Dixwell Avenue in New Haven used to be lined with businesses decades ago, and local officials hope a new multi-use development project will bring some of that hustle and bustle back.
The project, called the ConnCAT Place on Dixwell, will include housing, a grocery store, job training and more, according to Paul McCraven, COO of ConnCORP..
"As part of the first phase, we’ll be building 184 units of housing as well as a market food hall,” McCraven said.
Officials held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. The development project is expected to take four years to finish.
ConnCORP is investing $163 million in the project. The next phase, according to McCraven, will include a performing arts and cultural center.
ConnCAT, a job training program, will be headquartered in the development and the first phase will also include a day care.
Other officials such as Chief Investment Officer Anna Blanding said the project was shaped by community concerns. ConnCORP held what it called community conversations over the last several years and she said many residents had similar concerns.
“We've heard about the day care, the food and grocery, the child mental health, the greenery and public plaza, there's housing,” Blanding said.
New Haven’s rental prices are high. According to RentCafe, the average rent in Dixwell is around $2,200.
The facilities will be located in Dixwell, a predominately African American neighborhood. Long the only area of the city where African Americans could live, it had a thriving small business scene in the middle of the 20th century, according to ConnCORP as well as the Ethnic Heritage Center, a group made up of five local historical societies in the area.
But that changed beginning in the 1960s, and the area is considered one of the poorest in the city.
Alder Troy Streater said the groundbreaking means a break from its past for Dixwell.
“This is a major step toward a brighter, more prosperous future for Dixwell and New Haven," Streater said.
