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December 17, 2021 REAL ESTATE

Salvatore wins OK for last building in City Crossing project near Yale medical campus

RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED
By Liese Klein

Another luxury apartment tower is set to join the growing cluster near Yale’s medical campus in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood after a plan by Stamford-based developer Randy Salvatore gained city approval this week.

The plan, for parcels at 188, 196 and 206 Lafayette St. and 39 Prince St., proposed a 112-unit seven-story building on land now used as a surface parking lot. 

The City Plan Commission voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve Salvatore’s project after a relatively short hearing on the site plan. 

The new building will house 35 550-square-foot studios with sleeping alcoves, 36 720-square-foot one-bedroom apartments and 41 1050-square-foot two-bedroom apartments.

The developer cited the neighborhood’s dire parking shortage as impetus to also build a 3-story, 178-space garage at the site, with one floor at ground level and two floors below ground.

“This is a very expensive building to build — to go two levels down to build the parking — but we see the need in the area for that,” Salvatore told the commission.

Salvatore and his companies are already building 557 apartments on adjacent property as part of the City Crossing development. This latest proposal is the last remaining section of the development, which broke ground on its first building in 2019. 

Yale University owns the property but has signed a 98-year lease with Salvatore, giving him ownership of the complex and returning the property to the city’s tax rolls. 

Planning commissioners asked about affordability at the project, where studios will rent for about $1,700 a month and two-bedrooms for about $2,600, the market rate. Salvatore said that once the plan was approved he would be applying for subsidies to make more units affordable. He said he has already set aside 83 units in other parts of City Crossing as below market rate. 

Asked about COVID-19 safety measures in the wake of a recent spike in cases, Salvatore said he hoped to preserve a community feeling while prioritizing infection control.

“People still want normal lifestyles, they still want to be together, and these buildings are designed to bring people together in the amenities,” Salvatore said. “But we have to do it in a safe way.”

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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