Two major development plans got the thumbs up from the City Plan Commission, and now head back for approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
At its regular meeting Wednesday night at City Hall, the commission approved the plans for mixed-use developments on Whalley Avenue and State Street.
PAUL B. BAILEY ARCHITECTS
The $15 million Whalley project was proposed by the St. Luke’s Development Corporation, a not-for-profit organization affiliated with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 111 Whalley Ave. The new development would replace a few businesses next door to the church with a mix of senior housing, regular affordable housing and retail space. (Read more about the plan here.)
BEINFIELD ARCHITECTURE
The State Street proposal, in East Rock’s Goatville neighborhood, would replace the long-vacant Star Supply building with 235 apartments and 4,000 square feet of retail space. Neighborhood criticism helped kill an earlier version of this proposal. The new modified version has neighbors behind it. (Read more about that here)
The Board of Zoning Appeals referred the proposals to the commission at its meeting last week. It will presumably take a final vote at next month’s meeting.
The St. Luke's development looks like a benefit for Whalley Avenue, but a loss for Sperry Street. Its unfortunate that the buildings at Sperry and Dickerman Street are being replaced with a surface parking lot, but hopefully the benefits of having a multi-story mixed-use building on Whalley will outweight that.
As the article from earlier this week pointed out, this area of Whalley used to be a major employment center and the neighborhood thrived with it. However, with the decline of manufacturing in the city and this area in particular, the surrounding communities declined with it. Dixwell won't see a full rejuvination until jobs can are available to residents, on places like Sperry Street. Parking lots aren't a step in the right direction.