Image courtesy of Vesta Corporation and Vallone Ventures

Asbestos, lead and uranium-contaminated debris could give way to hundreds of new, affordable homes for New Haven residents.

Simsbury-based developer Vesta Corporation, which owns or operates 87 multifamily complexes across six states and Washington, D.C., and Westport-based Vallone Ventures appeared before the city Board of Zoning Appeals to seek permission for a pair of retail storefronts in their planned Elm City Lofts development.

The project would rise near New Haven’s former Winchester Repeating Arms factory. The area north of downtown New Haven, once an manufacturing cluster including the sprawling former rifle factory, is being redeveloped into apartments and biotech office space in both new-build and renovated historic buildings.

The Vesta-Vallone development would have 242 affordable housing units spread across two new buildings and a renovated, 125,000-square-foot mill originally built in 1915. Twenty percent of the units will be set aside for tenants making 50 percent of area median income, while the remainder will be for tenants making 60 percent of area median income, development filings state.

The site was once a factory for the United Nuclear Corporation, was cleaned up in 2021. The last development proposal fell apart in 2024 after musicians who use the former mill building as practice space spoke out against the proposed self-storage redevelopment.

The project was before the New Haven BZA on Tuesday to get a special exception for two, 1,075-square-foot retail spaces for specialty food stores or restaurants, according to application materials.  

The board did not vote on Vesta and Vallone’s proposal, instead referring it to the City Plan Commission for review before taking its own vote. Once granted, however, the exceptions appear to be the final major hurdle for the design.

The development team secured city approval to rezone the parcel from industrial to residential earlier this year, as well as a 17-year tax abatement.