Union Station, get ready for some new neighbors ... ... at the TOD coming soon-ish to the east parking lot? Four developers are in the running to build up a state-owned surface parking lot adjacent to Union Station — as part of a transit-oriented development that is likely still several years away from breaking ground.That nearly two-acre parcel, dubbed the ​“east lot” and located on the side of the station closer to downtown, is currently home to 257 surface parking spaces.Per the terms of a 2021 city-state-parking authority agreement called the Union Station Partnership, that lot is to be built up into a new mixed-use development, providing plenty more places for people to shop and live right next door to New Haven’s transportation hub.According to the Union Station Partnership’s website, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a Request for Qualification (RFQ) on April 3 ​“to seek project concepts and qualifications from qualified developers” for a transit-oriented development at the east lot.The RFQ closed on May 15, and, on May 31, four development teams were ​“shortlisted” to participate in a subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP).Those four shortlisted developers for the east lot build-up include:• Gilbane Development Company, a Providence, R.I.-based firm recently tapped by the city to build hundreds more apartments atop a Ninth Square parking lot.• Spinnaker Real Estate Partners and Lexington Partners. Based out of Norwalk, Spinnaker has emerged over the past half decade as one of the busiest builders in New Haven, including of 200 soon-to-open apartments at the former Coliseum site.• The Richman Group and Westmount Development Group. Richman is a Greenwich-based company that bills itself as America’s seventh largest rental apartment owner.• Twining Properties, a New York-based firm that is co-building hundreds of new apartments at the site of the former Winchester Arms factory. According to city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli, the state’s RFP process will close later in October. The state — which owns the east lot — will then select a developer for the project.“The responses are due next month and we look forward to seeing high-quality ideas in a manner consistent with our project goals,” Piscitelli told the Independent in an email comment for this story.In a separate email comment for this story, state DOT spokesperson Joe Cooper wrote, ​“Following a two-step solicitation process, responding to the RFP is limited to the four development teams that were shortlisted from the RFQ. The RFP was issued in the summer and proposals are due this fall. CTDOT will select a development team after a subsequent review and evaluation process.”Piscitelli discussed the potential east lot development during a presentation he gave on Sept. 9 to the Board of Alders Finance Committee.He appeared before the committee to pitch a proposed amendment to the 2021 Union Station Partnership accord.That amendment, which the Finance Committee unanimously endorsed and which now heads to the full Board of Alders for review and a final vote, is designed to tee up the state-owned east lot for eventual sale to a private developer — while ensuring that the city doesn’t lose out on tax and parking revenue.In addition to Piscitelli’s Sept. 9 presentation to the committee, he and state Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto also each submitted letters to the alders explaining and urging support for the proposal.The city and state ​“have made significant progress toward development of a best-in-class transit oriented development” next to the train station, Piscitelli wrote in his Aug. 26 letter to alders. He cited as evidence of that progress the securing of over $17 million in Urban Act capital grants for the transit hub; a design process that is currently underway for interior renovations to the train station; the soon-to-come installation of new wayfinding signs; the start of planning for ​“a new intermodal parking garage” on the west lot on the other side of the station; and the bounce back of on-site parking customers, from 425 cars per day in July 2021 to 879 in July 2024.Most recently, the city proposed and, in May, the alders approved rezoning Union Station and its adjacent lots as a ​“Transit Oriented Community,” to promote taller, denser developments supporting car-free living.The state-owned east lot, meanwhile, is currently the subject of a lease with the city and is operated by the parking authority, which manages day-to-day operations at Union Station.Piscitelli said that the proposed amendment would ensure that the state does not release ​“custody” of the lot to a developer until they are actually ready to start construction. It also includes a calculation that ensures the DOT will provide the city with funds to make up for lost revenue resulting from the removal of the 257-space surface parking lot. (Piscitelli made clear that there will be more parking added to the Union Station site, including in a planned for new garage on the west lot.)The amendment also would require that the east lot development remain subject to property taxes; that building permit revenue go to the city; and that, if the chosen developer chooses to build a hotel, they won’t object to that hotel’s unionization.“What is the timeline for this?” East Rock Alder Anna Festa asked. When will this long-proposed development actually happen?Piscitelli repeated that four responses came in to the state’s RFQ process for the east lot. The RFP will close in October. The state will likely pick a developer for the lot by the end of the year. After that, he said, expect ​“at least a year of due diligence” before the project comes before the City Plan Commission for site plan review.“It’s not conceivable that construction would start in 2025,” he said. But, given that all involved here have had to navigate a pandemic and high interest rate, ​“a start date sometime in 2026 or early 2027 is pretty heroic in this environment.”Committee Alders Jeanette Morison, Evette Hamilton, Anna Festa, and Chair Adam Marchand all spoke up in support of the proposed amendment before voting unanimously with their colleagues to send recommend its approval.“I think it’s a challenging situation, because this is a Department of Transportation issue and the statutes are different,” Marchand said. ​“Having an amendment that protects the city’s interests and memorializes certain commitments the state and city have made seems a smart and appropriate thing to do.”Inside Union Station on Tuesday afternoon.