A recent court ruling appears to have brought a new apartment complex development one step closer on New Haven’s Grand Avenue.
Judge Kevin C. Shea has ruled that the city’s Plan Commission decided correctly when it approved a six-story, 112-unit apartment block planned for currently derelict lots at 873, 887 and 897 Grand Ave.
Two local residents had sued the commission in Connecticut Superior Court, claiming the body had acted illegally and arbitrarily when it greenlit the development in 2023.
New York-based developer JS Dorothy LLC proposes an 82,000-square-foot building, which in addition to the apartments will include a rooftop deck, garden, 47 parking spots and a retail storefront. The company has said 15% of the units will be be affordable to people making 50% of the area median income
The developer bought the vacant commercial buildings on the three lots in 2022 for $3.1 million.
Two neighbors who own property on nearby Lyon Street brought the suit, claiming that the Plan Commission had failed to carry out an effective traffic study, and that the building as approved did not meet zoning ordinances that require a higher percentage of affordable units.
But the judge ruled that “the record contains substantial evidence of compliance.”
