Zoners greenlight development near State Street train station

New Haven’s planning body on Wednesday approved a zoning change that will open the door for new development on land adjacent to the State Street Station.

The land at 78 Olive St., just to the east of the Metro-North railroad station, is currently home to a parking lot for the Strouse Adler complex. Applicant 78 Olive Street Partners asked the City Plan Commission to change the 2.5-acre parcel’s zoning from General Business (BA) to Central Business/Residence (BD-1) to allow for residential construction. 

Developer PMC Property Group has proposed a 13-story apartment complex for the property to community groups but has yet to submit a formal proposal. The Pennsylvania-based firm owns the land and redeveloped the adjacent Strouse Adler building, where rents start at $1,350 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. 

A new apartment building on land that now serves as a parking lot fulfills the city’s vision of a dense and walkable central district, said Steve Fontana, New Haven’s deputy director of economic development.

“It also enables the kind of positive redevelopment that we wish to seek in the city generally but this neighborhood specifically,” Fontana said of the property, a link between downtown and nearby Wooster Square. “We think it’s a positive thing.”

Ward 7 Alder Eli Sabin said, “It’s exciting that this site can be developed given our city’s need for more housing, more tax revenue, more jobs, more people downtown and more customers for our local business.”

Biodiesel plant addition approved 

The  commission on Wednesday also approved an application from American GreenFuels (AGF) to expand its biodiesel plant at 30 Waterfront St. in New Haven’s port district with a 1,400-square-foot addition. 

AGF plans to erect a prefab structure to house new process equipment on the site, property leased from New Haven Terminal Inc. Used vegetable oil is trucked into the plant for conversion into biodiesel fuel. 

The board approved site  and coastal site plan reviews for the AGF addition. 

AGF’s New Haven facility is the largest biodiesel production plant in New England and is steadily increasing capacity, according to the company’s website. 

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.