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January 24, 2023

Planners OK apartment conversion for Trumbull St. law offices  

PHOTO | New Haven Assessor 57 Trumbull St., New Haven
By Liese Klein

A building that once housed law offices at 57 Trumbull St. will become a six-apartment complex under a site plan approved last week by the New Haven City Plan Commission. 

The planning body approved the conversion unanimously, which will result in two one-bedroom, three two-bedroom and one three-bedroom units – all to be rented at market rate. 

The facade of the historic red-brick building will remain unchanged and no parking will be provided on site. Located between Whitney Avenue and Lincoln Street, the building has about 6,000 square feet of floor area.

Commissioner Adam Marchand said, “We have seen a bunch of conversion of office and retail spaces into residential units…this is not surprising, and it's actually a good thing for the building stock in our city to move in terms of its uses with the trends that we're seeing in our market and more broadly.”

Erected in 1900, the building was sold last year to 57 Trumbull Holdings for $800,000, according to city property records.

Westville convent conversion gets parking exemption

The former law offices weren’t the only buildings up for conversion at the Jan. 18 meeting – the former St. Aedan’s convent at 351 McKinley Ave. in the Westville neighborhood was also on the agenda.

Developer Schneur Katz plans to convert the building, which once housed 20 nuns, into a 10-unit apartment complex. Katz asked the commission for a special exception to zoning rules to provide only eight off-street parking spaces where 10 are normally required.

By providing bike parking, Katz was able to get one required spot waived, so he was asking for a second waiver due to space constraints at the 0.39-acre site. The area is walkable and close to public transit hubs in Westville’s business district. 

Commissioners unanimously approved the special exception, which will now go to the Board of Zoning Appeals. 

Ongoing weakness in demand for office space has sparked similar conversions across the city, including at 900 Chapel on the New Haven Green.

Law offices and other commercial space are in the process of conversion to apartments at the building, once the site of the Chapel Square Mall. The latest round of conversions will create 87 new apartments. 

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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