From APT's site plan application: The location and rendering for the nonprofit's proposed new HQ.
The APT Foundation hopes to begin construction this fall — and complete work by next summer — on a new 40,500 square-foot medical office building, methadone clinic, and pharmacy with 99 on-site parking spaces to be built atop a Sargent Drive lot currently owned by the state.
Those details and more are included in a site plan application submitted by the local healthcare nonprofit to the City Plan Commission about a project that is also the subject of a separate, parallel proposed city land deal.
The APT Foundation submitted that site plan application to the City Plan Commission on May 21. The application is listed on the agenda for the commission’s next meeting, scheduled for June 18. A marking on the agenda, however, indicates that this particular site plan application is expected to be tabled at the June 18 meeting.
City Plan Director Laura Brown told the Independent that she too expects the item to be tabled at the City Plan Commission’s June meeting and then heard at the commission’s July 16 meeting, along with a special permit application related to this project.
Nevertheless, the site plan submission offers further insight into APT’s plans for a 1.5‑acre surface parking lot on the back half of the former Gateway Community College site at 60 Sargent Dr. in the Long Wharf district.
The site plan comes as the Elicker administration has submitted to the Board of Alders a proposed Development and Land Disposition Agreement (DLDA) between the city and APT that would allow for the healthcare nonprofit — which specializes in treating patients with substance use and mental health disorders — to build a new headquarters on Sargent and relocate its current methadone clinic on Congress Avenue in the Hill.
Click here to read a copy of the original site plan application.
A May 20 letter by Kyle Pustola of Pustola & Associates Consulting Engineers, LLC that is included in the site plan submission states that the new APT building will be 40,500 square-feet large, three stories tall, and will have a 13,500 square-foot footprint. It will house APT’s “administrative and executive offices, counseling and outpatient clinic, and a pharmacy. Currently this site is a paved parking area.”
The project, if approved, would feature 99 parking spaces, including five accessible spaces and two EV charging spaces.
The application states that construction will begin in the autumn of 2025 and continue through summer 2026.
It goes on to state that APT will be relocating approximately 80 staff members to the new Sargent Drive site, including those who work in administration, primary care services, vocational programs, and for APT’s “Access Center.” “This site will be a high-traffic hub for both staff and clients,” and will also host “numerous internal trainings and meetings.”
The project also includes a planned ground-floor retail pharmacy.
“The Long Wharf redevelopment strategy rightly prioritizes sustainable transportation and reduced car dependency,” a portion of the application reads in relation to the 99-parking-space part of the project. “However, institutions like the APT Foundation — serving regional, vulnerable populations with specialized, appointment-based and often extended service durations — require dedicated parking infrastructure.”
That part of the application continues: “Our request for 99 parking spaces is not in opposition to the Long Wharf vision; rather, it is a necessary complement to ensure that critical health and human services can function reliably and equitably within this emerging urban framework.
“We urge the New Haven City Plan Department to consider the operational realities of our mission alongside the area’s evolving transportation plan and to approve our request as an essential step in supporting the health and well-being of the community.”
While the site plan application doesn’t mention public transit, the Elicker administration’s proposed DLDA with APT — which is currently before the alders and awaiting a committee assignment for a future public hearing — does have a section about a nearby bus stop.
“To the extent requested, and to the extent reasonable (in the event of determined rejection), the City shall cooperate with the Developer [that is, APT] in engaging with CTtransit in seeking the reactivation of the bus stop currently opposite the Property,” that part of the DLDA reads. “However, the Developer hereby acknowledges and stipulates that CTtransit is an agency of the State of Connecticut so that the City does not have any authority over its decision-making process.”
So. What happens next?
The city is working to acquire the 60 Sargent Dr. property from the state before moving ahead, if the alders approve, with selling this 1.5‑acre portion to APT. The proposed DLDA states that APT would pay the city the exact same amount that the city winds up paying the state to acquire this property.
The state-to-city land deal for 60 Sargent Dr. is covered by this state law, Special Act. No. 23 – 27, which was passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor on June 28, 2023.
That law reads in part: “Not later than two years after the effective date of this section, conveyance of the subject parcels or execution of an agreement described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall occur, except that the city of New Haven and the Board of Regents for Higher Education may agree in writing to two extensions of one year each.”
Translation: The state has two years from June 28, 2023 — or until June 28, 2025 — to convey this 60 Sargent Dr. property to the city in accord with the other relevant parts of the 2023 law.
City spokesperson Lenny Speiller confirmed for the Independent that the state does indeed still own this 60 Sargent Dr. property, “but the city is moving forward with the necessary city approvals while the state conveyance process takes its course.”
Adam Joseph, the top spokesperson for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system, also told the Independent that CSCU currently owns 60 Sargent Dr. “We are in active negotiations with the City of New Haven,” he said.
Per the proposed DLDA that is now before the alders, the city is seeking to acquire this property from the state no later than June 28 of this year.