Farmington Canal Greenway Gets Rolling

According to this report in the New Haven Register, the City of New Haven has bid out Phase 3 of the Farmington Canal Greenway, which will connect from the trail's current end on Shelton Avenue up to the Hamden border. Simultaneously, Hamden has now begun construction on its last remaining section, which runs from Hamden High School to the New Haven border. This means that the linear park should be largely completed by mid-2009, providing a continuous off-road walking and bicycling trail from Downtown New Haven running about a dozen miles into Cheshire and then (with a few remaining gaps) a total of 84-miles to Northampton, Massachusetts. Now, if only the thing would show up on Google Maps.

Phase 4 of the trail, which is currently in design, will run from the current trailhead on Hillhouse avenue to Canal Dock Road on the New Haven Harbor. Yale University has done incredible work paving, lighting and maintaining the first half of the section of trail running through its campus, from Prospect to Hillhouse Avenue (also soon to be the home of two fantastic pedestrian bridges), and has provided close to a million dollars to complete the portion of Phase 4 which runs through another block or so of its campus.

Thanks to the design and site planning of Diana Balmori and Cesar Pelli, the multi-use trail helps provide a stunning setting for Yale's new Malone Engineering Center (see photo). Hopefully Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam's new Yale University Health Services building, which is under construction just a block up the street, will have a similar relationship to the adjacent path.

Trail greenways like the Farmington Canal have a massive impact on the local environment and economy. According to the National Association of Realtor's 2002 Consumer's Survey on Smart Choices for Home Buyers, trails ranked as the second most important community amenity out of a list of 18 choices. Studies have shown that trail proximity adds about 10% to the value of homes and that homes adjacent to greenways sell much more quickly. In an era when only 10% of children walk to school, these trails are also critical resources to promote recreation and public health. More Greenways are planned to connect with Downtown New Haven over the coming years: the Harborside Greenway running from Lighthouse Point (and points beyond) around New Haven Harbor to West Haven will connect with the Fair Haven and West River waterfront trails. All four of New Haven's rivers (counting Morris Creek) will then be connected to one another by a system of "green" biking and walking routes, essentially enabling any resident to get anywhere in the city without needing to travel on busy urban streets.

Unfortunately, despite their obvious benefits and relatively low cost, these trails have been taking more than two decades to complete. Part of the reason is the fact that over 60% of our state's transportation funding is spent on highways, whereas less than 1% goes to bicycle and pedestrian projects. Call all of your elected officials today and ask them to keep these projects moving along!

Pelli Celebrates Architecture, Walkability at Downtown Event

The New Haven Independent reports today on the Town Green Special Services District's 10th anniversary event. The highlight of the event was a one hour lecture by internationally-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, who discussed projects throughout New Haven and around the world. He also explained why his office, which currently employs close to 100 architects, is located in Downtown New Haven. His explanation found a chord of agreement around the packed room.

"People ask me why I don’t live in New York. I think New York is too noisy, too distracting. New Haven is ideal for an architect. After a typical day of work, at 5:30, you can walk home and have a nice dinner with your family. Then, later in the evening, around 8:00, we all come back to work. That would never happen in New York City - it would be impossible."

“In what other city in the world does half of your staff walk to work? I even walk to work, sometimes.”

In showcasing his projects, Pelli kept referring to the critical need for walkability and developing an interface and dialogue with surrounding city streets. He was particularly proud of his newly-completed, $450-million Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, which closes down a section of U.S. Highway 1 at times so as to activate a pedestrian plaza between two buildings (see photo above courtesy of Critical Miami - how's that for traffic calming?).

In response to a question, he also stated his belief that civic, public projects "should always be more important than" private-sector projects. A native of Argentina and the recipient of hundreds of architecture awards, Pelli is currently on one of the teams applying to develop the former New Haven Coliseum site and Long Wharf Theater.

Pelli's speech was the capstone on the city's successful "Wine Dine Design" series, which discussed architecture and the future of New Haven, receiving widespread local and national attention. In addition, Stewart Johnson of Hull's, Wareck Real Estate chief John Wareck and SeeClickFix founder Ben Berkowitz received awards for their civic engagement. Town Green District Executive Director Scott Healy predicted that SeeClickFix would "soon be sweeping the nation." Expect to hear more on that this summer.

Meanwhile, a post from our neighbors at BlogStamford outlines some of the other reasons for promoting walkable urban districts.

Arts & Ideas Festival tours New Haven

The Arts & Ideas Festival has wrapped up its series of public walking and bicycling tours, many of which focused on Downtown New Haven's rich panoply of history and culture. The tours were hosted by the New Haven Preservation Trust, Elm City Cycling and the Broadway Merchants Association. Check these links for media coverage of the New Haven public art and public sculpture bicycle tour, Hillhouse Avenue historic district walking tour, and "free speech" bicycle tour. Other tour sites featuring Downtown New Haven included sacred architecture, waterfront neighborhoods, city planning and art galleries. Upcoming summer bicycle rides, including the Wednesday Night Ice Cream Rides, are posted on the calendar at http://www.elmcitycycling.org/. Group walking tours can be arranged by contacting Design New Haven and other Downtown organizations.

Former New Haven Coliseum Site: Details on the RFQs

Original post, 5/8/08: As reported earlier, the City of New Haven has received qualifications statements from six development teams who are interested in the site. RFQs from developers were due on April 22nd.

The city development office's primary concern at this point is to find a development team that has the capacity to successfully complete a major mixed-use project that integrates the Long Wharf Theatre, which is one of the leading regional theaters in the United States. Since the site is located near the city's two train stations and at the center of Downtown New Haven, it is considered to be extremely valuable, as evidenced by the fact that six very high-quality developers have submitted RFQs.

Images and detailed proposals were not required in the current round of RFQs. The city has appointed a committee to examine the developers' qualifications, and within the next couple of months is likely to issue a request for proposals from those team(s) determined to be qualified. At that point, there will likely be additional opportunities for public comment because the land will have to be transferred and/or approved for development by the city.

However, in keeping with the spirit of good design, the teams offered preliminary sketches and ideas as to what the site might look like and how it might be experienced. These diagrams and analyses will be very useful in guiding whichever team is ultimately selected to undertake the development. Selected images and text from the RFQ responses (numbered alphabetically) appear below.

It is important to note that these are just qualifications studies and not proposals, and that in addition to some of the materials below, each development team submitted extensive materials documenting their track records of experience with large mixed-use projects, theater integration, housing, community relationships, affordable housing and retail development know-how.

Team 1: Archstone, C.A. White, and Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

The Archstone team writes that the Long Wharf Theatre "is critical to the success of the development. Long Wharf's presence will energize the site, giving it a unique identity that will draw tenants and visitors alike... Long Wharf will both benefit from and add to this growth, drawing visitors to area restaurants, after-hours clubs, and potentially a contemporary hotel... the Theatre would occupy the site's most prominent street fronts: the corner of Orange and George Street, becoming the face of the new development."

Regarding the presence along Route 34, Archstone writes, "We envision transforming the facade of the long, low parking garage into a lushly planted area that will provide a transition from the grit and noise of the elevated highway to the protected residential zones of the new development and the friendly, pedestrian-scaled streets of the Ninth Square. For those who remember the Coliseum high above Route 34, the new garage's planted facade and active green roof will be a revolutionary presence: a new approach to city design that emphasizes health, diversity and accessibility - a symbol of New Haven's renaissance." View the images for an excellent summary of how the site can be designed in a more sustainable way.

Team 2: AvalonBay

Although AvalonBay did not submit detailed diagrams for the site, they suggest an urban layout for apartments, theater, and retail, plus a wrapped parking garage that "would minimize potential visual impacts of the parking structure while marking the parking facilities convenient for the proposed uses." They suggest several alternative spaces for the Long Wharf Theatre, in addition to the one shown in the diagram above, suggesting that an alternate location for the Theatre may be on Lot E facing the new Gateway Community College.

Team 3: Heyman Properties

Heyman Properties proposes a major flagship hotel incorporated with the Theatre, which would allow more than half of the site to remain "available for additional residential and commercial development" and parking (which they note would potentially be created through a joint development agreement with other developers). They believe that the site's "wonderful visibility from the major road arteries serving New Haven, superior access and close proximity to the various business, health care and academic institutions" make the site ideally suited for a major hotel. They also note that, by incorporating the two developments together, "the theatre will also benefit by gaining additional revenue for the use of its facilities by the hotel when the theatre would otherwise be dark."

Team 4: Northland and Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Calling their proposal "Tenth Square," Northland begins with a reference to Downtown New Haven's extensive history: According to The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, the activity of colonial-era New Haven "focused on the tenth square - a group of streets plotted to the southeast between the harbor and the original Market Place [i.e., the New Haven Green]. This 'square' held the active mercantile quarter. The Long Wharf [Pier], which stretched to the harbor from the tenth square, housed an extensive shipping industry which controlled New Haven's economy in the early Federal period."

Northland's concept for the Coliseum Site is "a synergistic mix of uses, based upon new urbanism principles, designed to reduce impact on the envrionment, city services and roads while maximizing taxes and jobs. The development will be situated in a manner that respects the historic significance of the adjacent Ninth Square district yet integrates innovative methods of sustainable design.... a variety of public and open spaces, from wide, active sidewalks to commercial gathering places, will contribute to the development's distinctive character, providing a valuable amenity for the surrounding community." To Northland, the project is an "opportunity to resurrect, from a failed urban renewal attempt, the rich culture and diversity that once thrived in this former mixed use neighborhood."

As you can see from the design schemes, the RFQ also suggests a certain permeability to pedestrians, such as a major "Theater Alley", and a pedestrian connection alley from the center of the block through towards the train station. Northland describes this as "a network of streetscapes by which pedestrians can easily circulate around a site is one of the fundamental aspects of good urban design in that it promotes the health and well-being of the local community, economy and environment. This project is designed with the pedestrian in mind... the pedestrian network will be extended to adjacent street corners, providing safe and convenient circulation throughout the area for all pedestrians."

The Northland RFQ also mentions that the streets of New Haven "have become more bicycle friendly with the aim of encouraging residents and students to use bikes for their short range trips. This aids in taking cars off the local roads, making them safer for all users while also promoting healthier active lifestyles and a cleaner, greener environment." Plentiful bicycle racks are identified as a critical need.

Team 5: Related Companies and Robert Orr Architects
This RFQ does not include conceptual sketches of the site, but describes the need to "transform a site that has been desolate for decades into a lively, self-sustaining, mixed-use, mixed-income community that is woven seamlessly into the urban fabric of the Ninth Square and Downtown New Haven.... Related's design for the Coliseum site will include new streets permeating the block, adding value with increased frontage and corners" (incidentally, a point also brought up at George Knight's Wine Dine Design presentation on the future of the fire-damaged downtown block on Chapel Street). Related also suggests wrapped courtyard parking to minimize the effects that parking has on the cityscape.

Team 6: Richman Group Development and Herbert S. Newman and Partners Architects

Richman's RFQ statement presents an interesting take on their specific approach to the housing market on the site, noting that "there is a strong viable market for housing in a dynamic urban center of culture and education; an alternative to urban sprawl and resort communities. Adult Americans are turning towards cities to provide them a stimulating pedestrian-oriented life among neighbors and community. Our strategy is based upon the idea of bringing a new market of citizens into New Haven."

Richman's project narrative continues, "We are in a period of urban rediscovery and revitalization. New Haven is already a beneficiary of the renewed interest in the urban experience that is drawing people of all ages from the suburbs back to cities - to visit, work and to live.... our investigative research... indicates that there is a strong market for adults who are seeking an alternative to suburban living and retirement communities at resort locations. These studies indicate there is a critical mass of diverse, well-educated people seeking the vitality of close neighbors in an intimate, campus-like setting where they can own a townhouse or apartment."

"New Haven offers stimulating culture and education, excellent medical care, great restaurants, wonderful architecture, and two railroad stations all within a short walk of the Coliseum Site.... We are proposing a village for alumni and others at the Coliseum Site. We believe New Haven's future is in education, culture and research. We think there is a significant contribution that a group of two hundred homeowners can bring to this city in taxes, volunteerism, and purchasing power, without burdening the public school system. Our research indicates that our targeted market group is engaged and civic-minded."

The Richman Group RFQ continues with a very detailed and extensive narrative about the project's design and architectural character, which we will not try to summarize here, but that calls for sidewalk plazas, wide sidewalks for mingling before and after performances, summer outdoor performance areas that can create a destination, and an open public stairway that could integrate the Theatre's uses and "an additional place for the celebration of urban life." Their conclusion is that the project will build on the success of the Ninth Square, "a project that turns outward to emphasize the role of the street in the life of the city. It brings people closer to the train station and encourages the growing strength of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure... adding a welcoming smile at the gateway to our city."

Update 6/17/08: According to reporting in the New Haven Independent today, the field of qualified developers has been narrowed to Archstone, Northland, Richman and (possibly) Heyman. The New Haven Register also features a story on the developer selection, which is being led by a committee including city officials as well as Anthony Rescigno, Jorge Lopes, Jonathan Koppel, Maricel Valcarcel, Don McGregor, Joan Channick and Alderwoman (and Safe Streets supporter) Frances “Bitsey” Clark, D-7.

New Materials in New Haven Architecture

Original Post, 4/29/08: April 2008 photographs of new buildings currently rising in Downtown New Haven. Through their unique material expression, these new works offer a window into contemporary life in New Haven.

Pictures include: Gwathmey Siegel's Loria Center for the History of Art and Rudolph Building Renovation at Yale on York (zinc panels and limestone facade), Cesar Pelli's Arts and Humanities Magnet High School on College (glass with elm leaves motif and copper stair towers and roof details), Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg's new Chapel Street hotel (glass curtain wall with color glass detail), Hopkins Architect's Kroon Hall at Yale (designed to be the most environmentally friendly building in the United States in terms of CO2 reduction, showing wood truss structure), and Studio ABK's historic renovation of a stunning building on the corner of Chapel and Orange (restored terra cotta and marble details at street level). Click to enlarge the photos.

With major new commissions such as the Yale School of Management New Campus (Sir Norman Foster), College Square (Robert A.M. Stern), 55 Park Street (Svigals + Partners and Behnisch Architects), Yale-New Haven Hospital's new 500,000 square-foot Cancer Hospital (SBRA), 360 State (Becker + Becker), University Health Services (Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam) and Gateway Community College (Perkins + Will) -- and many others -- currently in design or construction, the image of Downtown New Haven will be changing for years to come. Can New Haven sustain its longstanding reputation as a place for some of the nation's most groundbreaking architecture and design?

Update 6/2/08: Chronicle of Higher Education's Buildings and Grounds site has a great new article about the Loria Center, which explains some of its interesting material qualities in greater detail. The irregular stone box of the Loria Center seems like a proper formal response to the idea of Yale being a stone campus, with each building featuring some kind of unique element in that material. In that way it can be iconic, but contextual. One of our readers points out that "it is very difficult to find a material compatible with concrete.... this stone, with its colors shifting from oyster to rust does it well."

Update 6/6/08: Another article from the Chronicle asks, what would you have done?

College Square Rendering Reveals RAMSA Influence

A new rendering of the College Square project appears on the Centerplan website, showing the design influence of Robert A.M. Stern Architects. Groundbreaking for the anticipated five-star hotel portion of this project is still planned for this fall, with completion scheduled for 2011. The building is situated directly across the street from Cesar Pelli's new high school.

According to developer Robert Landino, the hotel will be a "full-service luxury hotel with 240 rooms with a full package of amenities that will complement the neighborhood, business community and [Yale-New Haven] hospital."

Green Drinks, Simple Pleasures, Pipas and Model City Blues

A trio of Downtown New Haven events this week (among many others):

1. New Haven’s monthly eco-friendly happy hour, New Haven Green Drinks, will be Wednesday, May 21, 6-8:00pm at Café Nine, at 250 State Street. This month Daniel Schaefer, the founder of the New Haven-based nonprofit Invested Citizens will be speaking on ways to make climate change and clean energy relevant to a wider audience. Remember to walk, bike, bus or carpool to the event.

2. New Haven band The Simple Pleasures - the featured musicians in the groundbreaking Yale School of Drama production of Baal last year - will play this Wednesday night at BAR. They are coming straight from their recent shows at Luna Lounge, Fortune Cookie and The Midway. On Friday night (5/23), check out Min Xiao-Fen's Asian Trio at Firehouse 12: Min Xiao-Fen is among the most renowned pipa masters in the world and has collaborated with Derek Bailey, Björk, Jane Ira Bloom, Tan Dun, Philip Glass, Susie Ibarra, the New York City Opera, Ned Rothenberg, Randy Weston and John Zorn among many others.

3. Mandi Isaacs Jackson, author of Model City Blues: Urban Space and Organized Resistance in New Haven, a new book about 1960s urban renewal and political struggle, will hold a discussion this Thursday, May 22nd at 5:30PM at Labyrinth Books New Haven.

Also, if you are an architecture writer, stay on the lookout for another one of Robert A.M. Stern's hard-hat tours of the renovated landmark Rudolph Building. The New Haven Register reports on Gwathmey Siegel's $130+ million Rudolph Building renovation here.

500-unit Shartenberg Mixed-Use Development Begins Construction

Original Post, 4/21/08: Becker + Becker's "360 State" development on the former Shartenberg Site at the heart of Downtown New Haven is now beginning construction. An 8-foot high blue fence with concrete barriers has been erected around the complete perimeter of the block, and informational graphics along the length of the fence will be installed this week. Utility and site work has already begun, with a significant amount of underground work planned as part of the project. Major construction activity will be underway within the next few weeks.

Scheduled for completion in 2010, the 355-foot-tall tower will be the second-highest building in New Haven, bringing the residents of 500 new apartments to Chapel Street between Orange and State.

The site is conveniently located across the street from the State Street train station. Aside from its dense urban location, the development contains energy efficient design features. Elements like geothermal heating and cooling and solar cells, if used, would benefit from various state subsidy programs designed to promote energy efficiency. There will also be indoor bicycle parking spaces for each unit. The project also is planned to contain a massive ornament program, running the full length of the facade, designed by internationally-renowned New Haven-based public sculptor Kent Bloomer.

The 500-unit, 34-story building is designed to be set back from the street and tower above a retail and parking garage base with glass entrance towers. The project, tentatively called "360 State" for its actual street address as well as its panoramic views of the region (and the fact that it is 36 stories tall), will even feature a half-acre landscaped terrace (sitting on top of the parking) with an outdoor pool. The developer expects to get the same rents as what the 227 Church Street luxury building currently gets -- $3,500 for 3BRs, $2,300 for 2BRs, $1,700 for 1BRs and $1,250 for studios. Most of the building will consist of studios and 1BRs. 10% of units in the building will have subsidized ("affordable") rents tied to income level.

According to Business New Haven this week, a "high end" grocery store on the first floor may be leased shortly. The city hopes that the project will help encourage walkability between the Downtown New Haven core area and Wooster Square, a historic neighborhood just a couple blocks to the east of the site.

Click here for the preliminary renderings by Becker + Becker; updated renderings should be available shortly. In the meantime you can also download a CT Business article about the Downtown New Haven project.

Update 5/1/08: New Haven Independent coverage of the 360 State project appears here, along with a new rendering of the project. It appears that the building on the corner of Orange and Chapel Street has been changed from its original design, which was to have continued the retail and parking garage along the entire length of the block. If the building ends before the corner with Orange Street, it might create an opportunity for another developer or architect to create a concept for a second building on the site.

Updated: Downtown New Haven “Export” Toasted

Original Post, 3/26/08: The third installment of Wine Dine Design was held last night. New Haven Independent coverage:

"The concentration of architectural firms in New Haven is extraordinary, with almost 200 firms and solo practitioners registered in the city alone. "

Update 4/28/08: The fourth installment of Wine Dine Design will be held this Tuesday at Downtown New Haven architecture firm Svigals + Partners. [Update: New Haven Independent post-even coverage appears here.] The series of Downtown New Haven events was covered in an article in this weekend's New York Times, in which architects from Downtown firm Studio ABK discussed their ideas for the Ninth Square and Shartenberg site.

NY Times: "Ninth Square has become New Haven’s hot fixer-upper district, partly because dozens of architectural firms have offices here and partly because of a number of recent high-profile development projects like the site of the former Coliseum, Gateway Community College and a new home for the Long Wharf Theater. It also doesn’t hurt that New Haven has one of the highest concentrations of architects in the Northeast."

Architects Taking Pictures

Enjoy photography by local architects. A percentage of the proceeds will benefit a local charity. Participating architects include Barry Svigals, Carlos Pena, Cesar Pelli, Dan Dryzgula, Dave Chen, Dave Coon, Dave Harlan, Dave Strong, Enzo Figueres, Eric Epstein, Fernando Pastor, Joe Rufrano, Jose Luis Cabello, Ke-Wei Chang, Manuel Wedeles, Mark Abraham, Mary Pont, Mihaly Turbucz, Peter Newman, Rob Narracci, Roberto Espejo, Sam Gardner, Scott Wood, and Sun Bo.

Details: Atticus Bookstore & Cafe, 1082 Chapel Street, Downtown New Haven, CT. Exhibition runs from May 1-June 15, with an opening reception on May 1 at 6.30 pm.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! (updated)

A fantastic cover story appears in today's Yale Daily News about the proposal to tear down (or at least modify) sections of the wall surrounding downtown New Haven's Grove Street Cemetery, one of the nation's most historic burying grounds -- the first incorporated cemetery in the United States, and a National Historic Landmark.

Vincent Scully: “Yale is cut right through the liver by that cemetery,” the emeritus Sterling professor of the History of Art said with characteristic zeal. “It would make a great difference if the cemetery were more welcoming.”

Certainly, more local residents would be able to appreciate this incredible historical resource if a pathway were added through the site. Yale Professor David Cameron added an op-ed on this New Haven landmark in today's Yale Daily News. But would adding a simple new gate or portion of iron fence have an impact on the site's character? The proposal raises questions about the nature of historic preservation, such as the need to conserve the material and cultural qualities of a built place for future generations (since it is conceivable that improving visual access from both sides of the site could actually help the site be preserved over generations by making it more meaningful to them) and the nature of the site's original intent (an issue brought up in the article):

"Denison Olmsted 1813, a Yale science professor, speaking at the gateway’s dedication, expressed his hope that there would be strong interaction between New Haven’s residents and its burial grounds.

“Let us all come hither to think calmly but wisely on our own inevitable destiny,” he pronounced.

Townshend, in his [1947] speech, added a few words that are perhaps the perfect explanation of the importance of open walls to achieving the ideal of Olmstead’s lofty words."

In that vein (no historically-relevant cadaver puns related to the Yale School of Medicine intended), how about tearing down a section of wall and adding a museum about the cemetery? Perhaps a new community conference center or a bike path? Or a cafe, a la Boston? The view of the cemetery is certainly beautiful, especially given the landmark's extensive history of horticulture.

Paul (from YDN comments): "The concerns voiced here that providing more pedestrian and visual access to Grove Street cemetery would somehow intolerably disturb it and its dead fly in the face of many counterexamples. For example, Trinty Church in lower Manhattan has a lovely cemetery that is quite open to the public, physically and visually. Boston has many such cemeteries. The list goes on and on. Resistance to providing more pedestrian access to Grove Street Cemetery in the face of world wide counterexamples and changing needs is just reactionary."

Also, although the issue is raised by many commentators, would personal security concerns be any different from what they are now, assuming appropriate levels of patrol and continuing to limit access to daylight hours?

A University in a Small City

Great photos and commentary from:

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9840

No Finer Arts Around Than At These College Museums

Boston Globe article picked up here by the Yale Arts Library blog:
http://artslibrary.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/no-finer-arts-around-than-at-these-college-museums/

Downtown hotels going upscale

HOTELS GOING UPSCALE: WITH YALE AS A DRAW, DEVELOPERS LOOK TO FILL NEED FOR ROOMS IN NEW HAVEN

Hartford Courant, Eric Gershon, Dec 4, 2007

As Paul McGowan attempts to transform a bygone motor inn at 1157 Chapel St. into a glassy boutique hotel, he's got countless details to fret about, from the pace of construction to the brand of shampoo he'll leave on the bathroom sink. One thing he doesn't worry about is the location: It's square in the heart of Yale University, the city's main magnet for out-of-town visitors.

Yale refers visitors to several local hotels and licenses or lends its name to a few of them, including the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, a 306-room full-service hotel near the green that is generally regarded as the city's top hotel. But the Omni is often full and that has made it a prime target for emerging rivals.

"We'll be competing mainly with the Omni," said McGowan, a former Starwood Hotels and Resorts executive whose development and consulting firm, Hospitality 3, bought the no-frills Colony Inn a year ago for nearly $7 million, then closed it for a multimillion-dollar overhaul that will add two stories and put a sleek new face on the street.

The five-story, circa-1963 building sits directly across from the Yale School of Art and just west of the School of Architecture. The Yale Repertory Theater and the university's two major art museums are one block east. A slow walker could reach some of the city's most popular restaurants in five minutes or less, as well as several cafes and bookstores, a news shop and a haberdasher.

"That is a good starting point," said McGowan, who has hired KPMB Architects of Toronto to design the hotel. The firm handled renovations of Yale's Sprague Memorial Hall in 2003. The reinvention of 1157 Chapel is the most ambitious hotel project in New Haven in a decade and one sorely needed to meet demand, estimated to be at least 200 to 300 rooms above the 1,310 rooms now in the city, according to local real estate experts.

But McGowan's project, which will add 39 rooms to the 86 the Colony already had, for 125 in all, isn't even the biggest hotel project on the horizon.

Four blocks away, on College Street, Centerplan Development of Hartford plans to build a 19-story structure where it envisions a 250-room "four or five-star" hotel, 124 luxury condominiums and ground-floor retail. Robert A.M. Stern, dean of Yale's architecture school, has been hired as the designer. The project is expected to break ground next year and open in 2011.

Meanwhile, city officials are preparing to seek bids for redevelopment of the site occupied, until last January, by the demolished New Haven Coliseum. The city has studied the feasibility of a conference center and hotel complex for the site and officials anticipate some bidders to propose lodgings, although a conference center is now considered unlikely. Elsewhere downtown, at least one major hotel has sought approval to add nearly 50 rooms.

All the activity is really no wonder: "'Can you help me get some rooms?'" is a question Anthony Rescigno, president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, says he hears often. And it's not uncommon that he makes referrals to hotels in the suburbs, where most of New Haven County's hotel development has happened in the last 10 to 15 years.

Finally, he said, "The pressure is starting to hit the boiling point where I think we're going to start to see some new hotels" in the city.

Developers' interest in downtown New Haven as a place for hotels coincides with their interest in building new apartment and condominium projects there, some on a grand scale. Fairfield developer Bruce Becker is planning to break ground this winter on a 29-story apartment project at Chapel and State Streets intended to include 485 units, for example. When finished, it will be one of the city's tallest buildings. Smaller residential projects have already been built. Others are in progress.

Like the residential developments, the hotel projects are inspired by New Haven's renaissance, marked by its lively night life and restaurant scene. Unflagging demand from Yale-related visitors encourages hotel construction in particular.

"We may not have the corporate community that some other towns do, but the academic community also puts a lot of stock in face-to-face meetings," said Karyn Gilvarg, executive director of New Haven's City Plan Department.

Yale and affiliated institutions, such as Yale-New Haven Hospital, generate the largest share of hotel room stays, municipal and tourism officials said, though no one could say how many room-nights that equals in a year. Bruce Alexander, Yale's vice president for New Haven and State Affairs and Campus Development, said the school does not centralize record-keeping of this information.

Nonetheless, Alexander, who has met with developers to discuss the city's hotel market, predicts that a "200-300 room hotel would do very well in New Haven."

While the 1157 Chapel and Centerplan projects stand to remake the hotel scene in New Haven by expanding the number and variety of high-end accommodations, some less ambitious but welcome improvements have been made already. Several hotels have changed hands in the last couple of years; the Whalley Avenue Holiday Inn became a Marriott, an upgrade Yale appreciated enough to bestow its name on the operator. The hotel is called the Courtyard New Haven at Yale, and it is preparing to add rooms.

So far, local upgrades have added precious few rooms to the net hotel stock and no large hotel has challenged the Omni as the lodging of choice for consumers not preoccupied with price. (The Omni's standard corporate rate is $209 per night, before taxes, though promotional rates are sometimes available. Suites typically cost $399. By contrast, the average hotel room in greater New Haven costs between $90 and $100, according to tourism agency figures.)

Located on Temple Street, just off the New Haven Green, the Omni opened in late 1997, after a roughly $30 million renovation of the former Park Plaza Hotel. Since then, the Omni has been regarded as the city's premier hotel. But rooms can't always be found there, especially on the two dozen or so nights a year when New Haven is flooded with visitors, often for Yale-related events, such as graduation, reunions and the Yale-Harvard football game.

So McGowan, a Woodbury resident who was deeply involved in the creation and expansion of the W Hotels brand while with Starwood, saw an opening: "You've got a highly intellectual, pretty affluent community here, in terms of alumni and families of students and graduates of the university, visiting professors, dignitaries, friends. I think the need for upscale lodging is pretty evident."

Thomas Sullivan, the Omni's general manager, said he welcomes other hotels to New Haven.

"It means the city's growing and that benefits everybody," he said. "We don't look at new competition as a threat. What it does is it gives us a new opportunity to be sure that we're also on our game."

By the time McGowan's as-yet-unnamed hotel opens next summer, it should have two extra stories, 125 guest rooms, 100,000 total square feet, a penthouse lounge with views of Yale's spires and courtyards, a ground-floor restaurant, a coffee kiosk, meeting spaces, new elevators - and a glass exterior embedded with small pieces of amber, blue and green.

McGowan declined to discuss the cost of the "top-to-bottom" overhaul, and has not yet announced room rates. The developer, who is simultaneously working on a W Hotel in Hoboken and a residential development in Woodbury, envisions his future New Haven patrons as "highly intellectual but not necessarily pretentious." The interior and furnishings will be tailored to meet the approval of their needs and tastes, he said.

The main lobby will have floors of walnut and granite and will evoke a "modern-day library," with pockets of seating to invite lingering, for example. Rooms will be decorated in "warm" tones and outfitted with wide desks facing the windows, ergonomic desk chairs and leather reading chairs with ottomans.

"We want this hotel to have soul," said McGowan. "We want people to feel something different when they stay with us. We're trying to create a place."

Contact Eric Gershon at egershon@courant.com.