A rendering shows the podium and one of two 16-story towers proposed for a site next to New Haven, Connecticut's main train station. Image courtesy of Gilbane Development Company and MURAL Real Estate Partners
The development arm of Providence-based construction giant Gilbane emerged Tuesday as the winning bidder to develop a large site next to a busy Connecticut train station.
Connecticut state officials had sought proposals for a roughly 1.7-acre surface parking lot next to New Haven’s main Amtrak and commuter rail terminal, Union Station.
The state’s Gov. Ned Lamont named a joint venture of Gilbane Development Company and New York City-based MURAL Real Estate Partners – which counts Jefferson Apartment Group’s former Boston-based executive Sandi Silk among its senior leadership – to lead what his office estimated will be a $316.1 million mixed-use, two-tower development on the site.
Lamont’s office said the Gilbane-MURAL proposal includes 470 new apartments, 118 of which will be affordable housing, in two 16-story towers. The buildings will rise from a podium that mixes a 294-space commuter garage and 28,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.
Construction is scheduled to start late next year, with the first phase of unspecified proportions wrapping up in early 2028 and a second phase starting in August 2029, with a November 2031 completion date.
“You can’t get more transit-oriented development than building nearly 500 new homes right next to one of the busiest train hubs in the northeast,” Ed Broderick, CEO of Gilbane, said in a statement provided by Lamont’s office. “Gilbane is honored to partner with the State of Connecticut, the City of New Haven, and Mural Real Estate Partners on this transformative project. This is precisely the kind of visionary development that helps combat the housing crisis and reconnect communities.”
The Union Station site is next to downtown New Haven, separated by a freeway stub that was recently demolished. The project converted the freeway into a boulevard with strong pedestrian connections that links the train station and its 90-minute train rides to Midtown Manhattan and a downtown that’s riding high on a wave of biotech and multifamily development and
“Union Station is one of New Haven’s most iconic and important places of connection,” Robin Zeigler, founder and CEO of MURAL Real Estate Partners, said in a statement provided by Lamont’s office. “This project represents an opportunity to further weave it into the life of the city – with new mixed-income residences, an engaging mix of retailers and local businesses, and public spaces that welcome both residents and visitors. We’re honored to partner with the State of Connecticut and Gilbane on this transformational effort and look forward to delivering a place that reflects and serves the New Haven community.”
Once mooted for a large parking garage, city officials successfully pushed to develop the site for housing our commercial uses, instead. An 11-acre, mixed-use redevelopment of a now-demolished affordable housing complex is in the early planning stages across the street from the site.
The property was recently rezoned to allow multifamily housing by special permit. Lamont’s office offered no details about project financing.
A rendering shows a two-tower, 470-unit multifamily development planned for a site next to New Haven’s main train station (right, partially obscured by a building). Image courtesy of Gilbane Development Company and MURAL Real Estate Partners
