New Haven Independent

The Christie Wareck company, which developed these high-end lofts downtown, has plans to turn a three-acre lot in an industrial zone of State Street into a mixture of retail and 139 rental units. To do so, developers are seeking a zoning variance to allow retail and housing in a light industrial zone, as well as front yard setbacks on Mechanic Street. Christie Wareck brought a small team to a special East Rock Management Team meeting Monday to garner neighborhood support for the plans before they come before the Board of Zoning Appeals next Tuesday.

The lot sits in a wedge between Mechanic and State Streets, between the residential East Rock neighborhood, the commercial State Street corridor, and the Blake Field park. The warehouse, at 1040-1070 State St. and 49-53 Mechanic St., was most recently used by the Star Supply Co., an air conditioning supplier. Built in 1875 as a commercial laundry facility, the complex is now one of the few vacant buildings left in an area where property values are surging. The boarded-up facade deadens most of one side of Mechanic Street (pictured).

Christie Wareck wants to keep this brick building, which wraps around State to Mechanic, and turn it into a strip of retail to match the nearby State Street stores. No Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts, said Andrea Christie Pizziconi, a partner in the Christie Wareck development company with John Wareck. She’s thinking little boutiques or cafés.

The rest of the complex (all except the tan-colored buildings in picture) would be leveled and replaced with housing. On Mechanic Street would sit three townhouse-height facades.

The back lot, facing Blake Field, would hold three clusters of four- and five-story apartment buildings with elevators. The space would also hold an art gallery and six live-in artists’ studios.

Developers wouldn’t say how much the rent would be, but 20 to 30 percent of the apartments would be “affordable” — available to people making 50 percent of the area median income, said Pizziconi. She hopes to attract artists and grad students.

The 20-person crowd gathered in the East Rock Magnet School Monday applauded the idea of turning the warehouse into housing. The main concerns arose over parking. Developers plan to add 192 spaces: A three-story, 172-space parking garage will sit in the middle of the complex. Only the top story will be visible, at roughly the same height as the other interior building now, said project architect Laura Turlington of the Pirie Turlington architecture firm in New Haven. That garage would be supplemented by a 20-space surface lot on State Street.

Would the influx of residents worsen a parking crunch on commercial State Street? one nearby businesswoman wondered. Was there enough 20-minute, temporary parking for shoppers rushing in to boutiques? someone else wondered. Pizziconi (pictured) responded that the ratio of parking spaces to apartments, 193 to 139, would be sufficient. Wareck responded the plans create a “balance” of high-density housing and parking with green spaces. Developers see the green spaces inside as a place for neighborly mingling, as well as a public walkway from Mechanic Street through the site to the nearby parks.

After a Q & A, developers left, and a dozen East Rockers stayed to discuss. “I’m very encouraged by it — I think it’s the right move for State Street,” said local landowner Bob Frew. “The density is a bit too much, but if they need that to justify their capital expense, then that’s all right.” Frew, who founded the now-defunct State Street Merchants Association, would like to see the project catalyze the association’s revival, perhaps leading to sidewalk or lighting improvements.

“This is a terrific and exciting thing for State Street,” said Ward 9 Democratic aldermanic candidate Roland Lemar . He suggested neighbors seize the moment to ask developers for community benefits, such as sidewalk improvements on Mechanic Street and nearby city streets.

Others wondered if the plans should comply with density requirements for a residential zone. The meeting ended with a unanimous vote “to support the project in concept while expressing concerns about density and parking and inquires if the site should be rezoned high density residential. Community improvements should be an integral part of the project.”

Developers take plans to the BZA on Oct. 10. If the plans pass, they’ll buy the building, hoping for a late winter construction start, to be completed after about two years.