Laura Glesby Photo
Neighbor Shawn: Affordable apartments needed to combat high rent.
10 Liberty St.
An abandoned lighting manufacturing hub will soon transform into 150 below-market apartments a block from Union Station, if a development plan comes to fruition.
The city has received a $995,600 brownfield grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development to fund the demolition and final environmental cleanup of four industrial buildings located at the former hub, 10 Liberty St., where the development company LMDX plans to build an all-“affordable” housing complex.
The building, now abandoned, once housed Electrix Illumination, a lighting manufacturer currently based in West Haven.
The Board of Alders Community Development Committee issued a preliminary approval for the city to accept this grant on Wednesday night. The request will next go before the full Board of Alders for review.
LMDX’s Jonathan Cortell stated that all 150 apartments will be reserved for households making 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) — equating to a one-person household earning $48,180 a year, or a four-person household earning $68,820 a year as of 2023.
Cortell pitched the development as “a short bike ride from the train station” — exactly what “community development is all about,” he said.
The company expects construction to take two years once demolition is complete.
City Economic Development Officer Helen Rosenberg explained to alders that the buildings have already gone through a remediation process, but that another layer of abatement will be needed for the below-ground structures as the building gets demolished.
Beaver Hills Alder Brian Wingate asked whether the complex would include businesses on the bottom floor.
Cortell responded that LMDX doesn’t think that location would be able to sustain retail businesses, so instead, “ground-floor activation would be achieved through amenities that would serve the residents.” Though private, the amenities would still bring new life and energy to the block, he argued, which could have positive ripple effects on the neighborhood.
The alders unanimously voted to favorably recommend the grant to their colleagues on the full board.
“I think this project is in line with our agenda for affordable housing,” Wingate said.
Committee Chair Carmen Rodriguez, who represents the building’s ward, noted, “I’m very happy to see what the developers have presented.”
Neighbor: Affordable Housing Sorely Needed
Two blocks away from the old Electrix building, a Howard Avenue resident named Shawn filled a washing machine inside the Cedar Street Laundromat.
Upon learning of the Liberty Street development, Shawn gave his approval — as long as it’s “low-income affordable housing,” which he said the area sorely needs.
Shawn moved to New Haven from Waterbury about a year ago to be closer to his work as a truck-loader, and quickly found out that the housing options in New Haven tend to be pricier. He spent eight months on the apartment search. “I got denied a lot of good apartments,” he said. He finally found a nice apartment — a one-bedroom for which he pays $1,200 a month.
His current home is “nice,” but “it’s expensive.”
As he continued to contemplate the Liberty Street development, he figured that maybe he’d apply to live there someday. “If it’s gonna be brand new …” he said, “you can eat off the floor, all you have to do is mop.”
Homes for humans on currently unused land. Fully affordable. Sunny news on a gray day.