Dec. 13–NEW HAVEN — As the outgoing administration lined up to sign a $395 million deal for a mixed-use development envisioned as a new neighborhood downtown, Mayor-elect Toni Harp pledged to go after the state funding that will make it a reality.
“Whenever there is change there is often worry that things will happen and things won’t be maintained,” Harp said to a crowd of officials at City Hall Thursday to ink the plan with Max Reim of LiveWorkLearnPlay, a Montreal-based company.
“I just want to assure the public that I believe in this project and this fabulous development team headed by Kelly Murphy basically gives us the ball. … We will not drop that ball. We understand that this is important,” Harp said to a crowd that broke into applause.
“It’s a win-win and I’m going to work very hard to see that it happens,” Harp said.
The mayor-elect, who has been a state senator for 21 years, said she feels the $20 million needed as the state’s contribution to fund the necessary infrastructure changes “is doable.”
“There are other projects that got that amount, so this one should have that opportunity, as well,” she said.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. has been waiting for this signing since the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, that filled what is sometimes referred to as the city’s 10th Square, was demolished in January 2007.
The deal envisions a development with 1,002 apartments and local businesses built around an urban plaza with a 160- to 190-room 4.5 star hotel, convention center and Class A office tower in Phase 2. The site is bordered by Orange, George and State streets and the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Reim said he is ready to put a shovel in the ground starting this summer if the state commitment to continue South Orange Street at grade level across what is now a portion of the Route 34 connector comes through. The city has pledged $5 million in the first phase and up to $7 million in the second phase to make this happen.
Murphy will be leaving as economic development administrator at the end of the month after eight years with DeStefano, who decided not to seek re-election after two decades in office.
She took time to deliver an emotional thank you to the team that has worked with her to bring this and other projects along, including the Downtown Crossing, which eventually will replace the Route 34 connector with two urban boulevards, reclaiming some 10 acres of developable land downtown and connecting it to the medical center and the Hill neighborhood.
DeStefano said when the Coliseum was envisioned in the 1960s, it was a very different auto-centric city where federal highway dollars were used to destroy neighborhoods and create separations rather than building on the city’s strengths.
“What we have learned is cities that invest in people, rather than places, are cities that grow and succeed,” DeStefano said.
The mayor said the LiveWorkLearnPlay development is based in what the market will support in fostering a walkable neighborhood where it is hoped some 35 small to mid-size businesses will get started. The seven to 10-year build out will generate some 4,700 construction jobs and 2,800 permanent jobs, mainly tied to Phase 2 through the hotel and office tower.
Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez said Reim was able to bring residents together from the Hill and downtown to work on the project.
Perez said the mixture of jobs is what is most exciting to him, ranging from blue collar work to management. He told the crowd the only way the city can start to tackle its problems is by increasing its tax base and this project helps that.
Reim said the quality of the economic development staff in New Haven was “second to none” in all the projects he has worked with over the last 30 years.
Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with New Haven Register editors at AskTheRegister.com.
