City Plan OKs 3‑Family Home, 3 Townhouses Aimed At ​“Missing Middle”

A new three-family house on Sheffield Avenue is one step closer to rising from the ashes of its burned-down predecessor — and, two neighborhoods away, three new townhouses won the thumbs up to pop up atop a Humphrey Street backyard.

Both of those new-housing approvals came this past Wednesday night during the latest monthly City Plan Commission meeting, held online via Zoom.

Commissioners unanimously voted in support of two different new-construction, multi-family housing site plans: one for a proposed new three-family house at 31 Sheffield Ave. in Newhallville, one for three new townhouse-style apartments at 313 Humphrey St.

These six new apartments represent one modest take at filling in New Haven’s ​“missing middle” at a time when detached single-family homes still dominate in the suburbs and large apartment complexes burst forth from surface parking lots across Downtown, Wooster Square, and the Hill.

Wednesday’s site plan approval also marked just the latest administrative requirement cleared by a Stamford developer duo looking to rebuild the exact same type of house that burned down at 31 Sheffield Ave. more than 12 months ago.

31 Sheffield Ave.

Stamford-based real estate investor Edward Zislis showed up virtually to the City Plan Commission meeting to explain his site plan application for 31 Sheffield Ave.

He and fellow Stamford investor Deirde Vivro own the 0.119-acre lot that currently houses little more than fenced-in piles of dirt and construction materials.

On March 6, 2020, at 3:41 a.m., the three-family house that used to stand atop that lot burned down thanks to a two-alarm fire that left 20 tenants in two buildings without a home.

The landlords pulled a $300,000 building permit for the property last April, demolished the rest of the burnt-out structure last May, and then won a suite of variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals last October that were needed to rebuild a new three-family home on a residential site no longer zoned to allow such a dwelling as of right.

When showing off the details of the proposed new three-story, three-family structure, Zislis described the new building as ​“very similar to what it previously looked like, but with a modern flair.”

His site plan application for the project states that the new building will contain ​“modern amenities/bathroom, central HVAC, etc. giving New Haven residents a place they would be proud to call home.”

The application also states that the new structure will be build atop a concrete foundation with wood framing, vinyl siding, and an asphalt roof.

Zislis predicted in the site plan application that construction would begin ​“as soon as approvals are received,” and that the new house would be built and open by Dec. 22.

313 Humphrey St.

For the 313 Humphrey St. site plan application, meanwhile, former top city building official Andrew Rizzo pitched the commissioners on landlord Sachin Anand’s plans to build three new townhouse-style apartments behind an existing three-family house that faces the street.

This will be ​“one building with three units,” Rizzo said about the new housing. ​“There will be a garage underneath, then two stories above. … It’s a pretty basic townhouse plan.”

Anand told the Independent by phone after the meeting that the existing three-family structure on the 0.29-acre plot of land will be staying put.

The three new townhouses, meanwhile, will be built behind the current house.

The project’s site plan application states that each of the new housing units will have three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and one car garage space.

The application estimates that construction will begin this month, and end in September.