Image courtesy of Beinfeld Architecture

Despite objections from neighbors seeking a more architecturally dramatic building, New Haven planning officials gave their nod Wednesday to the first phase of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners’ plan to redevelop one of the largest vacant lots in the city’s downtown.

Spinnaker plans 50,750 square feet of retail space, 44,440 square feet of public open space, 700 residential units – 20 percent of which will be designated affordable per Spinnaker’s seven-year-old development agreement with the city – and 199,950 square feet of commercial space on the site of what was once a sports venue next to the city’s iconic Knights of Columbus tower.

The first phase will cover about a third of the 4.3-acre site with a 200-unit market-rate residential-and-retail building at the corner of Orange and George streets and a public plaza that will later be surrounded by separate residential and office blocks.

The project is the most recent attempt to redevelop the troubled site, which has been used as a parking lot since the New Haven Coliseum was demolished in 2007. Canadian developer LiveWorkPlay had sought to build 370 mixed-income apartments, 35,000 square feet of storefronts leased to local retailers, 200 luxury apartments, a 190-room hotel and conference center, 200,000 square feet of Class A office space and a 500-unit residential tower overlooking Long Island Sound, but later abandoned the project.

Residents in downtown and neighboring Wooster Square had pressed city officials and Spinnaker for a more distinctive design for the project, which will likely be one of the most visible parts of the city to travelers arriving via Interstate 95.