A new affordable housing development has opened in New Haven, according to the company that developed it.
“The Monarch delivers 64 affordable apartment homes for residents across a range of income levels, including households earning below 80% of the area median income (AMI),” according to the company.
“The $27M development reflects a significant public–private collaboration aimed at increasing housing stability, revitalizing a key neighborhood corridor, and supporting long-term community growth.”
The opening was celebrated by Honeycomb Real Estate Partners and Vesta Corporation, according to a statement. It is in the West River neighborhood of the city, not far from Ella Grasso Boulevard and West River Park, and not far from Yale New Haven’s Hospital of St. Raphael campus.
“A lot of affordable housing complexes, they don’t have a space where the kids can go where there’s a computer, possibly the kids can go for their projects and look stuff up, where the parents can also participate with them,” said Tyisha Walker-Myers, president of New Haven’s Board of Alders and the alder of Ward 23.
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“With The Monarch, we are delivering more than housing—we are delivering opportunity,” said Lewis Brown of Honeycomb Real Estate Partners.
“This development represents what is possible when public and private partners work together toward a shared vision of inclusive, community-centered growth.”
According to the city, the new building broke ground in 2024, It replaces the abandoned New England Linen Co. building, built in 1900 and formerly known as Monarch Cleaners, according to a city spokesman.
According to Yale, the space has “catered to the manufacturing and care of textiles since its conception in 1898: It served as the home for the esteemed Monarch Laundry Company for nearly 100 years.”
The 1.77-acre site required the demolition of pre-existing structures, environmental remediation, and construction of the new development, according to the spokesman.
The rents for the 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments are all set at affordable rents for residents earning at or below 50% to 80% of the area median income. Funding sources included a mix of local, state and private funding for a total $27 million investment in the neighborhood, according to the spokesman.
The Monarch is the latest in the “city’s ongoing efforts to create 10,000 new housing units over the next decade, with at least 30% of those units affordable,” according to the spokesman.