Mass timber construction is coming to New Haven in a new “highly affordable” development on the long-vacant Orchard//Dixwell /Munson triangle and in a two-story addition to the circa 1877 former ACME Furniture pile of bricks on Crown Street.
The City Plan Commission heard about that construction at a meeting at which it approved site plans for both projects.
Two affordable housing developers, one from Dixwell and one from New York City, have teamed up to build a new four-story, 69-unit apartment building atop the vacant triangular lot that was formerly home to a gas station, a parking lot, and Joe Grate’s popular barbecue stand.
They’re using mass timber and passive housing technology, relatively new to New Haven, to build affordable multi-family housing inexpensively but with quality and significant environmental benefits.
Combining three lots, 316 Dixwell Ave., 340 Dixwell Ave., and 783 Orchard St,. the developers plan a complex where 80 percent of the apartments (55 out of 69) will be rented to families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). In the affordable units, monthly rents are to range from $500 to $1,500.
The remaining 14 units will be rented at market rates.
The builders presented their site plan at the commission meeting this past Wednesday night, a Zoom gathering chaired by Ed Mattison and hosted by City Plan staffer Stacey Davis.
With brief discussion of entrances and exits, the site plan passed unanimously, with one commissioner, who had arrived late abstaining.
The local faith-based affordable housing developer Beulah Land Development Corporation owns the main lot in question, 340 Dixwell. That 0.67-acre triangular vacant lot that sits at the southern intersection of Munson Street, Dixwell Avenue, and Orchard Street.
The City of New Haven owns 316 Dixwell, a 0.21-acre parcel with a vacant garage that is just south of the triangular corner lot. HELP USA, through its holding company Dixwell Housing Associates LLC, owns a single-family house at 783 Orchard St. that stands just to the west of the lot in question.
Mass timber construction and passive house technology were not the subject of the site plan review. Still, commissioners asked for a brief description.
Jeff Spiritos, whose Spiritos Propertiea is part of the development team on the Dixwell project and a principal in the Acme Furniture addition, provided it.
The main features of the two approaches, he said, are “ultra-tight exteriors with triple pane windows, limited thermal breaks and extraordinary insulation and ventilation to the apartments 24/7.”
“The mass timber has two main elements, glue laminated columns and beams,” which will be on the first floor. The majority of the structure features CLT, or cross-laminated timber. “comprising all the walls and ceilings.”
The timbers remain exposed, creating what Spiritos described as a “wooded environment” that is healthy, improves concentration, and reduces asthma, and sequesters carbon.
The pre-fab units go up quickly, with screw guns, and quietly. Tthat enables the developers to provide quality affordable housing that is truly affordable, but also beautiful and healthful to live in, he concluded.
Returning to details of the Dixwell site plan at hand, project architect Paul Selnau explained that the Orchard Street side would have benches and planters. The DIxwell side will have a more commercial look but also with greenery and setbacks. The single entrance to the triangle will be on Orchard Street and the single egress on Dixwell.
That prompted Commission Co-Chair Leslie Radcliffe to seek confirmation that entry and exit are in a single direction. It is.
Radcliffe also asked whether signage or blinking lights will alert pedestrians on Dixwell of cars leaving.
Selnau replied that he plans a sign for exiting cars to stop before arriving at the sidewalk. With 69 units and parking for 37 cars, a small traffic volume is expected.
Radcliffe replied that Dixwell has pedestrian density, with churches and small businesses nearby. She recommended the developer take those concerns under consideration; Selnau said they would.
Commissioner Adam Marchand asked developers to consider having not only bike racks that tip up (which was part of the presentation) but also racks suitable for people who might not be able to do the tipping.
Spiritos said their hope is that the development will “provide a model” for other affordable housing projects in New Haven.
Meanwhile, Back At ACME …
Over in the Ninth Square, Spiritos also had a site plan review before the commissioners for the old ACME Furniture building at 29 – 33 Crown St.
His project there: “We plan to take the former AME furniture building, built in 1877, preserve it, restore it, and grow a two-story mass timber addition” above the four stories of existing masonry building with 18 apartments, and retail space on the ground floor.
With a few suggestions from Commissioner Marchand once more about having more than one option for bicycle storage, the project was approved unanimously.
In a separate unanimous vote, the Orchard/Dixwell/Munson project also received unanimous approval to go before the Board of Alders for consideration of a tax abatement.
