven Towers plans to build a seven-story building in the lot’s place. The building will contain132 apartments, most of which will be one-bedroom or two-bedroom units. On the ground floor, the building will offer retail and office space, as well as a parking garage in one section of the building that extends to the second floor.
In recent months, several other parking lots and gas stations in the vicinity have been slated to turn into apartment buildings.
The new building in relation to 123 York and 129 York.
The parking lot on Crown and High Streets.
Anstress Farwell, president of the New Haven Urban Design League, welcomed the plans, noting that the area has several parking garages that are “such an eyesore.”
“Activating the street is such an important thing,” Farwell said, referring to George Street. “It’s an area that really needs a lot more liveliness.”
Farwell encouraged the architects to carefully consider the aesthetic components of the materials they would use in the construction process, saying that recently-developed buildings in the area tended to be “dull, gray colors.” Feinmesser agreed.
Architects’ renderings.
One community member asked whether the architects plan to optimize the energy efficiency of the buildings.
“I’m not gonna tell you that we’re using the cleanest materials possible,” Feinmesser answered. But he said that the architects are trying. He said that Newman Architects recently made a commitment to the 2030 challenge, which sets sustainable energy standards for architects with an ultimate goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. “So this is a priority,” Feinmesser said.
The team will present site plans before the City Plan Commission. Architects anticipate that construction will begin in mid-September.