Image courtesy of CUBE3

A New Haven developer is proposing up to 500 apartments in a pair of 13- and 15-story towers on one of the city’s most prominent waterfront properties.

Fusco Corp. is seeking a zoning amendment that would allow construction of the project on Long Wharf Drive near its headquarters at the Maritime Center office tower.

Designs by Boston-based architects CUBE3 call for two buildings on the 4.3-acre site, which contains a parking lot and restaurant building.

Developers say the development would bring more vibrancy to the waterfront area, which is cut off from the rest of the city by Interstate 95 and contains large parking lots and industrial uses.

“The addition of the residential community will create a built-in increase in foot traffic which will also make the area more inviting,” attorney Matthew Ranelli of Shipman and Goodwin wrote in a submission to city officials. “This portion of the Long Wharf area is one of the most visible locations in the city and often the first impression visitors have of New Haven.”

Units would range from studios to three-bedroom units, and the buildings will include 20,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space including a food market, developers stated in a submission to city officials. Parking would primarily be provided in Maritime Center’s 1,800-space garage.

A “responsible growth plan” approved for the Long Wharf area in 2018 recommended denser development along the waterfront in five mixed-use neighborhoods, including the residential harbor district that includes the Long Wharf site.

The Fusco proposal requires modification to the existing planned development district that includes the site, according to correspondence to the New Haven Board of Alders submitted by Shipman & Goodwin’s Ranelli.