by Paul Bass | Jul 26, 2022 4:11 pm

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Posted to: Business/ Economic Development, Labor

Floor four, and counting: Work proceeds at 101 College St.

Builder Winstanley: On budget, on schedule.

A new bioscience tower has begun taking shape, and a vision of New Haven’s jobs future along with it.

The $250 million, 10-story, 500,000 square-foot life sciences research and lab project is rising on the grave of a filled-in former mini-highway-to-nowhere Route 34 Connector, on a newly reclaimed block bordered by MLK Boulevard, College Street, South Frontage Road, and Temple Street.

Thirteen months after breaking ground, builder Carter Winstanley returned to the site along with state and local officials Tuesday to report that the project is on time, on budget, and already 90 percent leased. The new building is directly across from another biosciences tower Winstanley previously built at 100 College St.

The steel frame is in process of going up, with crews currently working on the fourth floor. Winstanley said he expects to complete construction in 2023, with the first companies moving in as soon as fall 2023.

Tenants already signed on to occupy space include Yale’s Tsai neuroscience center; Alexion, the rare-disease drug-development company that continues to expand here after fears it would skip town; Arvinas, which develops drugs to treat cancer; and a co-working outfit called BioLabs.

The site will also include public walkways and a classroom for local students, with the hope that some will eventually obtain the ​“ eds and meds” jobs of the economic future on which New Haven is banking.

Hill Alders Carmen Rodriguez and Ron Hurt, who helped negotiate the community benefits agreement.

Between 65 and 95 people are working on the site each day, according to city Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli; ​“ hundreds more” are expected to find work in the finish building.

Winstanley is working with the job-placement agency New Haven Works to help New Haveners, espcially from the Hill and Dwight, land many of those jobs as part of a community benefits agreement struck during the regulatory approval process for the project. Officials said they hope that become a model for future development deals, in order to deal New Haveners into new job opportunities; six similar agreements are currently being negotiated, according to outgoing New Haven Works Executive Director Melissa Mason.

Peter Dimoulas and Christine Caragianis Broadbridge, part of the Southern Connecticut State University team that has developed life-science paths on campus and linked students to internships (and jobs) in New Haven's growing biotech sector.

101 College is part of the broader Downtown Crossing project reconnecting the Hill and Downtown by gradually filling in the former Route 34 Connector.

That makes the construction particularly challenging, Winstanley noted. Crews are working on land above two lines of moving traffic. Another four lanes of traffic move aboveground alongside the property on South Frontage, another four lanes on MLK  Boulevard.

It’s worth it, to create a project that helps rebuild a city and involve the community in its benefits, Winstanley said.

Winstanley, right, with state economic development chief David Lehman; the state contributed $31 million in tax credits and other incentives toward the $250 million project.

“ There are easier projects. This is meaningful,” he said.

His Massachusetts-based company has been building, and filling, life sciences facilities in New Haven since 1999, beginning with 300 George Street, 25 Science Park, through the 100 College Street tower. 

Last year’s ceremonial groundbreaking press event for 101 College took place on the south side of Route 34. Tuesday’s update took place on the northern side.

“ A year from now,” when public pathways appear on the premises, Piscitelli predicted, ​“ we are going to walk across the street together through the project.”

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The growth of biotech will make New Haven a more interesting town, and I am pleased to read about the New Haven Works programs. But New Haven is two cities, and I fear the growth of the industry will exacerbate the divide between them. I trust that most of the folks working in biotech are fine individuals. But I suspect few understand what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck (I don’t.) And they will be able to afford the rents in the new developments. Few New Haveners can. I am glad this development is happening. But the city needs to figure out how it can work for all of its residents. Paul, there have been amazing developments in miniaturization. But I rather doubt the building is 500 square feet (the size of a Manhattan studio). 😷

90% full more than a year in advance? Hope the state provides funding to build a couple more large towers like this ASAP, instead of pouring billions more into dead-end projects like the Waterbury mixmaster or rural UConn campus. Without space the jobs will go to other states.

Between 65 and 95 people are working on the site each day, according to city Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli; ​“hundreds more” are expected to find work in the finish building. Winstanley is working with the job-placement agency New Haven Works to help New Haveners, espcially from the Hill and Dwight, land many of those jobs as part of a community benefits agreement struck during the regulatory approval process for the project. Again.Snake-Oil and Three Card Monte being sold.The only jobs at this Biotech for those in Hoods and El Barrios here will be cleaning the bathrooms and making sandwiches in the employee cafeteria.I bet those Jobs can not even pay the rents downtown. Costas Spirou Said it well. The effects of gentrification and displacement as neighbourhoods are transformed into vibrant hubs of creativity shouldn’t be ignored, says Costas Spirou Over the past two and a half decades, partnerships between universities and venture capitalists have transformed many urban areas into powerful innovation districts. These gleaming zones have spawned tech start-ups, attracted high-paying jobs and grown biotech giants. You need to reflect seriously on how they are transforming the neighbourhoods they call home.

Its nice to read that 101 College Street is "90% leased," but find it strange that 100 College Street has several floors that are empty and have never been built out, including space on the ground floor. Would anyone know what the story is on all that empty space at 100 College Street?

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