Markeshia Ricks Photo
Mayor Toni Harp joins developer Nancy Greenberg in a ground breaking ceremony at 703 Whitney Avenue.
Forty-two luxury apartments are coming to the former Whitney Avenue headquarters of the Red Cross.
Mayor Toni Harp and her economic development staff joined developer Nancy Greenberg Wednesday to break ground on the planned transformation of the 116-year-old mansion at 703 Whitney Ave.
From Red Cross headquarters to Whitney Modern luxury apartments.
The East Rock single-family home originally belonged to a turn of the century merchant who later sold it to a doctor who in turn sold it to the Red Cross. The site became available a little over two years ago. Greenberg, who lives nearby on Highland Street, was among the developers with an eye on snapping it up.
Courtesy Fernando Pastor
The new rear entrance for 703 Whitney Ave.
Greenberg said Tuesday that other developers were interested in maximizing the value of the site by building new. She wanted to preserve the building as well as build new. She ultimately was able to buy it for $1.6 million. On Tuesday she got to show off the progress to city officials.
“It’s hard to believe that this moment has arrived,” she said. “It has been a long time in development.”
Harp.
Greenberg’s team consists of architect Fernando Pastor, who has designed the transformation of the mansion into seven apartments; and architect Peter Gluck, who is handling the design of a new building that will contain the 35 remaining apartments next door. A carriage house in the back of the property will become an amenity space featuring a fitness center, meeting space, and a library. The apartments will be one and two-bedroom units and rent at market rate. The development is expected to open some time next fall.
“This is going to be a lovely place to live whether you’re coming here to stay for a few years or downsizing from a home and wanting to stay in the same place,” Greenberg said. “I’m excited to be right down the street so I don’t have to commute.
“I’m proud to be part of this thriving place that is going to be New Haven 2.0,” she added.
Apartments will be in the historic house and in this new structure next door.
GLUCK+ Architecture
A rendering of those future apartment building next door.
Mayor Harp arp called the future “Whitney Modern,” as the development is being called, is a metaphor for what’s happening all over the city as older properties are made new through redevelopment.
“Cities have always been the center of commerce and now … thousands of people are looking to move here to be close to that center,” Harp said.
The historic home featured in a 1903 edition of Scientific American Building Monthly.
Click the Facebook Live video below to see the press conference.