April 18, 2025
ConnCORP celebrates milestone in Dixwell Place project
Contributed: The Narrative Project
Members of ConnCORP and ConnCAT staff in front of the building at Dixwell Place
A major construction project on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven celebrated a “steel signing” ceremony this week, completing the steel framework of a 69,000-square-foot building.
The structure is the first phase of a large, mixed-use development on the site and will serve as a new headquarters for ConnCAT, a community-building nonprofit.
The project is being helmed by ConnCORP, a for-profit arm of ConnCAT focused on economic development. At the ceremony, CEO Erik Clemons paid tribute to the community in the Dixwell neighborhood.
“We are so thankful that you stuck by us, that you believed in us. You were committed to what we were doing,” he said.
COO Paul McCraven described the building as “grand.”
“We did that on purpose,” he said. “We wanted to make a statement, to create something on the site that was going to be beautiful, and have dignity. The best that we could provide for the Dixwell community.”
ConnCAT will move its training programs in phlebotomy and culinary arts to the site once the building is complete. The headquarters will also be the launching pad for a new training program in construction skills.
“We had 147 applicants for 20 spaces, so you can see the demand for this type of training,” McCraven said. “It will be a pathway to a full apprenticeship and a pathway to full licensing.”
The building will also house the Friends Center for Children providing daycare services, and a child and family guidance center staffed by the Cornell Scott Hill health center. Yale University will also be a tenant in the building, although it has not yet announced how it will use the space.
Some of the funding for the building was provided by the state of Connecticut and the city of New Haven, in part via the brownfields remediation program. Construction financing was provided by Liberty Bank, and the project was also supported by local foundations including the William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund.
Staff and guests at the ceremony were able to sign a steel beam that was installed to complete the structure.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the project speaks to the city’s continued commitment to equity for all of its residents.
“It is a statement that New Haven is here to stay, and we will not be intimidated by the folks at Washington that are saying, ‘let’s get rid of this DEI,’” he said. “We will continue to stand strong.”
Phase one of the project also includes housing, a supermarket and food hall, which the company says will get underway soon.
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