Emerging from the pandemic, people have grown used to spending more time at home — and may therefore want roomier apartments with work space.
The conclusion animated site plans for two building projects that won approval this week.
The City Plan Commission Wednesday night granted those approvals for the “Corsair Cousin” development on Upper State Street and for modest modifications to the last phase of the Audubon “mini-city” rising on the Audubon/Orange/Grove/State Street block.
Both votes were enthusiastic and unanimous.
Design for “Corsair Cousin.”
The first vote concerned Post Road Residential‘s site plan and coastal site plan for 75 units of market-rate housing to be built across from their successful Corsair complex on an eccentric triangular lot at 1041 State.
The new triangular-shaped project, which has been percolating publicly since last summer, will incorporate a partial historical preservation of the two-and-a-half-story-high property currently on the site at Mill River Street and State Street; an existing commercial building that will be turned into townhouses; and 1,000 square feet of retail space intended to activate the sidewalk on State Street. A “small fraction” of 75 new units of housing will be set aside at affordable rents.
Click here and here for previous stories about evolution of the plan, the previous zoning board approvals, and how the parcels, which back into I‑91 on the east, were amalgamated.
The commissioners’ task Wednesday night was to review not the design but overall street impact issues, such as the 33 parking spots, the enhanced bicycle storage capacity (of perennial concern to commission aldermanic rep Adam Marchand), the traffic flow, which would be one-way entrance from Mill River Street and exit onto State, and how the project fits into the neighborhood and the city’s comprehensive plan.
Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe elicited assurances from Post Road’s John McFayden that trash hauling, staging and construction will not adversely impact the handful of private homeowners across from the development on Mill River Street.
Still, commissioners, though it was not their bailiwick, were delighted with the design, which architect Seelan Pather called “a floating box, and a glass plant with dramatic acute angles.”
“I see how careful the team was in an application that responded to the questions we always ask,” said Commission Vice-Chair Ed Mattison. “I also am pleased that the design has heft to it, feels like it was a design, not just a skin added on. I love how they save the old building. I’ll enthusiastically support this.”
John McFadyen stated that the project, which to him completes an ensemble in the area, is not a Corsair “sibling,” but a “cousin.” His linguistic goal: to make the project better than the last and to keep up with an increasingly less auto-centric population.
“The units are deeper to allow for the home work space,” he said, which more and more people seem to be calling for post pandemic.
Covid-Caused Modifications On Audubon
“Corsair Cousin” seen looking north on State St.
The commissioners also voted unanimously for a modest but significant post-pandemic modification to the third and final phase of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners’ Audubon Square Project, a massive development on the block encompassed by Audubon, Orange, State, and Grove streets.
The third phase, not yet begun, was approved by City Plan back in 2018 for 66 dwelling units in a single large building to be erected on the north side of the Audubon superblock facing the completed Phase One of the project, which is 269 residential units now 90 percent rented, according to Vice President for Development Frank Caico.
Phase Two of the project, which consists of 135 units and 7,000 square feet of retail south of Phase One, is currently under construction.)
The Phase Three modification involves removal of some of the surface parking area behind the main building on Audubon in order to construct a separate building in the rear to contain four townhouses.
The main building will contain 56 units, according to the application. With the addition of the four townhouses, which would echo those already built on the south side of Audubon, the total number of living units would now be 60 instead of the 66 originally approved, which was why the project’s principals were before the CPC Wednesday night.
The developer requested the reduction in the number of units in the main building and the addition of four roomy three-story townhouses because of a post-pandemic demand for larger units, said Carolyn Kone, the attorney for the project.
Additional promised pluses that come with making room for the townhouses: a reduction in the parking area from 49 to 31 spots, a sidewalk in front of the townhouses, and green yards in the back of each.
Commissioners pressed developers for more green and bicycle inputs. Alternate Commissioner Carl Golfield queried the developers if they are considering establishing bioswales, a growing feature of New Haven streets, along Audubon.
City Engineer Giovanni Zinn cautioned that Audubon Street is likely too narrow to accommodate bioswales. “I’m a little concerned with the narrow tree belt on Audubon,” said Zinn.
The engineer on the project, Rock Emmond, cautioned that if bioswales are too close to the sidewalk and they freeze in the winter, that could lead to ice and potential pedestrian trip hazard.
Frank Caico called attention to infiltration provided by the bushes and growing green landscaping planned to be in front of the stoops on the main building. He also claimed an environmental contribution the newly proposed townhouses bring to the mix: “If you look at all the green around the townhouses, that’s infiltration already.”
Still Caico thanked Goldfield for bringing up the possibility of bioswales. “I’m happy to be open to that and to explore it on Audubon,” he said.
The developers also asked for and were granted a three-year extension to complete Phase Three from November 2023 to November 2026, because of pandemic-produced delays.
Headline: Developers make a bundle on more luxury aptssss.. ...City officials quibble over bikes and shrubs and call it a big win . A bike rack/path and some arbovitae!!!! Is there anything that our city "reps" WON'T approve?!?!?