University Towers

University Towers (100 York St.) is a 17-story apartment building on a roughly 1.5 acre lot at the northern corner of York and Crown Streets.  The building was constructed in 1958 and its simple, modernist brick exterior presents itself as horizontal striations of apartment balconies.  The building is owned and operated by University Towers Owners Corporation.



University Towers was conceived under the Oak Street Redevelopment Project, New Haven’s first major urban renewal initiative. The vision for Oak Street included the construction of the highway connector, five 12-story apartment buildings (including University Towers), a large office building, large parking lot, and a number of Yale Medical School and Yale-New Haven hospital buildings. In 1955, a conceptual report was released entitled “The Redevelopment Project: Oak Street Area” in which the goals of redevelopment were listed as following: to build a better city wherein to work, play, & live, to build a better business district for New Haven shoppers, and to establish a sound financial structure for a healthy community. The Oak Street redevelopment was to be the city’s first redevelopment project of its kind.



Most of the historical information about University Towers comes from a city commissioned report in 1962 that analyzes the project based on an apartment inventory, the rate of absorption, the characteristics of occupants, their place of employment, the previous place of residence of occupants, and their income and rent expenditures.



The report cited that of the 253 apartments, over 80% in 1962 had rent ranging between $120 and $260/month while the total range ran from $114 to $312/month at that time. The majority of the apartments are still one or two bedroom units, however about 10% are 6 ½ room apartments with three bedrooms. It took approximately 2 ½ years for the occupancy rate to reach 95% within the complex. Occupants were listed as primarily one and two-person households (comprising about 90% of the occupancy) and there were only seven families with children living there at the time. Most of the occupants worked in close proximity to University Towers.



Today, University Towers is still a residential development, with a doorman, trash, pool, and laundry facilities. In addition to residential units, the first and third floors also house medical offices. Current tax assessment forms list the breakdown of apartments as follows:92 one-bedroom units, 54 2-bedroom units , and 22 3-bedroom units (with all 2 and 3-bedroom apartments including 2 bathrooms.)



As of 2014 and continuing in 2015, the board of University Towers has undertaken several renovation initiatives on the building, including a balcony railing and window replacement project, and elevator upgrades.