A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Oct. 24 for the Hill Housing Rehabilitation Project, the largest new development project to be built in the Hill neighborhood in decades.
The project, which will bring 65 new units of housing to the Hill, is a collaboration between the City of New Haven, Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), Yale University, the Hill Development Corp. and Enterprise Social Investment Corporation. The latter is a national nonprofit organization founded by the late James Rouse and his wife, Patty, to provide decent, affordable housing in neighborhoods across the country.
The $6.3 million project will encompass 17 city blocks in the Hill, including the Davenport Avenue site that for 30 years has housed the abandoned Princess Theatre. That structure will be partially demolished and rehabilitated into new rental units, while new homes will be constructed at several other sites. The new homes will be targeted to low-income families.
Rather than clustering new homes in a single development, the Hill Housing Rehabilitation Project seeks to lower housing density through the construction and rehabilitation of single-family houses across entire blocks in the neighborhood. According to officials from the Hill Development Corp., the project supports the group's central mission: to improve the quality of life for residents in the Hill by increasing the quality and affordability of housing and by stabilizing the neighborhood.
The Enterprise Social Investment Corporation is providing more than $3.8 million in equity capital to the project. The City of New Haven, through its Livable City Initiative, is contributing $1.5 million and additional city services, and is transferring two parcels of property to the project: at 198 Putnam St. and 19-21 Hurlburt St. YNHH is providing $200,000 in a restricted grant to be used exclusively for this project, and the University is contributing $150,000.
Among the officials on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony were New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., YNHH President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph A. Zaccagnino and Yale President Richard C. Levin.
President Levin said: "This ceremony celebrates the collaboration of many participants in the effort to revitalize New Haven's neighborhoods. Yale is proud to be an active partner in the groundbreaking on this day that, for years to come, will mean so much to the people of the Hill community."