Keybank Lends $49M on New Haven Science Park Mixed-Use Development
A joint venture between Twining Properties and LMXD will build nearly 300 units of housing and retail near Yale University.
By Brian Pascus December 28, 2023 10:41 am
reprints
A joint venture between Twining Properties and LMXD has secured $59.5 million in financing to build Winchester Green, a mixed-income, residential and retail development in New Haven, Conn., Commercial Observer has learned.
Keybank (KEY) provided a $49 million senior loan for the project, while the New Haven Housing Authority provided a $10.5 million tax exempt loan in the deal.
The Winchester Green development is expected to cost $90 million total for the joint venture, known as “Winchester Partners.” The Goldman Sachs (GS) Asset Management’s Urban Investment Group, together with Twining Properties, and LMXD, an affiliate of L+M Development Partners, is providing the remaining equity.
Jake Pine, senior director at LMXD, who served as senior manager on the project, said in a statement that New Haven has experienced increased investment and urban revitalization and that Winchester Green is now part of that larger capitalization movement.
“We are thrilled that Winchester Green will be part of this mixed-income, mixed-use vision, and we deeply appreciate that our institutional and financial partners share the commitment to make this project happen,” he said.
Standing five stories and housing 283 units of residential space — of which, 57 units will be reserved for tenants earning an average of 50 percent of area-median-income — Winchester Green is also expected to house 12,800 square-feet of retail space.
The project is slated to open in early 2026.
Winchester Green buttresses the greater development occurring in New Haven’s Science Park. Prior to the closing of this financing, an affiliate of the Winchester Partners joint venture secured a $5 million grant from the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to build a pair of private roads to connect the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods together, and a public park beside the site of Winchester Gardens.
This project will be built in conjunction with the Science Park Development Corporation and open by the end of 2025.
“Through a sustained commitment to the neighborhood from our private and public partners,
we’re seeing real momentum in Science Park, which is quickly emerging as a revitalized hub of
innovation for New Haven,” said Alex Twining, CEO of Twining Properties, in a statement. “We are excited to open up the area with new access roads and a beautiful new park and to make Winchester a more accessible and welcoming place for all.”
All told, Twining and his development partners at LMXD and Goldman Sachs have indicated they expect to spend as much as $300 million to improve and enhance Science Park in the years to come.
New Haven is home to Yale University, one of the top universities in the world, and has emerged in recent years as a regional player in economic development. The city has nearly 900,000 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com
