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September 30, 2020

Mixed use site plan for former Coliseum parcel to be aired

IMAGE | Courtesy Spinnaker Real Estate Partners An artistic rendering of future development at the Coliseum site.
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A developer’s plans to bring a mixture of commercial, retail and residential space to the former Coliseum site at 275 South Orange Street goes before city officials next week. 

The City Plan Commission is slated to review the site plan for an initial phase of the project at a special meeting planned for Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

The New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum was demolished in 2007, and the approximately five acre site is currently a parking lot.

The developer, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners of South Norwalk, is planning a multi-phase, multi-year redevelopment of the property. It envisions 500 to 700 housing units, with 20 percent to qualify as affordable. 

The overall plan also calls for 80,000 square feet of commercial space, according to Frank Caico, vice president of development with Spinnaker. This is expected to be a combination of office and laboratory uses. Finally, another 30,000 square feet would be for retail, including stores and eateries.

“We are really excited about the vision for this economic development project,” Caico said.

The developer is in preliminary conversations with potential tenants, he added.

Approximately 30,000 square feet of the parcel would be reserved as public open space. 

The project includes a “laneway,” which the developer describes as a new retail street which would extend from Orange to State Street, with small retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floor, and arts, cultural, office and residential spaces on upper levels.

Caico noted that the parcel is one of the first which people encounter when they come to the city from the highway connector.

“It is a welcome mat for the city, and a highly visible location,” Caico said.

Left to right, Greg Fieber, Clayton Fowler and Frank Caico at the 275 South Orange St. property in New Haven. PHOTO | New Haven BIZ 

At the October meeting, commissioners will be reviewing the first phase of the project, which is for one mixed-use building featuring about 200 housing units and 15,000 square feet of retail. 

According to Caico, the remainder of the project is still conceptual. Ultimately, Spinnaker would like to have five or six buildings on the entire former Coliseum site, he said.

“Part of the vision is that we want to break the site down into smaller pieces which fit in with the downtown,” Caico said.

Spinnaker hopes to have all required regulatory approvals this fall, and to begin construction by the middle of 2021.

“We are community builders,” said Clayton H. Fowler, CEO and principal of Spinnaker. “We love working with the community and neighbors, and we like to say we make things better.”

Gregory Fieber, principal with Fieber Group LLC, an investment firm in New Canaan involved in the project, said they want New Haven residents to benefit from the jobs which will be created because of it. 

According to Fieber, they are working in partnership with New Haven Works to hire local talent.

The developers previously discussed plans for the project with the public earlier this year.

The city went with Spinnaker after its previous preferred developer, the Montreal-based LiveWorkLearnPlay, failed to meet the terms of its 2013 development agreement with the city.

For more information about the plan, visit www.nhcoliseum.com. For a link to the Oct. 7 public hearing, which will be conducted via Zoom, click HERE.

EDITOR'S NOTE - The hearing has been postponed, tentatively to Oct. 21, please visit the New Haven City Plan Commission's website for updates HERE.

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