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July 7, 2020

Alders advance 101 College St. project

IMAGE | Courtesy Elkus Manfredi Architects. Architect’s rendering of planned 101 College Street project.
By Natalie Missakian

The city’s Board of Alders Monday night threw its unanimous support behind a $100 million, 10-story bioscience tower in the heart of the city’s downtown.

Meeting virtually via Zoom, the alders approved an amended development and land disposition agreement between the city, its parking authority and Massachusetts-based developer Winstanley Enterprises.

Dubbed Together, We Grow, the agreement calls for construction of a 350,000- to 550,000-square-foot life-sciences incubator and office tower on a parcel of previously unusable land at 101 College St. across the street from Alexion tower. New Haven Biz was first to report on the project last January. 

Also Monday, Alders OK’d zoning updates that allow for larger biotech buildings in New Haven’s Route 34 “bioscience corridor” if the developers are willing to commit to environmentally-friendly building practices and public open space. 

The zoning changes would increase what’s known as the floor-area ratio in exchange for the incorporation of green building methods and public plazas into the building design.

The changes are limited to the city’s BD-3 district, which was created specifically to bolster New Haven’s growing life sciences and commercial biotech sector.

“Commercial lab buildings have a need for larger floor spaces than many other types of buildings,” noted Alder Charles Decker, who represents Ward 9. “I suspect this will be even more true as those sectors reimagine what lab space needs to look like in the age of COVID-19.”

The development agreement included an amendment that would have Winstanley pay up to $200,000 toward infill work, to be done either by the city or the developer, to reopen a section of Columbus Avenue running through the former Church Street South housing complex.

“This is an important, highly visible corner, which needs to be well-designed in the next three months,” city Economic Development Director Michael Piscitelli wrote in a memo to the board.

The agreement also outlines a series of community benefits tied to the project, which include, among other things, a public space for outdoor programming, a dedicated classroom for New haven schools, a community-based entrepreneurship incubator, and a workforce pipeline to “foster life science and technology career pathways” for high school students.

Additionally, the developer will undertake a mentoring program for small and minority business enterprise companies and has promised to contribute $500,000 to a city-wide community benefits fund. 

“We’ve had community building agreements before, but this one raised the bar,” said Ward 29 Alderman Brian Wingate before the vote. “Hopefully we have more like this in the future.”

Read a summary of the agreement here.

In a statement issued after the vote Monday night, Mayor Justin Elicker said the project would help the Elm City weather the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project is predicted to create around 860 direct jobs and more than 3,000 additional jobs throughout the region’s economy while generating around $250 million in wages.

 “Our foremost priority continues to be managing and mitigating the devastating effects of this pandemic,” Elicker said. “However, we must continue to move forward to establish New Haven as a significant bio-cluster hub in the state, and innovation is the key to spark growth and create a significant rebound for our local economy.”

The project is part of the city’s Downtown Crossing redevelopment initiative, which aims to reconnect the city’s medical district and Hill neighborhood with downtown. 

Winstanley has said previously that construction could begin as soon as August. Completion is expected in 2022.


Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com


 

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