NewHavenBIZ

n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 9 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 9 START COMMUNITY BANK IS NOW NEW HAVEN BANK. We have pledged our resources and capabilities to support our neighbors and New Haven, our neighborhood, since the beginning. Our new name embodies our commitment to our community. Working for you. Explore our new website: newhavenbank.com New Look. Same Bank. Enhanced Online Experience. BUILDING THROUGHWAYS Not Roadblocks. BEYOND THE HEADLINES For downtown New Haven, the past is prologue T he city of New Haven is turning back the clock on its downtown. And that's a good thing. In July the city's Down- town Crossing redevelopment project entered its second phase with groundbreaking of the Orange Street crossing over the Rt. 34 Connector, intended to reconnect the city's central business district with South Orange Street, Union Station and the Hill neighborhood. When Oak Street was sacrificed to the urban renewal imperative of the 1950s and '60s, the districts were separated by the construction of the infamous "highway to nowhere." When Phase 2 is completed (scheduled for 2021), the new grade-level, pedestrian- and bicy- cle-friendly Orange Street crossing is designed to repair that half-cen- tury-old wound. Another downtown district facing a hoped-for brighter future is the Ninth Square neighborhood. Formerly dominated by brick-clad factory warehouse buildings, the blocks bound by Church, Chap- el, State and George streets were orphaned and isolated from the city center by urban renewal in the 1960s. But like the reconnection of Orange Street, the reclamation of Ninth Square is a major piece of the downtown-redevelopment matrix. In mid-August the city showed off the latest portents of progress, hosting a "walking tour" for media members and others to showcase the evolving neighborhood that city economic-development officials consider key elements to the suc- cess of Downtown Crossing. Co-hosted by the Town Green Special Services District, the tour featured eight stops at which city officials, developers and sundry other "stakeholders" offered brief overviews of the residential and commercial components of the project, along with context of how each particular element fits into the overall Downtown Crossing project. All told, the redevelopment proj- ects reflect some $150 million-$200 million in new investment in Ninth Square. e tour's first stop was at Chapel and Orange, where Northside Development plans a 170,000-square-foot mixed-use development. Northside's Chris Vigilante explained that the proj- ect — which includes 166 residen- tial rental units, street-level retail and a parking garage — potentially "stitches the Ninth Square neigh- borhood back together and serves as a gateway [from downtown] to Wooster Square." For years the byword of down- town development was that bigger is better. But the redevelopment of State Street will actually narrow the thoroughfare and eliminate the existing median strip to make it easier for pedestrians and cy- clists to cross the busy street and enhance downtown's connection to nearby Wooster Square. A key element of Downtown Crossing is the redevelopment of the block that once housed Veterans Memorial Coliseum, connecting downtown to Ninth Square and the Hill neighbor- hood. South Norwalk's Spinnaker Real Estate Partners was recently tapped to replace Montreal's LiveLearnWorkPlay as project de- veloper and is in the early stages of draing a master plan for the multi-phase, mixed-use project. Boston-based Beacon Communities recently acquired the 335-unit Residences at Ninth Square. e residential/retail complex at Orange and Crown streets, which includes both subsidized and market rate rental units, is currently undergoing a $14 million rehab. At the final stop on the excur- sion, David Goldblum, president of the Hurley Group, showed off his company's $3.25 million conver- sion of the Washington building at 39 Church Street. e historic structure, described as a portal from downtown to the Ninth Square neighborhood, now houses 18 apartments and four retail spac- es. "We like to think of this as the most beautiful historic renovation in New Haven," Goldblum said. "I am thrilled to see the revital- ization of this historically signif- icant New Haven neighborhood coming together as part of a larger redevelopment plan that will make New Haven a more sustainable, livable city in the future," Mayor Toni N. Harp said. n Beacon Communities' Kristie Rizzo outside the Residences at Ninth Square, which her Boston firm recently acquired and is rehabbing.

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