Image courtesy of Kenneth Boroson Architects

A big, new market-rate multifamily building in downtown New Haven has broken ground.

According to The New Haven Independent, city Mayor Justin Elicker, project architect Ken Boroson and representatives from New York City developer The Hakamian Organization held a ceremony this week to mark the start of construction on the latter’s project on the former site of a single-story retail building kitty-corner to New Haven City Hall.

Hakamian plans 96 apartments across 7 stories at 19 Elm St. The project was OK’d in early 2020 before the city’s inclusionary zoning ordinance passed that requires developers to set aside 15 percent of units in new buildings at below-market rents.

“Market-rate units are also a very, very important element to making our state more affordable,” Elicker told the Independent. There’s a need for 90,000 new places to live across Connecticut, he continued, to address the state’s housing shortage. ​“The more units that are online, the less pressure on the market. We have a real supply problem right now.”

New Haven-based developer MOD Equities was the original proponent, but sold the project to Hakamian for $4.95 million in 2022 according to public records.

Hakamian is building the project with a $18.63 million mortgage from Norwalk-based Silver Heights Capital, public records show.