New Haven Independent
It's Your Town. Read All About It.
The city’s Housing Authority is seeking $5.54 million from the state to remediate part of the site of the old Church Street South apartments — and pave the way for a new era of environmentally-sound housing at a location once known for making tenants sick from mold.
The Board of Alders Community Development Committee on Wednesday unanimously advanced that application for a Municipal Brownfields Grant from the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to pay for the site’s cleanup.
The city is applying for the grant on behalf of the Glendower Group, the nonprofit development arm of the Housing Authority of New Haven (all under the umbrella organization Elm City Communities).
The Housing Authority purchased the site of the notoriously hazardous and now-demolished Church Street South apartments in 2023. The organization has pursued plans to develop up to 2,490 housing units as well as commercial spaces and greenspaces on the property, split into multiple phases.
The first phase of the project (known as “Union Square”) is slated to comprise 541 apartments across three buildings, all located inside the triangle formed by Union Avenue, Church Street South, and Columbus Avenue.
The grant application up for aldermanic consideration Wednesday specifically focuses on the 1.96 acres of land at 169 Union Ave., where the first two buildings within that first phase are slated to be constructed.
Even so, Glendower Vice President of Development Ed LaChance said he believes “this grant would let us clean up the whole triangle” between those three streets.
According to environmental consultant Neil Payne of Payne Environmental, the toxins that need to be remediated include asbestos concrete pipes, “urban fill,” and “at least three source areas” of oil leakage — either heating oil or diesel — that contaminated the soil on the site.
“Let’s just say that our client spent a lot of money making sure that we understood the degree and extent of contamination out there,” said Payne.
He said that prior owners of the Church Street South site had commissioned less thorough environmental assessments, which had not accounted for all of the contaminants that Payne found.
“The budget that we put together is conservative, and we think that we’ve got a good contingency in case we discover something unusual,” Payne said.
The committee’s alders enthusiastically issued a favorable recommendation for the application, which will next go before the full Board of Alders.
“It’s going to fit right into our agenda for affordable housing,” said Dwight Alder Frank Douglass. “Who else could better serve the community than the Housing Authority?”
“At least 541 wouldn’t have to be homeless and outdoors. They’ll have affordable housing,” echoed Hill Alder Angel Hubbard.
Downtown/East Rock Alder Christine Kim praised Glendower for having “hired one of the best environmental professionals” for the job. “They are going above and beyond,” she said. “It is a testament to how much they think of our community and the people that work here.”
Hill Alder and Committee Chair Carmen Rodriguez, whose ward includes the Church Street South/Union Square property, praised Glendower for conducting extensive community outreach on the project.
“Once this is built, it is safe and sound from the ground up,” she said. “This is going to be a healthier environment that folks are coming back [to].”
Laura Glesby is a staff reporter at the New Haven Independent. You can get in touch with her directly here. More by Laura Glesby
2 Comments
This cite has sat empty as an eye sore to any one coming into New Haven for way too long. I understand financing has played a big role on that, so I totally support the state providing funds to help this project move forward. But it does just seem like this development also has to jump through so many bureaucratic hurdles to move forward. The city should play less of a role and streamline the process so we can turn an abandoned lot into much needed housing!
You think govt can do better? Look at the English Station. We don’t know the plan for the units or what commercial opportunities will be there. They just want the money and won’t tell what will be done with it, yet they know they want 5.4 mil… not 5.6 mil, not 4.5 mil. Such precision for the ask and such vagueness for the plan
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Leave a Reply