Thomas Breen photo
Could this blighted building at 781 Whalley ...
Svigals + Partners image
... look like this two years from now?
A Branford-based developer working with local real estate investors plans to knock down two Westville commercial buildings — including a long-vacant and blighted structure at the corner of Whalley Avenue and Fitch Street — and construct in their stead 245 new riverfront apartments.
Those are the latest plans for the long-blighted property at 781 Whalley Ave. and 50 Fitch St.
On Tuesday night, Hugh Scott of the real estate investment firm Cove Funds joined a team of architects and engineers to make that development pitch at a Zoomed virtual community meeting.
The meeting was hosted by Amity/Westville Alder Richard Furlow and by city economic development officials Steve Fontana and Kathleen Krolak. Roughly 35 west side neighbors attended.
(Scott clarified after the meeting that his firm is not the lead developer on this project. The lead developer is the owner of the property, a holding company controlled by local investors Mendy Paris and Sim Levenhartz. Scott is serving as a consultant on the project.)
Developer Hugh Scott and architect Chris Bockstael at Tuesday's virtual meeting.
Sitting alongside local architect Chris Bockstael, Scott said that the developers plan to demolish the existing derelict commercial building at 781 Whalley Ave. as well as the currently in-use and occupied commercial building behind it at 50 Fitch St. (While the buildings have two separate street addresses, they sit on the same property.)
In their place, the developer plans to build the 245 new apartments, which would include a mix of studios and one‑, two‑, and three-bedroom units. Per the city’s recently passed “inclusionary zoning” law, 5 percent of those apartments would need to be set aside at rents affordable to tenants earning no more than 50 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Scott said the project will also include 235 on-site parking spaces; a Whalley fronting commercial space designed for a small market or deli; and a new viewing platform and publicly accessible walkway along the adjacent West River and Wintergreen Brook.
Thomas Breen photo
781 Whalley Ave., from the outside.
A view inside the blighted building, from the Whalley Avenue sidewalk.
“We have been working on this project for two years, and it’s been a project of passion for many of us, as we try to figure out a project that is both attractive and feasible and buildable,” Scott told the virtually assembled group, “that pays homage to the community of Westville, to Edgewood Park, to the West River and to West Rock.”
He recognized that “much of the site has been an eyesore to the community for a long time.” This project, he said, should transform the corner and serve as a connection between Beaver Hills and Westville Village.
Scott said that the site plan for this proposed development at 781 Whalley/50 Fitch should come before the City Plan Commission for review and a vote during the local land use body’s meeting in July. He predicted that construction should take between 12 and 18 months to complete, and that the project should be done two years from now.
The current surface parking lot and office building at 50 Fitch St.
Wednesday night’s meeting and development pitch came two years and nine months after the blighted Westville property last changed hands. Back in October 2019, a company controlled by local real estate investor duo Mendy Paris and Sim Levenhartz purchased the property for $3.1 million from a trio of holding companies controlled by New York-based investor Edward Roubeni.
At the time, Paris told the Independent that he planned on converting the property into 200-plus new luxury apartments. Although neither Paris nor Levenhartz presented at Tuesday night’s community meeting, their company still owns the property that Scott is consulting on developing.
These planned new 245 apartments at the corner of Whalley and Fitch aren’t the only new apartments slated for this stretch of Westville. A few blocks away, local megalandlord Ocean Management is building 129 new apartments at the site of the former 500 Blake Street Cafe. Another 144 new apartments are also planned for the existing three-story brick office building at 446A Blake St.
Avi Meer.
Scott’s proposal was met largely with praise by those who attended Tuesday’s virtual community meeting.
“I’m excited about this because I really think that it brings together two beautiful neighborhoods,” said Avi Meer, who lives in Beaver Hills and owns an apartment building on Fountain Street in Westville.
He said that whenever he and his wife walk from their home on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard over to Westville Village, they try not to walk by the blighted building at the corner of Fitch and Whalley. “Today, we wouldn’t want to go that way, because it’s anything but pleasant,” he said. This new project should transform the corner.
Pablo Perez.
Fountain Street resident and Easy Rock business owner Pablo Perez agreed. “It’s just been the worst eyesore for so long,” he said about 781 Whalley. “I’m excited to see” this new redevelopment plan. “Apartments have gotten so expensive in the city. It’s my opinion that we need more supply.” And this project should help with exactly that.
Choni Grunblatt.
“I can speak nothing but in favor of the project,” added Choni Grunblatt, who owns the Westville restaurant Fin and Scale and who is also a real estate business partner of Paris. “The renderings are just mind blowing and absolutely stunning.”
“I think this is super, super exciting,” said Westville Village Renaissance Alliance Executive Director Lizzy Donious (pictured). “I think it’s going to be great for Westville, for that connectivity to other west side neighborhoods.”
4 Stories; Riverfront Walkway; Viewing Platform
Site plan and rendering of proposed development ...
... and riverfront walkway.
Many of the questions asked at Tuesday night’s meeting were submitted via the written “chat” function by attendees, then read aloud by city Deputy Economic Development Administrator Steve Fontana.
Why demolish the existing historic buildings instead of including those in the redevelopment plans? Fontana asked, reading from a question submitted by former City Plan Director Karyn Kilvarg.
The existing building at 50 Fitch St. sits in the flood plain, Scott said. If he kept that building in place, he’d be able to make use of only the second floor.
“We looked extensively at trying to save the rear building,” he said, “but just couldn’t find a feasible way to do it.”
What is the proposed lowest elevation of the parking area after construction? Gilvarg asked.
“The parking is going to be slightly sloped,” Bockstael replied. He said the parking will be at approximately a nine-foot elevation, while the main floor of the residential building will be at around a 20-foot elevation. Scott said that the main floor of the residential building will be raised roughly two feet above street level.
Andrew Smyth said that he rides his bike to and from Southern Connecticut State University on a regular basis. He described this stretch of Fitch Street as “already incredibly dangerous” for cyclists. Will the redevelopment help make this stretch of Westville any safer for cyclists?
“Fitch is a state highway,” Scott said. That means that the redeveloper and the city have limited control over what happens on the street. “I don’t think it’s within our realm to be able to restripe it,” he said. “What we can do to make changes to it is pretty limited.”
State Rep. Pat Dillon urged the redevelopers to stay in close contact with the state Department of Transportation on the matter.
Rendering of the planned new West River viewing platform.
What about the planned new riverfront viewing platform and walkway? asked Jonathan Perlich. Will those “allow for more public access and viewing of the river than currently exists?”
That’s the goal, Scott said. “We think having a viewing platform gives a calmer, safer vantage point for people to look at the riverbank and look down the river or up the river.”
He said the walkway will have signage discussing the ecology of the West River and Wintergreen Brook. “On balance, it gives a good view of West Rock, a good view of the river, and it does so from a safe setting.”
Why have the walkway go down 10 or 15 feet to the river itself? Perez asked. “Why put a walkway down there? I can’t imagine a lot of people are really going to utilize it,” especially when they have Edgewood Park right across the street. He said he’s concerned that “that area is going to feel very shaded and dark.”
“We want to make the riverfront accessible to the public,” Scott said. “It’s been held back from the public.” He promised that the riverfront walkway will be “quite bright and light.” He said it will highlight “scenic parts of the river” and provide “tremendous access to the river.”
How tall will the building be? State Rep. Dillon asked.
Bockstael said that the new apartment building will be four stories high, or roughly 50 feet tall. He said the area’s BA‑2 zoning limits the building to no more than four stories, and the developer didn’t want to try to get a variance from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
“That’s why we’re only going four stories at this point,” he said, “whereas this building type can typically go much taller.”
How will you mitigate the “inevitable negative impacts” on the West River during construction? Diane Buxbaum asked.
Joe Canas, the project’s engineer, said that there will indeed by “exposed earth” during the construction period. He said the redevelopment team has put together a sediment erosion control plan that they will follow over the course of demolition and construction. He said the two buildings also won’t be demolished at the same time. Rather, the “work will be staged in discrete locations to better manage it.”
How will these economic investments help with “other city issues?” Sean Reeves asked.
Scott said that this project will have a number of salutary benefits on the neighborhood and the city more broadly.
First, the project will include 13 designated affordable apartments, thanks to the city’s IZ law. “That certainly has an economic impact on our project from a feasibility and viability standpoint, and its fairly substantial.”
He also pointed to the planned riverfront walkway and viewing platform as significant public improvements to the area.
“We’re very excited about this project,” he said at the conclusion of the meeting. “I think it will be a tremendous addition to Westville and to the City of New Haven. We’ve been working very closely with city staff, as well as the state Department of Transportation. … We really, really appreciate the input and comments this evening from everyone.”
Looks great. But the city/state should provide a variance, and tax subsidies, to encourage the developer to build something that is much taller and with more units. An 8-10 story building would be a much more appropriate use of this site.
It seems like Connecticut’s public policy hasn’t adapted to the fact that we are in a housing crisis.