Dixwell Ave. Housing Plan: 69 Units, 55 Affordable, 20 For Homeless

NEW HAVEN, CT – With work underway, 340 Dixwell Ave. will be a mixed-use, 69-unit majority affordable apartment building employing mass timber sustainable construction practices.

Last week, Mayor Justin Elicker joined Darrell Brooks, CEO of Beulah Land Development Corp., Jeff Spiritos, Principal of Spiritos Properties LLC, and other city and civic officials to tour the mixed-use, 69-unit "majority affordable apartment building employing mass timber sustainable construction practices." Of the 69 units, 55 are affordable and 20 are reserved for the homeless.

The Dixwell Avenue building, going up on a prominent, long-vacant lot in the Dixwell neighborhood, is the first mass timber affordable housing project on the East Coast and the first funded using Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

Mass timber is a state-of-the-art wood product and technology that dramatically reduces the amount of CO2 emissions used during the construction process. It is estimated that the production of construction materials account for 10 percent of the global energy-related carbon pollution that is contributing to climate change. Unlike steel and concrete, more commonly used non-renewable building materials that require large amounts of energy to produce, mass timber leverages a renewable resource (wood) and stores carbon in the building structure itself, acting as a carbon sink over the lifespan of the building and enabling cities to use their built environment as a method for mitigating climate change.

Alongside supporting the City of New Haven’s climate and sustainability goals, 340 Dixwell Avenue will provide 69 one, two and three-bedroom units of which 55 will be affordable units, 60 percent Area Median Income or below, with 20 of those reserved for "rehousing individuals and families experiencing homelessness."

The project also underscores New Haven’s commitment to inclusive growth, with over $4 million in construction contracts associated with the project having been awarded to minority-owned firms to date.

340 Dixwell Avenue is a partnership between the City of New Haven, Beulah Land Development Corporation, and Spiritos Properties, a widely-respected leader in mass timber construction that has introduced the practice to the New Haven community with projects that also include 33 Crown Street.

A development agreement and groundbreaking on the project took place in August 2022. Thursday’s event will provide an opportunity to tour and view the progress on the building and to educate the public on mass timber construction practices before the materials are covered over in the next phase of construction.

Funding partners on the project include TD Bank, National Equity Fund, Community Preservation Corporation, Connecticut Department of Housing, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and the City of New Haven Livable City Initiative.