NewHavenBIZ

18 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m More than commercial banking. COMMERCIAL BANKING from a bank that can take your business to the next level. Our local teams have helped Connecticut businesses for more than 220 years, let us help you. Visit washtrust.com or call 800-475-2265 Member FDIC. Apartment developers target empty nesters with larger units, more closet space By Christopher Hoffman T he kids are gone, keeping the lawn cut and green has become an annoying chore and getting on the roof is starting to get a little hairy. In a nutshell, it's time to sell that suburban house you've owned for decades and downsize. But where to move? e answer for many middle-aged or older residents, according to New Haven area real estate professionals, is a city. ey want to trade the endless headaches of homeownership for a carefree, upscale rental in an urban area that offers culture, arts, restaurants, top- flight medical and educational facilities and shopping, all of it just outside their doors. It's a growing demand that apartment developers in New Haven — a city that, thanks in no small part to Yale Univer- sity and Yale New Haven Hospital, ticks all the boxes — are eager to meet. As new complexes rise in the city's core, developers are courting and catering to empty nesters, viewing them as a signif- icant part of their tenant mix. "I think [suburban empty nesters] are important for many urban proj- ects, but more so for places like New Haven," said Clayton Fowler, principal of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, developer of the Audubon New Haven apartments between State and Orange streets. "ere is still a desire to live in the city or smaller cities like New Haven because of the convenience they offer, the ability to congregate, to be around Developers involved in New Haven's Audubon apartment project, which is trying to lure empty nesters with larger living units, include Greg Fieber, Clayton Fowler and Frank Caico of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners.

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