NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – Plans are set for a new apartment complex to be built in New Haven. It will go in the parking lot Frontier uses near the intersection of Orange and Grove Streets.
Zoi’s on Orange Street is right across the street from that parking lot.
“I hope for an increase in business,” said owner Pete Maniatis. “More residents means potentially more customers – even the construction guys coming downtown.”
The complex is expected to have about 270 units. The vacancy rate in New Haven has been as low as 2 percent. City officials are hoping the complex will help with that, and that it will help the city grow.
“Cities are where the action [is]. We think there could be 10,000 more people living in New Haven,” said Matthew Nemerson, Development Administrator for the City of New Haven.
Even though the complex would be built over hundreds of parking spaces the city says that would not create a parking shortage.
“They’re going to actually build a large 7-story parking garage right in the middle of the site and then wrap it with the housing, so you won’t even know it’s there,” said Nemerson.
There will be parking for Frontier employees and for the public after they’re gone for the day. There will also be parking for the residents. Apartments will cost about $2,000 per month. Though no affordable housing units are planned now, they could be included in the next phase of the project.
“We’re looking at people who could live in New York or San Francisco or Boston,” said Nemerson. “For them when they see all that New Haven and Connecticut has to offer they actually think it’s pretty cheap.”
The work is expected to start this spring and take about a year and a half. Even if the area is under construction, Maniatis thinks the new building will be good for New Haven.
“I think that’s awesome,” Maniatis said. “It brings a lot of people downtown. There’s always more people – that always feels safer. And it’s always more exciting.”
