nothin $492K Clean-Up Grant App OK’d For St. Luke’s… | New Haven Independent

$492K Clean-Up Grant App OK’d For St. Luke’s Development

Markeshia Ricks Photo

St. Luke’s and the commercial complex it’s been working to transform for more than five years.

St. Luke’s Development Corp. got a step closer to making a long-awaited mixed-income housing near the intersection of Whalley Avenue, Sperry, and Dickerman streets a reality.

The Board of Alders Monday voted unanimously in support of the city applying for $492,000 from the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to clean up the site where the church organization plans to build affordable housing, commercial and community space.

The city determined it needed that money to clean up hazardous material and partial demolition of the properties associated with the development, according to a letter from city Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson.

Google Photo

The former Nizen Motor building is part of the transformation.

It has taken more than five years of jumping through zoning regulation hoops for St. Luke’s Development Corp. to move forward with the plans to build 28 multifamily, mixed-income housing units, three of which will be owner-occupied.The project will include ground-floor commercial space, a basement community access area, and a community garden. The construction os set to happen on property the development corporation, which has been working to improve the neighborhood surrounding the Whalley Avenue church, has purchased at 117 – 125, 129 Whalley Ave., and 16 Dickerman St., and property it will purchase in the next week under an option to purchase agreement for 34 – 36 Sperry St. and 10 – 12 Dickerman St.

Google Photo

So is this side lot next to Nizen Motor…

The project is one unified development from Whalley Avenue to Dickerman Street, with multiple structures sharing parking and open space. The Whalley Avenue properties would include a 45,000 square-foot four-story building with 28 affordable units, including 10 for the elderly, six studio apartments, and 12 two-bedroom apartments. The Sperry and Dickerman Street properties would feature one three-story structure with four apartments and on-site parking for 24 cars. (Read more about it here.)

Google Photo

… and this house at 16 Dickerman St.

St. Luke’s was granted approval in 2013 and a one-year extension on Nov.10, 2014, for a project that would have created 40 apartments instead of 28. But it couldn’t find financing for that at that time. The proposed height of the residential building on Whalley Avenue and the number of apartments was reduced to make it more affordable to build.

In a June 5 letter to alders, Nemerson said that the city had completed an environmental and hazardous building assessment of the site under a previous $200,000 grant from DECD and determined that it would take a grant of nearly half a million to clean up the site which includes a former automotive shop. St. Luke’s asked the city to proceed with applying for a grant that would aid the cleanup cost.

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