A rendering of the project. Source: Vesta Corporation and Vallone Ventures A developer duo’s plan to build 242 affordable apartments atop ex-industrial sites in Newhallville is moving forward, now that alders have rezoned the properties and signed off on a tax-break deal — leading the builde rs to seek food-retailer-related zoning relief for the ground-floor storefronts. The below-market-rate development is planned for 71 Shelton Ave., an empty lot that was once the site of a nuclear manufacturing facility, and 89-91 Shelton Ave., a decrepit industrial building occupied by artists, musicians, and a rock climbing gym. On Tuesday, Connecticut-based developers Vesta Corporation and Vallone Ventures asked the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for permission to allow food-related retailers on the ground floor of their proposed new three-building development. Their attorney, Carolyn Kone, said the project involves three separate structures. In addition to rehabilitating a former Winchester Repeating Arms factory, the developers plan to construct two podium-style buildings on 71 Shelton Ave. One would be four stories tall and contain 60 units, and the other would be five stories and host 84 units. The food-related retailers would occupy two ground-floor storefronts in the shorter building. All 242 units will be reserved for households earning below the area median income (AMI), or $67,920 for a family of four, Vesta Vice President Joshua Greenblatt told the Independent; 48 units would be restricted to people earning below 50 percent of the area median income. The future apartment complex, to be called Elm City Lofts, would have 265 parking spaces, with some spots reserved for visitors. On Tuesday, Kone requested a special exception from the city’s zoning board to permit two 1,075-square-foot retail spaces for food specialty stores and restaurants at 71 Shelton Ave. Those stores would serve “the apartment community” and “broader neighborhood,” she said, particularly given the dearth of few options nearby. BZA member Gaston Neville asked if the developers considered renting space to a grocery store. “We thought the space [would be] too small” for a full grocery store, responded Kone. Nevertheless, she expects the retail tenants they ultimately choose to offer fresh food, such as fruit, vegetables, coffee, and prepared foods. Joseph Vallone, the project’s architect, said he designed a plaza with outdoor seating and greenery outside of the stores. The area would be open to the entire neighborhood. “I love that there’s a focus on affordable housing,” commented Emily Sigman, a city parks commission member who lives nearby on Dixwell Avenue. “I would love to see” the developers create “even more retail spaces open to the public.” Nearby apartment buildings “feel walled off from the rest of the city,” she said, with “cavernous” lobbies devoid of people to use them. (Axis201, Cadence on Canal, and The Winston, and Winchester Lofts are all new luxury buildings within a 10-minute walk of the proposed Elm City Lofts.) “I share [Sigman’s] discomfort with how nearby buildings” use “locked gates” to shut out pedestrians and bikers on the Farmington Canal Trail, said Vallone. His design would keep the plaza open to the neighborhood. The board did not vote on the special exception on Tuesday, referring the matter instead to the City Plan Commission for review before taking the zoning-relief request up for an expected final vote next month. The City Plan Commission will also need to review the project’s site plan before the development can be built. As those processes amble onwards, Vesta and Vallone are taking substantial steps towards purchasing the Shelton Avenue lots by the end of the year. Both properties are currently owned by companies controlled by Schneur Katz of Crown Bell Management. Katz has been trying to sell the five-story building at 89-91 Shelton for more than a decade. Most recently, a potential buyer proposed converting the property into a self-storage facility, a plan that was quashed in early 2024 after a group of musicians and artists that rented studios in the building spoke out against it. While Vesta and Vallone have not yet purchased these two Shelton Avenue properties from Katz, in March, the Board of Alders voted to rezone the lots from heavy industrial to residential. The alders have also signed off on a tax abatement deal that reduces the property’s taxes for 17 years. In the first two years, the tax assessment would be frozen. In the third year, the owners would pay $650 per unit per year, plus 3 percent annual increases afterwards. The developers have also secured a conditional grant commitment for $6 million from the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to remediate the site, according to a document submitted to the Board of Alders. Financially, too, Vesta has stepped up their commitment to this new-housing project: on March 31, Vesta issued an $800,000 mortgage loan with an 8.5 percent interest rate to Katz’s company for 71 Shelton Ave. The loan comes due in January 2027. According to the mortgage contract, Katz’s holding company already has two mortgages totaling $800,000 on 71 Shelton Ave. The neighboring property, 89-91 Shelton Ave., had a $500,000 mortgage with a 12 percent interest rate, which Katz’s company paid off in March 2026. Another $250,000 loan with 12 percent interest appears to still be active, according to the city’s land records database. Katz did not respond to requests for comment. Greenblatt, the Vesta vice president, told the Independent that the developers plan to purchase the lots by the end of 2026, so long as they receive the requisite funding and approvals. After that, he estimates that construction will take 18 months to complete. Joseph Vallone: “I share [Sigman’s] discomfort with how nearby buildings” are cut off from the Farmington Canal Trail. The post 242-Unit “Elm City Lofts” Plan Advances appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less