Christopher Peak Photo
1303 Chapel.
Attorney Miguel Almodovar makes case for variance.
A proposed luxury rehab in the Chapel West district could soon stack tenants into under-300-square-foot units while allowing them to also spread out on a rooftop deck, a fitness center and a cinema.
But first, the idea of pairing tiny living spaces with lavish amenities needs a variance from the zoning board — over planning staff’s recommendation of a denial.
Developer Eyal Preis, operating through a limited liability corporation based on the South Shore of Long Island, is seeking permission to convert the building at 1303 Chapel St., a three-story, Second Empire-style structure built in 1900, into 19 residential apartments. (Preis is also the force behind the construction of 80 studios and one-bedroom apartments at 69 – 75 Daggett St., a former factory building where artists had been living illegally until the city cleared them out in 2015.) The architects plan keep the historic facade, while divvying up the interior and adding a three-story addition to the rear that will sit above surface parking.
City planners objected that Preis is trying to squeeze too an “excessive” number of units into a 13,000-square-foot project. Crunching the numbers, that’s an average size of 684 square feet per unit — far below the new zoning regulation’s density requirements of a minimum average size of 1,000 square feet per unit, they pointed out. (That doesn’t mean each unit has to hit the minimum, they clarified, only that the average across the structure’s gross floor area, including hallways, reaches that threshold.)
Architect Robert Mangino shows how the project will add 5,000 square feet to the historic building.
At the Zoning Board of Appeals’ meeting on Tuesday night, the developer’s lawyer said that the residential project would reinvigorate a gutted property that once housed the offices of the AIDS Interfaith Network.
“Our hope is to revitalize a currently vacant property and add beauty to the up-and-coming Chapel West neighborhood,” said attorney Miguel Almodovar. He added that the proposed apartment complex reflects the “live-work-play philosophy that’s been so successful at other developments like the Novella and the Corsair.”
The board members saw a glaring problem: “Why doesn’t this work at 13 units?” asked Ben Trachten, the zoning board’s chair.
Almodovar argued that the property is in a tough spot, as the lot is split between two zoning districts, RM‑2’s medium-density residential and BA’s general commercial, justifying a variance. “There’s a hardship in that [the split in zones] limits the commercial viability of the property,” he said. Because of that, “we’re seeking to create a working residential space on the property.”
“What’s the hardship though?” board member Charles Decker pressed.
Almodovar said he’d never encountered a situation like this in his practice.
Patricia King, another board member, still wasn’t satisfied with the explanation. It might be unusual, but why is this split a hardship? she asked.
“It’s our assessment that it limits the use in a commercial capacity. Therefore, we’re doubling down on the residential aspect in this manner,” Almodovar answered.
Board members Ben Trachten and Charles Decker: What exactly is the hardship?
While the board members didn’t take the discussion further — they’ll be voting at their next meeting — Tom Talbot, the deputy zoning director, interjected. “If you look at that floor plan for the existing house, they’ve cut it up into units that are in some cases 300 square feet in area. The units are too small,” he said. “Unless they clearly demonstrated that the new regulations don’t allow for the fair development of the property, there is not any hardship here in terms of additional units.”
Separately, Preis’s team also asked for a special exception to allow for only 12 on-site parking spaces where 19 are technically required.
Melissa Izzo, operations director at Amistad Academy Elementary School, where the playground abuts the property, voiced concerns that a lack of parking could “add to the congestion of these streets and affect the safety of our students during pick up and drop off.” She suggested preventing parking during school hours or, as she preferred, securing additional off-site parking.
Planning staff, however, agreed with the applicants that incoming residents might not have cars anyway. The area is within walking distance from Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital and is well-served by public transit, on the Q and F bus routes, Karyn Gilvarg, the city’s top planner noted. On Wednesday night, the City Plan Commission agreed unanimously to send a positive report back to the zoning board.
The approval was a small step forward for Preis’s team, but a far bigger challenge awaits when they’re scheduled to reappear before the zoning board in September. Just before the vote, Gilvarg warned commissioners that their approval might not matter, “I’m just telling you, don’t be surprised if [zoning board members] don’t vote affirmatively on the variance.”
That stair tower glued to the front of the building is a tragedy in and of itself.