New Haven alders slated to vote on massive bus depot redevelopment Bus depot site targeted for cleanup, development

Eric O’Brien, owner of Urbane New Haven LLC, left, and David Salinis of Digital Surgeons, are expected to get approval necessary to convert the former Connecticut Transit bus depot at 470 James St. into space for technology and innovation-led companies. There will also be a restaurant and beer garden, entertainment and a kayak launch into the Mill River. less Eric O’Brien, owner of Urbane New Haven LLC, left, and David Salinis of Digital Surgeons, are expected to get approval necessary to convert the former Connecticut Transit bus depot at 470 James St. into ... more Photo: (Peter Hvizdak - New Haven Register) Photo: (Peter Hvizdak - New Haven Register) Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close New Haven alders slated to vote on massive bus depot redevelopment 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> The last necessary approval has yet to take place, but a proposed tech park that would replace a mid-20th century bus depot has already gotten inquiries from around the country and from as far away as Turkey.

Entrepreneurs David Salinas and Eric O’Brien hope to get started later this month on DistriCT NHV, a renovation aimed at bringing tech companies and innovation-led businesses to a development that will also feature a restaurant, an amphitheater and a launching area for kayaks on the Mill River.

The blighted nine-acre site, which has been empty for the past four years, will be a major Fair Haven development at the edge of the East Rock neighborhood aimed at retaining almost 100 jobs and attracting 200 to 300 more to the city.

Salinas, who founded Digital Surgeons, and O’Brien, who owns Urbane New Haven, a development company, as well as Crossfit New Haven, are putting $16 million into the project with the state contributing $5.5 million to clean up the petroleum left behind by the buses housed there for CT Transit.

Looking at indeed.com, Salinas said the highest number of tech searches are by people leaving Silicon Valley in California.

“There is an exodus happening of tech talent,” Salinas said. “With this property and what the climate is in the tech world, I think that it really is time for us to compete. To me, that is what is more and more exciting about this.”

Factoring in the quality of life in Connecticut, the partners are optimistic that they will have no problem filling up the site, which already has commitments from five businesses, in addition to their decision to move Crossfit and Digital Surgeons into the new digs.

There will also be a minimum of 5,000 square feet devoted to private incubator space where the newest startups can collaborate and get help with access to capital and other necessities.

“We are shovel-ready,” said O’Brien, as the pair sat in his Urbane New Haven office on Grand Avenue with design documents and schematics spread out before them.

After the Board of Alders votes Monday on a development agreement, the land will be transferred to the city from the state, which in turn will transfer it to DistriCT NHV for $1.

For the first time in decades, it will be a privately owned parcel that will generate land and personal property taxes for New Haven.

The new venture already has the necessary planning approvals to demolish 95,000 square feet in the rear of the depot, leaving the remaining 100,000 square feet ready to renovate.

“We are humming along,” said O’Brien.

Their fans are many, including Alder Jessica Holmes, D-9th, who said it will be an inspiration to kids in the city who can look forward to interesting jobs in their futures. State Rep. Roland Lemar, D-98th, said it will encourage others to take a risk and invest in New Haven.

The youngest fan, who spoke at a recent hearing on the plan, is Marqua Kelley, 17, who interned at Crossfit and then worked there over the summer to get some insights into a small business. He said he wants to open his own gym some day and recently won a weight-lifting contest after training there.

“It did a lot for me. It boosted confidence in myself. I have seen the business aspect. There is a lot to it,” Kelley said.

Matt Smith, part of the city’s economic development team, was the lead on the project. In addition to fostering the growth of businesses, he said the partners will work with the city as it develops tech career ladder training at Gateway Commumity College.

DistriCT NHV was one of two proposals submitted for the site in May 2015, although the pair said they first approached the city about their idea the previous December.

A committee of city, neighborhood and development representatives in late July picked their proposal over Jason Carter’s plan for a grocery store on the site.

Carter owns the former trolley barn across the street where Digital Surgeons and Crossfit are his tenants with leases through the end of the year.

With demolition planned to begin this month, the city is happy that from the official start it took less than a year to check off the requirements at two governmental levels, a three-way property transfer, plus the vetting of a private entity.

Salinas said he was tired of the negative stories about the city and the state that Connecticut is not business friendly, that it can’t compete.

“Working with the state and the city has been a great experience,” O’Brien said.

Salinas said the public private partnership is successful because “the city and the state have the same passion. We have a shared language for what we are doing and that makes a world of a difference. You know that everyone is fighting for the same result.”

The project will also feature a beer garden and barbecue restaurant to be run by Jason Sobocinski of Caseus and Ordinary, an improved Mill River Trail and a 4,000-square-foot interior courtyard.

“We really believe that this is going to be amazing,” he said, given the proposed design and physical location.

“There is no place in the city that has real good outdoor seating that is not a sidewalk,” O’Brien said.

Plans for the amphitheater call for local TED-type (Technology, Education, Design) talks, as well as concerts, educational and entertainment events.

“It’s got something for everyone,” Salinas said, including amenities at Crossfit.

He said they were first inspired by the potential of the property by J.R. Logan, a major organizer for the Mill River Trail. He showed the pair pictures of it from the river when he and others were on a kayaking trip.

“That was the sort-of ‘ah ha’ moment for us,” Salinas said.

They are hoping there is a bicycle exchange by the time they open something after the first of the year in 2017. The owners are looking at a shuttle that could get people to the train station or the Broadway area downtown.

They also will have a decent size media studio built into the facility.

“Today’s world, but tomorrow’s world for sure, is about businesses and brands producing content to get your word out,” Salinas said.

Even before they start their marketing campaign, Salinas said people who have inquired said two things to them.

First of all, “they love New Haven” and secondly, they need a location “that will make it easy to attract talent. I think that is exactly the purpose why we want to build it,” Salinas said.

There will be different configurations, depending on the size of the interested business. Salinas said they can accommodate anywhere from a single person starting a business up to a company with 100-plus workers.

They have also had calls from attorneys and manufacturers looking for space, either because of the energy they anticipate in the building or because it is a logical place to make contacts.

The environmental cleanup, where the lake of petroleum sitting on the water table will be removed, O’Brien said, will take three to four months, but it is not difficult. It will be capped as part of a parking lot for 240 cars.

There will be a digital billboard on the site to flag highway traffic and market the businesses in the tech park with a portion of the revenue going to the city which will spend it on a yearly community event and improvements to the Mill River.

Given the interest in the tech park, they may quickly run out of space.

“It might be too small,” Salinas said of the project, to meet the interest. “But that’s the best thing that could happen. Fill this up. Get a success story and then start doing more.”

“Eric and I are not shy. We are not afraid of risk. We are ambitious,” Salinas said.