$50M Building OK’d For College & George

Thomas MacMillan Photo

More than six years after tossing out small businesses to make way for a 19-story luxury tower that was never built, the owners of a lot at the corner of George and College streets are back with a scaled-down second proposal.

The owner, CenterPlan College Square LLC of Middletown, which owns 188 and 196 College St. and 285 George St., Tuesday night won approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) to build a six-story, $50 million mixed-use building there.

The building will have 160 market-rate apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space, according to the plan. An underground parking garage will have 138 parking spaces. Storage for another 22 cars will come in the form of stacked” parking — mechanical lifts to park cars on top of others.

Storefronts at the corner of Crown and College (pictured) will be demolished to make way for the new building, which will span the whole block from George to Crown.

The project will be privately funded, and construction will commence as soon as the site plan is approved, possibly in the fall, claimed the developer’s attorney, Anthony Avallone. CenterPlan’s principal is Robert Landino, a New Haven native and former state representative.

The approved plan is the second CenterPlan has had approved by the BZA. In 2006, the company won approval for a 19-story building at the same location. But after CenterPlan evicted small businesses from the Crown and College storefronts, it never built the tower.

Avallone said the plan fizzled because of the great recession. Condos weren’t going to make it after the housing crash. That market plan just fell apart,” said Avallone.

The 2006 plan had the exact same footprint” as the current proposal, said attorney Avallone (pictured), who represented CenterPlan at Tuesday’s BZA hearing.

Avallone made the case for zoning variances allowing smaller side and rear yards, more building coverage, higher walls, less open space, smaller parking spaces, and a greater floor-to-area ratio than otherwise allowed. He said that due to the dimensions of the site, side yard requirements, if followed, would limit the developers to building a cell tower.”

Chris Bockstael, an architect with Svigals + Partners, presented renderings of the design as it stands. He pointed out the varying roof line and other architectural details, designed to break down” the scale of the building. The goal is to create a building that feels more like row houses than a monolith, he said.

When the BZA called for public testimony for or against the proposal, no one spoke up.

George and College.

I think we’re getting a dense, well thought out development,” BZA member Ben Trachten said during the voting session.

BZA member Victor Fasano said he had no problem with the plan, after understanding the stacked” parking concept.

With no further discussion, the BZA voted unanimously to approve the application.

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