Beacon Communities image
Proposed housing slated to replace parking at 300 State lot. (Building on left would be new. Building on right currently exists.)
A Boston-based affordable housing developer’s plans to build 76 new apartments in the Ninth Square got a fiscal boost, thanks to a state award of $1.8 million in federal tax credits.
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) made that announcement Thursday in an email press release.
According to the press release, CHFA will be awarding $11,138,589 in federal 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) for eight proposed affordable housing developments across the state.
One of those projects is Beacon’s 76-unit plan for the corner of Chapel Street and State Street.
That project will get $1,800,002 in tax credits from the state, according to the announcement.
Thomas Breen file photo
“This award of the 9 percent tax credit allocation is the critical piece of funding for the project at State and Chapel,” Beacon Communities CEO Dara Kovel (pictured above) told the Independent Thursday afternoon.
She said the project’s application was successful in the competition for limited tax credits “because it is aligned with so many state housing priorities:
“It is a transit-oriented development. It’s an exciting infill site in New Haven. It has a lot of support from the City of New Haven. And it will be serving a wide variety of people” at various levels of income.
Beacon, which owns the nearby 335-unit Residences at Ninth Square complex, has already won a host of approvals for this new project. It received a 17-year tax break from the Board of Alders, and a $2.5 million Urban Act grant from the state.
The project itself will see Beacon build dozens of new apartments atop the currently vacant surface parking lot at 300 State St., as well as the conversion of existing upper-floor commercial space around the corner on Chapel Street into new residential units.
Sixty of the project’s apartments will be reserved at below-market rents, while 16 will rent out at market rates.
Here’s how CHFA’s press release describes the project:
“Developed by Beacon Communities LLC, State and Chapel Development will provide new construction on a vacant parking lot and renovate adjacent mixed use historic buildings in new Haven’s Ninth Square Historic District. The project includes the construction of a new building at 294 – 300 State Street and gut rehabilitation of 742 – 746 Chapel Street, known as the “Street Building”, a four-story Greek Revival brick building built in 1832; 756 – 758 Chapel Street, an Italianate building circa 1870; and 760 Chapel Street, known as the “Horowitz Brothers Building”, a three-and-one-half story High Victorian Italianate building built in 1891. The property will have 76 units, with 15 units designated for households with incomes up to 30% AMI, 31 units for households up to 50% AMI, 14 units for households up to 60% AMI and 16 market rate units. The site is within a 2‑block walking radius of restaurants, retail stores including a full-service grocery store, rail and bus transportation and the New Haven Green.”
When might construction begin?
“Ideally this year, would be our goal,” Kovel said.
“We’re in a very complicated construction-cost environment. We have a lot to do to control our construction costs,” she said. She said she’s optimistic that “things will settle down in terms of cost escalations” in the coming months as Beacon finishes up its necessary construction drawings and moves closer to breaking ground on the project.
This is great but why isn’t the state pushing for more density as a condition of approving funds like these? This site is right by the transit hub and could easily accommodate a 10-15 story building.
We need more housing badly and using this prime land for only 70 apartments is bad policy.