Fusco images
Up to 500 new apartments planned for Long Wharf.
Vessel Technologies image
A rendering of 27 apartments planned for Hemingway St.
A Long Wharf-based developer plans to build up to 500 new apartments along the underused waterfront in a bid to make good on the city’s long-sought redevelopment plans for the area.
That development pitch is detailed in a proposed zoning amendment submitted as a communication last week to the Board of Alders. It faces reviews before it can become reality.
So does a second proposal for 27 more apartments to be built on the city’s east side, on Hemingway Street.
Thomas Breen file photo
Developer Lynn Fusco, at a 2019 ribbon cutting of “Rt. 34 West” parking garage.
The Long Wharf residential proposal was submitted by Lynn Fusco of The Fusco Corporation and its related entities, Fusco Harbor Associates LLC and Fusco Maritime Associates LLC, which have already built the office towers by the water. The new proposal seeks to modify Planned Development District (PDD) #53 to allow for a residential use of up to 500 apartments on Long Wharf between the Maritime Center and the Canal Dock Boathouse.
The 4.3‑acre site that makes up the site in question, at 501 and 585 Long Wharf Dr., currently consists of a parking lot, a lawn, and a restaurant building that was recently home to Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale Long Wharf Family Restaurant.
“This portion of the Long Wharf area is one of the most visible locations in the City and often the first impression visitors have of New Haven,” attorney Matthew Ranelli wrote in a Sept. 1 cover letter in support of the proposed PDD amendment.
It’s also an underused and underdeveloped part of the city that has been the subject of significant planning efforts in recent years in a bid to encourage mixed-use redevelopment.
Fusco images
Towers proposed for Long Wharf.
The Fusco proposal would help make that vision a reality by providing “a critical mass of residences on-site and create a destination for New Haven residents and others to visit the shoreline. The mixed-use amenities will create a synergy and direct connection with the boathouse, Long Wharf Park, and the Hill South and Downtown neighborhoods. People will have more options; they can meet for a walk or bike ride, visit with friends and family, shop in the market, enjoy a meal or potentially some live entertainment, or just sit and enjoy the harbor.”
In the rezoning application, Fusco’s attorney writes that the developer plans to build two new buildings and expand the types of uses allowed within the PDD to includes residential uses and “related amenities such as a food market, outdoor dining, and accessory entertainment / performances areas.”
One of the new building would be 13 stories, the other 15 stories. Across the two of them, they would contain up to 500 apartments, including studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and three-bedroom apartments.
The first floors would contain 20,000 square feet of markets with indoor and outdoor food service.
The PDD modification application also states that the existing 1,800-space parking garage at the Maritime Center should be able to accommodate nearly all of the parking needs of the new residential developments. The proposed new residential building would nevertheless contain one floor of parking, loading areas, and valet parking options.
The proposed PDD amendment now advances to public hearings before the City Plan Commission and a Board of Alders committee before returning to the full legislature for further consideration and a potential final vote later this year.
(Read more about the proposal in this initial story by the New Haven Register’s Mary O’Leary.)
27 Apts. Planned For Hemingway St.
Vessel Technologies image
A rendering of 27 apartments planned for Hemingway St.
Also included as a communication in last Thursday’s Board of Alders meeting agenda was a proposed tax break agreement designed to allow for the development of 27 new apartments at 136 Hemingway St.
That 1.29-acre Fair Haven Heights site is currently owned by the city, and is located between Eastern Street and Quinnipiac Avenue.
The New York City-based developer Vessel Technologies plans to purchase the property from the city and develop a new three-story building with 27 new apartments to be restricted to tenants making no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).
That means that rents would not exceed $1,545 per month, according to the tax abatement application, with Vessel projecting one-bedroom rents to start at $1,250 per month.
The building would consist of 24 one-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom units.
Thomas Breen photo
Thursday’s Board of Alders in-person meeting.
The requested tax agreement is for 30 years. It would limit annual local taxes on the property to 6 percent of revenue for the first 10 years, 8 percent of revenues for the next 10 years, and 10 percent of revenue for the final 10 years.
“Tax payments are based on a percentage of revenue,” the application reads. “Therefore, any increase in the achieved rental rates, would result in a corresponding increase in the tax payments, aligning the interests of New Haven and Vessel. With that said, it is Vessel’s mission to keep rents low and affordable to working people.”
The application states that the current Hemingway Street property “has been vacant and owned by the City of New Haven for approximately 20 years because of the size of the site, the site’s proximity to wetlands and a floodplain, and the lower-income demographics of the neighborhood, all of which have made the construction costs too high and the prevailing rents too low for the successful development of the site. Due to the current state of the Property, it is not producing any tax revenue for the City of New Haven, nor is it providing any benefit to the community or surrounding residents.”
According to the minutes from July’s Property Acquisition and Disposition Committee (PAD) meeting, Vessel is looking to purchase the city-owned property for $40,000 in a deal separate from the proposed tax agreement.
136 Hemingway is not "doing nothing". It is reducing floodwaters and purifying our air, as any forested land adjacent to a waterway does. If we care about reducing flooding, we should not develop land immediately adjacent to waterways.