For the first time in decades, the site of the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum drew a crowd Wednesday morning. Gov. Ned Lamont announced plans for a life sciences and tech office to be built on what had been used as a parking lot since the venue’s 2007 implosion. 

“Talking about the concerts that used to take place here at the Coliseum - well, I think you’re making a new type of music here right now. I hear progress right now,” said Lamont. 

Officials expect the 277,000-square-foot building will create 750 jobs. The site will neighbor apartments and retail space. 

“The Coliseum struggled from the very beginning with problems with design. Since then, we have had this major hole in the center of our city that needs to be filled,” said Sen. Martin Looney. 

Officials said the project will cost $200 million. The city is still securing leasing and construction financing. 

Tameika Miller, the executive vice president for the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, said the lab spaces will continue to bring more jobs and investment in bioscience. 

“That’s the kind of vibrancy and transformation in our urban neighborhoods that the Department of Economic and Community Development is looking to invest in,” said Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese.  

The development will come in stages. There’s already work being done on the housing.

Before the offices open, the state must first clean up debris left behind from the implosion of the former Coliseum. 

“It’s not heavily contaminated, it’s not a serious Brownfields site, despite the name of the program, but it is soil that has to be properly managed,” said Ancora L&G development vice president Peter Calkins. 

Just under $1 million of the $3 million cleanup cost is a grant from the state’s Brownfields program.  

“We’re deeply engaged in conversations on both of those fronts,” said Calkins. The city hopes to open the apartments this summer and the offices in 2026.