New Haven Independent

In a meeting in City Hall, the City Plan Commission approved a deal Wednesday to give the warehouse to developers Cellab, LLC, if the developers agree to get rid of the contaminated soil. Cellab would pay the city a deposit of $47,500, which would go towards the six-figure cost of cleaning up the site.

If all goes as planned, and other city agencies approve, the building will be used for three commercial operations: a soil excavation company and two others. Developers said they’ve received interest from a TV station, a printing company and a glass-making company.

The warehouse, which sits on the banks of the Mill River, first housed cars for the Fair Haven and Westville trolleys, according to City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg. Land records date it back to 1900. In 1987, the spot became a brewery for Elm City beers. The second floor became a restaurant, where diners could taste oysters while looking down on micro-brewery tanks and sipping a mug of ale. After over 10 years of brewing, the building landed in the city’s lap due to foreclosure.

Along with the landmark’s distinctive facades (one, pictured, still bears a keg with the brewery’s initials) came a heap of contaminants. The site would cost $650,000 to remediate, city officials learned. That made the place a hard sell.

For almost four years now — since November, 2002 — the city’s been looking for someone to develop the lot. Some showed interest, but dropped the idea when they found out about the cleanup costs. Others’ planned uses were “not satisfactory to the city,” said Frank D’Amore, deputy director of the Livable Cities Initiative.

After two requests For proposals, and two buyers that fell through, the city found Mark Celentano and former New Haven Democratic Town Chairman Dominic Balletto (pictured, left to right). The two have formed Cellab, LLC for the purposes of buying real estate.

Celentano said he’s well-suited to tackle the “troublesome and problematic piece of property”: He owns Celentano Excavating, LLC, a soil remediation company. The company, which has eight employees, would clean out the site, then use the building to store company equipment.

“This building possesses hidden beauty like very few buildings left in New Haven,” wrote Celentano in a letter to City Plan. He pledged commitment to decontaminating the soil. “By no means is it going to be easy.”

Celentano and company will also be able to make use of a $285,000 federal grant from the EPA for clean-up. They’ll also have to restore a deteriorating roof and floors before renting the space out to other companies.

The City Plan Commission approved the sale unanimously, with advice to preserve remaining historic architectural features “if economically feasible.” The item will pass to the Livable Cities Initiative board, the Board of Aldermen, then back to City Plan for a site plan review, according to LCI’s D’Amore, who has been working with developers throughout the process.

The building is “in desperate need of repairs” and “might have to come down” if no one invests the money to fix it up. D’Amore hoped the deal would come through this time. “That’s a great facade. It would be a sin to take it down.”