NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Connecticut is facing a housing crisis, and New Haven leaders said they are on the front lines, working to solve it. Part of that plan involves bulking up on affordable housing. That’s exactly what the city is doing on the border of the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods right now, by building a new complex at 222 Canal Street.
“New Haven is hot! New Haven is literally hot today, but every day New Haven is hot because we are building, building, building,” said Mayor Justin Elicker at a press conference at the construction site on Wednesday.
At the site, on the corner of Canal and Henry Streets, workers have been working on the build since May. The complex is being called ‘The Residences @ Canal Place.’
“This is intended to be a state-of-the-art, Class A residential, rental development,” said Yves Joseph II, Principal Co-founder of RJ Development & Advisors LLC, leading the charge on the project.
But this particular complex is unique, offering lots of affordable housing units. Out of the 176 units, 58 will be affordable (or 1/3rd of the development).
“Making homes available that are elegant and dignified and of high quality to a large cross-section of individuals, I think is a responsibility,” Joseph II said.
That holds true, especially in this neighborhood, where Alder Jeanette Morrison said the community has been taken advantage of in the past.
“For so many years, this community, being majority African American, black community, people have taken advantage of the residents,” Morrison said. “It is important that people that live in this community can stay.”
The developer said the goal is to reach tenants who are already living in that neighborhood, or maybe grew up there, and are looking for new opportunities. The “affordable” part is based on AMI (Area Media Income). The state typically defines affordable housing as 80% of the AMI.
However, Mayor Justin Elicker said that’s still too expensive for a lot of people.
“We’ve had, over the past three and a half years, over 900 renovated or new affordable units including a bunch of deeply affordable,” Elicker said.
Elicker said there are 900 more in the pipeline. All solidified by a new law passed in 2020, saying all developers in the city of New Haven must offer a certain percentage of affordable housing.
“Our goal in New Haven is to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to thrive,” Elicker said.
With a common club room, outdoor lounge area, fitness center, lobby, and retail space at the bottom, they’re hoping The Residences @ Canal Place can give more opportunities to nearby neighbors.
“The idea that the local population, who has been in this neighborhood for a very long time, will be able to participate in this economic development,” said Joseph II.
As for the timeline for the project, the developer said they hope to be done by the end of next year. Before then, they’ll start marketing the units with a website that’ll be created within the next 90 days. However, right now, their phones are already ringing off the hook with potential tenants showing interest.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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