Thomas MacMillan Photo
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects
As plans shape up for a new 268-apartment development at a sprawling abandoned building in East Rock, Stefanie Lapetina wonders if she’ll soon have a seven-story tower looming over her backyard, or new neighbors’ cars taking all the parking on her street.
Lapetina (pictured), who lives on Mechanic Street, said she welcomes plans to revive the long vacant brick Star Supply building at the corner of Lawrence and State streets — in theory.
Whether she’ll welcome how it plays out in practice is an open question.
The Star Supply property has been vacant or underused for years. It’s now under contract for purchase by Ben Gross, a Yale law school grad who’s leading a team of New York-based developers. Plans call for the construction of 268 apartments, mostly one-bedrooms or studios. Gross said he doesn’t know yet how much the project would cost.
Click here to take a look at the plans.
The project needs special zoning relief for a residential use in an industrial zone, and fewer parking spaces and smaller side and rear yards than are required by ordinance. The Board of Zoning Appeals will hear Gross’s zoning request at its next meeting.
Meanwhile, East Rock Alderwoman Jessica Holmes (pictured) has organized neighbors like Lapetina to make sure neighborhood concerns are heard and addressed. Among the worries: parking, density, neighborhood character, building size, and retail use.
Gross, who’s 29, has twice visited the local Community Management Team to discuss his plans. He attended a special neighborhood meeting that Holmes put together on Feb. 24. He said he’s committed to listening to neighbors.
Gross’ plan calls for the construction of four “townhouses” on Mechanic Street and the construction of a large E‑shaped building on State Street reaching six or seven stories tall. The “flagship” space on Lawrence Street (pictured) would be filled with retail on the first floor and commercial space on the second. It’s too early to know what sort of business would go into the 7,000-square-foot retail space, Gross said.
“I’d always thought it would be a great spot for a bank,” he said. Holmes said neighbors had mentioned a bank as a good possible addition to the area.
Allan Appel Photo
“It’s definitely a medium- to high-density project,” Gross (pictured) said. Because of the cost of developing the site, it would need to have 268 apartments in order to be economically feasible, he said. A 2006 plan for the site called for only 139 units, and didn’t get built, Gross said.
“I view the density as good for the neighborhood,” he said.
The development would likely be home to grad students and young faculty from Yale and other universities along with “other professional folks in New Haven,” he said.
Holmes said neighbors are concerned about the development’s “impact on the character of the neighborhood.” She said the area is currently the most diverse in East Rock, which is already a popular neighborhood for young Yale affiliates. A new influx of students could “impact the fragile and valuable diversity there,” she said.
Lapetina said she’s concerned that student tenants would be transient, not invested in the neighborhood. She said she’d prefer some larger, family-oriented apartments. “At least make some condos.”
The future home of four townhouses?
Holmes said she’s asked Gross about the possibility of putting in “affordable or workforce housing” and making sure to market “not just to one demographic.”
Gross said the project is privately funded and wouldn’t include affordable housing. “It’s a market-rate project” without state subsidies, he said. “It’s very tough to provide affordable housing in new construction in a market like New Haven.”
He said he doesn’t yet know what the rents would be. “Some of the smaller units are going to be reasonably affordable to other folks in the neighborhood,” Gross said.
Holmes said people are also concerned about parking. They worry about spillover onto Mechanic, Nash, and State streets since the plans call for fewer parking spots than apartments.
Gross said the development would have a “parking ramp” onsite with room for 182 cars. Another lot across State Street could hold 20 cars. The site is close to two bus stops and a Yale shuttle stop, he said. The development would have “some kind of car-sharing arrangement,” possibly ZipCar. And it would have bike parking and storage for over 150 bikes, he said.
The project doesn’t need a parking spot for each car, Gross said. “We don’t think that the area is a one-to-one area. … Not everybody is going to want or need a car.”
Lapetina said she’s heard Gross make that argument. “I’m not buying it,” she said. “I walk and ride my bike, but you still need a car.”
Lapetina said she’s also concerned about reducing the distance between the building and her house. She said she figured something would be built there eventually, “but I didn’t figure it would be a seven-story building.”
Contributed Photo
The plans call for a six or seven-story building to go up right next to Lapetina’s backyard (pictured), where she grows flowers and vegetables. She said it has taken seven years to get the garden to its current state. “It would be different to have a tower of 200 apartments to look into our backyard,” she said.
“The whole plan is designed thinking about neighborhood context,” said Gross. “We made a real effort to keep the bulk out of an many peoples faces as possible.” The taller parts of the development are on State Street, and the construction on Mechanic Street would be only two stories tall, he said.
Lapetina and Holmes both said Gross seems willing to discuss the plans.
“We’re hopeful,” said Gross. “We think the time has come for the site to live up to its potential and stop being such a blight on the neighborhood.”
“We really want something to happen with that site,” Lapetina said. “But it’s got to be the right kind of thing.”
Oh jeez. If you don't want a view of apartment buildings, don't live in a city.
People are ridiculous.
This city needs all the abandoned property revitalized if it wants to succeed. With dense housing that improves the safety and walkability of New Haven.
How is a nice, new apartment complex that brings good tenants and improves the local economy bad? A blighted old property is better somehow?