A Board of Aldermen vote in New Haven Monday has cleared the way for the first major expansion of Yale University in decades.
The alderman approved a zone change that will allow Yale to build two new residential colleges, according to the New Haven Register.
The project would mean Yale could accept another 800 undergraduate students, the paper reported. That would be the first major enrollment increase in more than 30 years.
Yale's last proposal to build new residential colleges was in the 1980s and was rejected because it would have taken property off the tax rolls, the paper reported. Monday's zone change would allow Yale to build the new dorms on property it already owns, therefore no land will be taken of New Haven's tax rolls.
Alderman Jorge Perez tells the Register more students means more business for local restaurants and shops, and that means more jobs.
The proposed dorms would be built on land at Sachem and Prospect Streets, and would include a 250-seat theater as well, the paper reported.
Yale has three years to submit a final site plan to the City Plan Commission.
