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Town Center Apartments Rise from Foreclosure

by Diana Stricker | Jul 19, 2010 12:48 pm

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Posted to: Housing

Diana Stricker Photo A proposed residential housing project on South Main Street was approved by Branford’s Planning and Zoning Commission in the nick of time, just before the properties—one of them the historic Samuel Pond House—faced imminent foreclosure sales.

The commission also gave Arturo and Suzette Franco-Camacho the green light to open a second, Roomba-style restaurant in town.

“I think this is going to be a real amenity to the town,” said Attorney Peter Berdon as he presented the South Main Street residential project at a public hearing July 15th conducted by the P&Z Commission. “We are going to preserve their historic value and add to the town’s residential stock.”

The properties are located at 67 and 69 S. Main St., at the corner of Church Street, where the former Curtis Sisk Brothers Funeral Home was located. The proposal calls for adding to the current number of apartments at those locations, bringing the total to 15.

Berdon explained that the sprawling structures are actually three buildings, including the Samuel Pond House, which was built in 1712 and relocated from its original site. He said converting the funeral home to apartments would eliminate the commercial use, since the street is mostly residential.

The project will be developed by Montowese Partners 7/14 LLC. Following the meeting, the Eagle asked him to name the principals involved in the corporation. Berdon declined but said two of the three are Branford residents. In the state’s listing of corporations, Berdon is named as a principal member of Montowese Partners 7/14 LLC, which was incorporated two months ago. 

Berdon outlined 10 benefits of the project, including restoration of an historic building, adaptive reuse of existing buildings to increase housing, safety upgrades, elimination of commercial use,  and streetscape improvements with additional trees.

The tricky issue, he said, is parking. Berdon said there would be space for 21 cars but only if there is a parking easement agreement with the owner of 65 S. Main St., a two-family home which is also facing foreclosure sale.

He said a corporation called Thirteen LLC is proposing to purchase the home at 65 S. Main before it can be sold at foreclosure and has agreed to the parking easement. On the state’s corporation site, Branford attorney Robin Bruce Sandler, former town counsel when John Opie was First Selectman, is named as a principal member of Thirteen LLC, which was incorporated in 1999.

“We are in a time constraint,” Berdon said in regard to the project. “The properties are under foreclosure.” He said if 65 S. Main St. is purchased by someone else at a foreclosure sale, the developers could lose the parking easement and would be unable to move ahead with the project.

However, even with the proposed parking easement, the apartments would not have the 49 parking spaces that the P&Z currently requires for a residential project that size. The P&Z is working on new regulations which would decrease the parking space requirements in certain circumstances. 

Diana Stricker Photo Charles Andres, an attorney and member of the P&Z Commission, asked several questions regarding ways to improve the parking situation.

“We have looked at this site every way possible for additional parking.” Berdon said. “It just isn’t there.” He said the maximum number of available spaces is one per bedroom, with additional on-street parking possible on Church Street.

Branford architect Peter MacPartland outlined how the buildings would be upgraded, with particular emphasis on historical accuracy.

“The intent on the exterior of the Curtis Funeral Home is to make it more historically correct,” MacPartland said.

He said the best use of the buildings is residential. “You really have to think of it as three separate buildings that are abutted together,” MacPartland said in regard to the structures at 67 and 69 S. Main.

“It’s a very tough financial climate out there,” MacPartland said, as he explained the number of units being planned. “We’ve maximized every square foot inside.”

He said there is a shortage of parking, but added that the developers want to “restore a cornerstone of the Town Center.” If the current projects are rejected, MacPartland said other developers could, “as they say, ‘pave paradise and put up a parking lot.’”

Ellsworth McGuigan, who chairs the P&Z, said parking is sparse throughout the Town Center, and was particularly problematic when the building in question was funeral home.  “I think the project represents quite an improvement over what was there in the past,” he said.

“The parking is probably the stickiest part of the project,” said Town Planner Shirley Rasmussen as she reviewed the staff report. “But there are a lot of positives.”

Rasmussen said the developers have been meeting with the Center Revitalization Review Board and that the board members were “very impressed with the aesthetics.”  She said the project is a prime example of historic preservation and reuse of existing structures.

“I commend them for their effort,” Rasmussen said. “They’ve done a lot with a problematic situation.”

No one from the public spoke during the public hearing, and the project was unanimously approved.

Following the meeting Berdon said they hope to begin in 15 days and undertake the project in phases, with completion by next spring.

The Samuel Pond House has a storied background. “It’s a very interesting house,” said Town Historian Jane Bouley during an interview. It has had several names, including the Martin Page House and the Isaac Beach House. Bouley said it was originally a Saltbox Colonial style home, but was renovated after Isaac Beach sold the home to Samuel Griswold in 1928.

Bouley said the town acquired the property where the house was originally located in order to build the Branford High School, which is now Sliney Elementary School. The house faced South Main Street, and was situated where the cherry trees grow near the school.

Griswold saved the house from the wrecking ball and had it moved further down South Main Street.

More Room For Roomba

In other business, the P&Z approved a request from Arturo and Suzette Franco-Camacho regarding the second restaurant they plan to open in Branford.

The famed restaurateurs, who previously operated Bespoke and Roomba in New Haven, recently opened The Suburban at 2 E. Main St. in Branford. They also purchased the former Thai’s One at 1205 Main St., just a short distance from The Suburban. It will be developed into a Roomba-type restaurant serving modern Mexican cuisine.

Diana Stricker Photo The Franco-Camachos asked the P&Z last week for a “change of use” designation for the corner building at 1211 Main St., which is a currently a dressmaking shop. The couple hopes to expand the Mexican restaurant to the corner location, which is next door.

Rasmussen said the couple is working with the Center Revitalization Review Board on exterior façade renovations, but needed to get an initial go-ahead from P&Z before proceeding.

Following the meeting, Suzette Franco-Camacho said they don’t have a date yet for the anticipated opening of the Mexican restaurant. “Right now, we’re enjoying the newness of The Suburban,” she said.

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