Plans for Unilever’s $270 million innovation center in New Haven call for a nearly 253,000-square-foot building and $34.7 million in state funding for public infrastructure, including tunnels and plazas connecting the site to neighboring developments.
The City Plan Commission is scheduled to review the project and hold a related public hearing Sept. 29.
The four-story laboratory and office building would rise at 2 Church St., on a roughly 1.8-acre site between 101 College St. and the Church Street Bridge. It would be the third development in Downtown Crossing, an effort to reconnect New Haven’s Hill neighborhood and medical district with downtown on land once occupied by the Route 34 highway corridor.
The city currently owns the site, which would be sold to WE 2 Church Street LLC, a company controlled by Massachusetts-based Winstanley Enterprises. Winstanley would develop the building, adding to the two major life sciences properties it built at 100 and 101 College St.
Unilever would be the building’s primary tenant. The consumer goods company said in May that it planned to occupy about 100,000 square feet on two floors and expected roughly 300 employees to work at the center. The facility would replace Unilever’s longtime research and development operation in Trumbull.
The plans put the entire building at 252,892 square feet, including its lower level, parking garage and mechanical space. For zoning purposes, its floor area would be 177,022 square feet.
The building also would be designed to accommodate a quantum science organization, potentially QuantumCT, according to the site plan narrative. The filing does not identify a committed occupant for that space.
The development is part of New Haven’s Quantum and Life Sciences Innovation Cluster, which was awarded $50.5 million in state support in 2025 through Connecticut’s Innovation Clusters Program. The state said the funding would support infrastructure, research facilities and other projects intended to grow the city’s life sciences and quantum technology industries.
According to the site plan narrative, the $34.7 million infrastructure grant would help pay for service tunnels linking the building to the existing tunnel network beneath 101 and 100 College St. It also would support sidewalks, stormwater systems, improvements to surrounding streets and two public plazas.
The larger plaza, at 13,089 square feet, would adjoin the existing plaza at 101 College St. Together, the spaces are intended to provide a pedestrian connection between the Hill neighborhood and downtown. Plans show seating, bicycle parking, space for events and a spot for a food truck.
The building would have a 35-space underground garage. Under a proposed agreement with the New Haven Parking Authority, up to 400 parking permits would be available at the Temple Medical Garage for building workers and guests.
New Haven’s Board of Alders approved a land disposition agreement for the project Sept. 8. Unilever said in May that it expected the center to open in spring 2029.
