Thomas Breen file photo
Fair Haven's Brewery Square, now under new ownership.
An affordable housing developer duo has purchased the 104-unit Brewery Square apartment complex for $15 million — and now plans to update the bathrooms, install new windows, refinish the floors, and put in quartz countertops.
That property deal was recorded on the city’s land records database on Wednesday.
According to the posted warranty deed, Brewery Square Community Partners, Limited Partnership paid Brewery Square Limited Partnership and Brewery Square Gatehouse Limited Partnership a total of $15 million to buy the Fair Haven apartment complex at 19 River St.
That two-building, 104-unit brick complex was built in the 1880s as a brewery, and was converted to housing a century later. The city most recently appraised the two properties that make up this complex as worth a combined sum of $8,589,500 for tax purposes.
The new owner is a partnership between the California-based Community Preservation Partners (CPP) and the Boston-based Beacon Communities. The seller is an affiliate of the Massachusetts-based Cambridge Development Corp.
CPP already owns and has finished a multi-million-dollar rehab of the Fairbank senior apartment complex nearby on Ferry Street. And Beacon has spent decades owning, managing, and developing affordable housing in New Haven, most recently at the Residences at Ninth Square and at an under-construction new 76-unit project, to be called The Atwater, at State and Chapel streets downtown.
“The adaptive reuse of Brewery Square Apartments will modernize and expand affordable housing options In New Haven, while breathing new life into a piece of the City’s history,” Beacon CEO (and New Haven native) Dara Kovel is quoted as saying in a Tuesday press release about the Brewery Square purchase.
“This acquisition allows us to increase and deepen affordability while also extending the life of a property that is deeply cherished by the community,” CEPP Vice President of Development John Fraser is quoted as saying in that same press release.
“Brewery Square serves as a model for high-quality, architecturally interesting, mixed-income housing,”
Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller is also quoted as saying in Tuesday’s press release. “We look forward to CPP and Beacon building upon and extending this legacy, preserving both affordability and quality for another generation.”
The property transaction comes less than two months after the Board of Alders signed off in April on a 17-year tax break deal that requires the new owners to pay $1,500 in taxes for every below-market-rent apartment, with a 3 percent annual increase starting in the third year.
The property-wide rehabilitation will expand the number of affordable units at this 104-apartment complex from 38 to 84. Those 84 affordable units will be rented out to tenants making between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), which currently translates to between around $27,900 and $74,350 for a family of two.
The affordable rentals will be subsidized through a mix of existing Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Section 8 project-based vouchers, as well as new Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding.
Tuesday’s press release describes the expected renovations as follows: “The total development investment of approximately $43 million includes extensive renovations estimated at $112,342 per unit. Planned upgrades include all-new stainless-steel appliances, updated bathrooms, quartz countertops, new windows, refinished floors, and the installation of advanced security systems. The site will also feature enhanced landscaping, cobblestone walkways, and the adaptive reuse of the historic gatehouse into a secure indoor bike storage area — an amenity specifically requested by residents. Additionally, the renovations are expected to improve the property’s energy performance by more than 15%, enhancing efficiency and reducing utility costs.”
According to that same press release, Brewery Square’s 104 apartments include two efficiency units, 41 one-bedrooms, 55 two-bedrooms, and six three-bedrooms. The property also has 151 parking spaces. “Occupancy has consistently exceeded 95%,” the press release states, “and residents have played a key role in shaping planned improvements, particularly those that preserve the community’s historic charm and enhance daily living.”