A Store … In West Rock?

As part of its massive West Rock redevelopment efforts, the city broke ground on a new project that will mark the return of a long-lost neighborhood feature: stores within walking distance.

The new project, dubbed the Wilmot Crossing At West Rock, is a 60,000 square-foot, 47-unit apartment building for seniors and people with disabilities. On the building’s ground floor, 9,800 square feet will be set aside for retail.

On Thursday afternoon, developers and officials from City Hall and the Housing Authority of New Haven HANH gathered in a vacant lot at the corner of Wilmot Road and Brookside Avenue. After remarks, they grabbed golden shovels and let ceremonial dirt fly.

Before the ceremony, Tom Dembinski, project manager for Girodano Construction, said the building will cost $12 million to construct and is expected to be ready for tenants in Spring 2013.

Years ago, the corner was occupied by a ​“dilapidated strip mall,” HANH commission chair Rev. J. Lawrence Turner told the assembled.

He was followed at the podium by Mayor John DeStefano and a representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, among others.

Esther Pearson and Maple Senior, two seniors from HANH’s Ribicoff apartments nearby, sat in the front row. Housing authority Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton cited Pearson for her work in the design phase of the new building. She’s part of the committee that has worked on the plans to redevelopment in West Rock.

“The plans are good,” Pearson said after the groundbreaking, still wearing her ceremonial hard hat. She said she pushed the developers to change the plans to make rooms and kitchens larger.

Fred Messore, who works for Colonial Properties, the company that will be leasing the retail space, said he’ll be working with tenants to bring in a store or stores that residents like.

Pearson said she’s hoping it will be a pharmacy or a bank, for the convenience of seniors.