Could the wave of new housing developments in downtown New Haven be a potential bonanza for arts groups?

Leaders at some New Haven cultural institutions certainly hope so, but it isn't clear yet how they as a group — or as individual organizations — will be wooing these thousands of new residents, many of whom fall into the prime demographic as potential arts goers, subscribers and donors.

New Haven has added about 2,334 mostly market-rate apartments over the decade in the downtown area, said Steve Fontana, the city's deputy director of economic development.

There's also the more than 1,200 units currently in active construction, such as the development on the site of the former New Haven Coliseum, bringing the total to more than 3,500 units.

Add to that the more than 2,073 units built by the City’s Livable City Initiative and the 1,114 additional units currently in that pipeline, then the wave of new locals looks more like a tsunami.

There is no hard data on how new housing units will translate into the number of new people, says Fontana, but anecdotally speaking, experts estimate around 1.7 persons per residence.

All told, the thousands of new residents are a potential windfall for not-for-profit arts groups. Many of them were struggling before the pandemic closings in 2020 — and still are after. For many theaters, museums, and music and visual arts groups, audiences have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, with some reporting only 60% or less return of audiences from 2019 levels.

"What I imagine will happen is that this influx of people who are looking for entertainment within walking distance will help speed up the return of the numbers that we saw pre-pandemic," says Shelley Quiala, executive director of New Haven's annual International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

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