[Stylo]

I've spoken with some real estate developers in the New Haven area, as well as those connected to city officials, and many have confidence in certain areas of New Haven that will gentrify/"pop" next. East Rock has already seen this happen, with many homes and apartment buildings being restored and now getting high rent. Wooster Square, Westville, and Downtown are continually improving as well, and many units are being added in/near downtown over the next few years.

But the areas they are thinking will move next are 1. The Hill-to-Downtown area, roughly the area from the train station to current downtown, and 2. the Quinnipiac River waterfront area.

The Hill-to-Downtown area is not surprising, as the Route 34 project has been in the works for a long time, and plans have floated around for years now about how to better connect the train station, downtown, and YNH.


Hey, That's His Property! | New Haven Independent

Curious about the Qunnipiac Riverfront, and someone who hasn't explored Fair Haven very much, I went to check it out this week. What I found was the bones of a really cool little area. It had a lot of historic charm, with many small Federalist homes and a New England port feel. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places with 524 contributing buildings.

Examples:


(looks like a marketing agency is in here now - http://www.cheneyandco.com/kings%20block/building.html)

Looks like there have been some newer condo developments. Came across this too, not sure its status - maybe dead?
Quinnipiac River Village

Found this too. Maybe this was stalled?
http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/econom...-2B8692EC4A72}

I could see this area gaining interest, but there's a couple challenges. Mainly, it has limited highway and train access and it's flanked on 3 sides by undesirable elements: the crime of Fair Haven, and industrial areas.

I'll probably go back and take some photos when it's nicer out. It's a pretty fascinating spot, with obviously a ton of history.

More info:
New Haven Preservation Trust
Quinnipiac River Historic District - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[willow wind]

Fair Haven would seem like a likely prospect for redevelopment. However, no one has really been able to make a go of it.

Even on the other side of the Quinnipiac River, next to East Haven ( Fair Haven Heights), there was a woman developer who tried to get condos going around 2008-2009 or so. She wanted $800,000 for them. People would look at them, comment on the river view, then look at the surrounding neighborhood and walk away. This neighborhood, too, is part of the old New Haven oyster colony. Of course that project could have been poor timing and price.

Nothing on the west bank of Quinnipiac, the area of which you are speaking, seems to get fully finished. It goes along in fits and spurts, then mostly fails. Some of it, I suppose is economic, some of it is a messy combo of developers who have politicians in their pocket and just plain ugly wheeling and dealing over development money.

Here's an old article on the development problems of one of those projects. In particular, read the comments to find out what the developers wanted to do with their failed project.

Quinnipiac River Village empty, ugly, bringing down the neighborhood - Chatham Square, CT - Issue #95752 - SeeClickFix

However, I really don't see this area taking off unless they do something with the rest of Fair Haven. Thirty- forty ago, Fair Haven was a good place to live. Solidly blue collar with a good mix of professionals, but safe, much like Morris Cove. But by the late 1980's it was turning into a mess. DH & I had two sets of friends who lived in the area and they all left due to increasing crime. It was rapidly changing from working class to unemployable class.

East Rock, especially the more northern section, has always been the upper crust of New Haven so that area has not suddenly gentrified. It would also be lovely if they could rehabilitate from the train station to downtown. That, to me, seems a very logical urban rehab progression.

[JayCT]

I laughed when I saw the drawing of the development opposite Union Station. The owner of that old low-income housing project, Northland, was gung-ho when they first bought the property but has not done a thing about redeveloping it since3. I find it unlikely that will change given that they are having financial issues. Until that property is rebuilt into a more attractive property, I do not see a lot changing around it. Still it is too valuable to sit there for long so who knows.

As for Fairf Haven, it is a shame it does not have a good reputation since parts are very attractive. It has a long way to go. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I laughed when I saw the drawing of the development opposite Union Station. The owner of that old low-income housing project, Northland, was gung-ho when they first bought the property but has not done a thing about redeveloping it since3. I find it unlikely that will change given that they are having financial issues. Until that property is rebuilt into a more attractive property, I do not see a lot changing around it. Still it is too valuable to sit there for long so who knows.

As for Fairf Haven, it is a shame it does not have a good reputation since parts are very attractive. It has a long way to go. Jay

The city wants to do something drastic with that Northland property. It's possible that they are courting developers to buy it at this point.

[Csiko]

There's potential there, but a lot of the area is considerably unsafe only a block or two in either direction. I don't think it's the sort of problem that can be fixed in such small doses. Also highway access isn't too bad, but I'd be more concerned about the little bridges getting stuck all the time and creating a traffic nightmare like they used to if any sort of improvements to the area were made. I think it'd be an awful lot of work.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stylo

The city wants to do something drastic with that Northland property. It's possible that they are courting developers to buy it at this point.

It was not that long ago that Northland bought the property from the Housing Authority as the selected developer for the site. The city can say all it wants but without the owner's cooperation not much will get done there. I have been told that Northland makes good money on the property now so they are in hurry to change things even if that means more in the future. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It was not that long ago that Northland bought the property from the Housing Authority as the selected developer for the site. The city can say all it wants but without the owner's cooperation not much will get done there. I have been told that Northland makes good money on the property now so they are in hurry to change things even if that means more in the future. Jay

Well, they could make a lot more with a proper development. I can't imagine that prime piece of real estate's best use is the current one. It's also in horrible condition, it recently received an abysmal failing grade.

The new mayor has made it one of her priorities, so we'll see.

[AnonChick]

The first photo in the OP's post, is of a house I'm familiar with. A friend's mom lived there on the ground floor for years. That's Front Street. That whole section of the area, by the yacht club, is actually pretty nice. It's sequestered behind a less-than-nice area, and it's very old, but yes it really does have a "port" feeling to it. It reminds me of a mini-Mystic.

[Comp625]

Great thread. It's funny because I've always thought that Fair Haven looks attractive on paper; it's a peninsula of sorts that is very close to highways and very close to Downtown New Haven. I even toyed around with Google Maps' Street View one day and the area is pretty nice -- quite a few parks and seemingly many opportunities to catch pretty views of LI Sound, Quinnipiac River, and the Mill River.

Unfortunately, I remember reading another thread here on C-D where people have said that the level of blight hasn't changed in over 30 years. I think a lot of that is attributable to the psychological barriers associated with the geographical layout (i.e. I-91 to the north and the rivers to the east and west "isolate" any attempt of New Haven gentrification from seeping in).

Like Stylo said, being a long-time resident of the Bridgeport/New Haven area, I haven't ventured much into Fair Haven myself. I'll make a mental note to check out Fair Haven next time I am in the popular East Rock or Wooster Street areas of New Haven.

[brattpowered]

If Fair Haven became safer it would be quite the place. There's great accessibility and lots of traditional commercial architecture.