Thomas Breen photo
1476 Chapel tenant Shaquita Alston (right) with sister Katina Kitchens: "Why keep selling it if it needs to be torn down?"
An affiliate of Ocean Management has sold a 20-unit West River apartment complex, which is home to a newly formed tenants union, for $2.44 million — as the local megalandlord continues to unload rental properties at prices well above what it paid to buy them over the past decade.
That recently sold apartment building is located at 1476 Chapel St.
1476 Chapel St.
According to the city’s online land records database, on June 28, 1476 Chapel Management LLC purchased the property for $2.44 million from Sherman Chapel Properties LLC.
The three-story brick residential building last sold for $1.75 million in 2019, and the city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $1,770,400.
The new owner of 1476 Chapel St. is a holding company controlled by Neal Patel of the Monroe-based real estate company Vector Residential.
The seller is a company controlled by Shmuel Aizenberg, the principal of Ocean Management, a local megalandlord-property management-real estate investment outfit which, through its affiliates, controls over 1,000 mostly low-income apartments across the city.
“Vector Residential, a Connecticut based real estate management firm, is proud to announce the first step in a long term vision of investing in the dynamic and historical city of New Haven and the surrounding areas,” Patel told the Independent in an email comment for this story.
“With the purchase of 1476 Chapel Street we are committed to creating a safe and comfortable environment for every resident of the building. Our approach combines open communication with our residents, comprehensive renovation plan, and best-in-class property management. We look forward to being a part of the New Haven community.”
Aizenberg did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this story.
City land records show that this isn’t the first building his company has sold off so far this year. Far from it.
Since Jan. 1, Ocean affiliates have sold a total of 15 apartment buildings containing 59 different apartments, including 1476 Chapel. Ocean sold those properties in 15 different transactions to 15 different buyers for a combined sum of $7,832,890 — after paying only $3,556,165 to buy those same properties between 2012 and 2019. The city most recently appraised those 15 properties for tax purposes as worth a total of $5,882,500. (See below for more on these 15 recent Ocean property sales.)
Alston.
The late June sale of 1476 Chapel St., meanwhile, took place one day after renters at that same property announced the formation of a new tenants union, the second such renters advocacy group to be officially recognized by city government. The 1476 Chapel tenants formed that new union — and spoke out in a City Hall mayoral press conference and at a Whitney Avenue protest about rodent infestations and “fire hazards” and other maintenance problems at the West River apartment building property — on the very same day that their then-landlord showed up in court to be prosecuted for six new housing-code-violation cases at Ocean properties across the city.
“Business as usual would be for a new landlord to buy our building and bring it up to building and housing code,” a representative from the tenants union told the Independent in an email comment for this story. “They would then raise rents to unaffordable prices, making it so that the people who live in the building and have done so for years won’t be the ones to benefit from the improved living conditions. It is the Union’s priority that this does not happen.
“Our vision is to manifest our collective power to live in peace, wellness, and be treated with respect and equality. We need the new landlord group to live up to this by: (1) negotiating with the Union for caps on rent increases so that people can have stability in their housing, (2) fixing long overdue building code violations and fire hazards immediately, and (3) not employing band aid fixes to serious issues to foundational aspects of the building, but rather employing sustainable solutions including: preventative pest control, professional mold and lead remediation, and addressing disparate and inadequate heating.”
One of those tenants union members, Shaquita Alston, was sitting on the front steps of 1476 Chapel on Monday afternoon with her sister, Katina Kitchens.
Alston said she’s lived at 1476 Chapel St. for 13 years, and that maintenance of the property noticeably declined after former landlord Robert Cramer sold to Ocean a few years ago.
“It’s infested” with rodents, she said about the building. She said the wiring’s faulty and there’s mold in her apartment and squirrels in the walls. “It’s not in living condition. … Why keep selling it if it needs to be torn down?”
She said she’s met the new owner, and “his energy is very good. But we don’t care about the energy. I’ve been suffering for years” and want a safe place for her and her kids to live. Having grown up in New Haven, Alston said she’s lived all over the city. “This is the worst I’ve ever been in.”
15 Properties Sold This Year For $7.8M+
Aizenberg did not respond to a request for comment for this article about why he sold off 1476 Chapel St. He did speak to the Independent in March 2022 when his company put up for sale 101 multi-family homes containing 399 different apartments in New Haven as part of a $52 million package deal.
Aizenberg told the Independent at the time that his company was “focusing now more on new development, new apartment builds,” including the (still under construction) 129-unit market-rate apartment project at 500 Blake St. in Westville.
“This package is comprised of 399 units, a mix of 2 – 10 unit properties (101 properties) and offers an investor looking to break into the hard to reach New Haven market immediate scale,” one such now-defunct online listing of the “Ocean 399” portfolio read at the time.“90% of the portfolio has been renovated in the past 5 years, and offers a significant upside in rents. New Haven’s rental market has increased 10 – 20% in the last year providing a new owner immediate ability to raise rents.”
Even though that “Ocean 399” portfolio never sold as one big package of properties, Ocean has succeeded in selling off 15 of its New Haven apartment buildings in one-off deals so far this calendar year.
Those 2023 Ocean property sales include:
• 1476 Chapel St., a 20-unit apartment building that an Ocean affiliate sold for $2.44 million to a company controlled by Neal Patel of Monroe on June 28. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property in 2019 for $1.75 million. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $1,770,400.
• 374 Orchard St., an 8‑unit apartment building that an Ocean affiliate sold for $1.1 million to a company controlled by Nitsan Ben-Horin of New York City on Jan. 24. Aizenberg first bought that property in 2015 for $140,000. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $628,200.
• 1569 Ella T. Grass Blvd., a three-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $510,000 to Jeroy Smith on June 28. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property in 2016 for $169,090. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $420,400.
• 11 Truman St., a three-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $399,000 to Jose Dario Moran on July 12. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property in 2012 for $82,000. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $280,400.
• 314 Howard Ave., a three-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $395,000 to Mikey Chow-Yen on June 28. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property in 2018 for $219,000. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $281,500.
• 333 Edgewood Ave., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $390,000 to Amir Glenn on June 28. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property for $177,950 in 2016. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $330,700.
• 310 Winthrop Ave., a three-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $375,000 to Continuum of Care Inc. on March 14. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property for $280,000 in 2016. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $361,200.
• 29 Truman St., a three-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $339,990 to Jairo German Tapia on July 17. Aizenberg first bought that property for $86,000 in 2015. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $249,100.
• 1149 Quinnipiac Ave., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $300,000 to Alexandra Ortiz Parra Narcisa on March 21. Aizenberg first bought that property for $107,625 in 2014. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $234,000.
• 112 Sherland Ave., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $294,000 to Clive Stewart on March 16. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property for $86,000 in 2014. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $236,200.
• 106 Day St., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $280,000 to Henry Nwudu on March 14. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property for $150,000 in 2015. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $238,200.
• 779 Quinnipiac Ave., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $269,900 to a company controlled by Claudio Encalada of East Haven on June 6. Aizenberg first bought that property for $70,000 in 2014. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $245,700.
• 27 Wilson St., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $265,000 to Hery Hernandez and Nancis Mieses on July 11. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property for $43,500 in 2013. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $176,200.
• 58 Stevens St., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $240,000 to Mamera Venasia on June 27. An Ocean affiliate first bought that property for $120,000 in 2018. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $180,000.
• 79 Hallock St., a two-family house that an Ocean affiliate sold for $235,000 to Javier Sevillano-Portilla on June 16. Aizenberg first bought that property for $85,000 in 2014. The city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $250,300.
If the big guys are selling, the market has peaked. Look out below.