With Democrats set to take control of Congress next year — and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro in line to helm the powerful Appropriations Committee — Mayor Justin Elicker has a particular project in mind that he’d like to see the federal government support. That’s the 2,490-unit mixed-inco me “Union Square” redevelopment that the city and the housing authority plan on building at the site of the former Church Street South apartment complex and current Robert T. Wolfe apartment building. That project “will require significant federal funding to ensure that we can build the amount of affordable housing that we want in that area,” Elicker said during an interview on Wednesday after an unrelated press conference at police headquarters. This reporter pulled the mayor aside to ask about Tuesday’s midterm elections — a “blue tsunami” in which Democrats are slated to secure commanding majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Elicker, a Democrat, attributed Tuesday’s GOP blowout to widespread dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s “quote-unquote leadership,” as well as with voters’ demands that government focus on “affordability.” Elicker was asked about what’s at the top of his federal-funding wish list for New Haven, especially if DeLauro — a Democrat who secured a 19th two-year term in office on Tuesday — returns to her previous role as chair of the Appropriations Committee, where she will help craft the federal budget. “One of our challenges right now is [construction] prices have skyrocketed. It’s much more costly to build affordable housing,” he said. “My hope is we’re going to see more funds that are coming to help support the gaps in some of these projects” that the city is looking to build and encourage around town. At the top of that list is the new housing planned for the former Church Street South site. Earlier this fall, the federal government rejected an application by the city and the housing authority for a $26 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant to help with the first phase of that project. “Congresswoman DeLauro is going to be hugely helpful in that area.” Watch the full interview above. The post After “Blue Tsunami,” Elicker Eyes Federal Help For Housing Across From Train Station appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less