Thomas Breen photo
The Quinnipiac River Marina, behind Streets Smokehouse Boathouse.
Thomas Breen file photo
New owner Mendy Paris (left): Nothing dramatic planned, just some touch-ups.
A busy local real estate investor has purchased the Quinnipiac River Marina — with promises to liven up the Fair Haven waterfront properties with lighting, landscaping, concerts, and more kayaking.
According to the city land records database, on July 28, PGX Holdings LLC — a holding company controlled by local landlords Mendy Paris and Moises Grunblatt — spent a combined total of $1.625 million buying six different Front Street properties from the holding companies Great Oak Realty LLC and Quinnipiac River Marina LLC. Those latter companies are both controlled by Lisa Fitch.
On Aug, 6, PGX Holdings LLC quit claimed all six properties to QRM LLC — a separate holding company made up of HAVN Ventures LLC and Malbec Enterprises, which are in turn controlled by Paris and Grunblatt respectively.
The addresses in question are 289, 307, 310, 313, 315 and 318 Front St.
They cover a total of 2.16 acres on either side of the street, and include two single-family houses, two office buildings, a restaurant—Streets Boathouse Smokehouse—and two open swaths of vacant land right alongside the Quinnipiac River.
The city last appraised all six waterfront properties as worth a combined total of $2,520,300.
During a phone interview with the Independent, Paris said that his company plans to “bring a little more life” to the marina. In addition to the restaurant and office buildings, the property includes a boat launch, rentable “boat slips,” a bait and tackle shop, a conference room, canoes and kayak rentals, and a pump-out station.
“It’s going to be a slow transition,” Paris said. “We’re not going to be doing anything dramatic at all, just making it a little bit of a nicer environment.” He described the marina as “the hidden gem of Fair Haven. A lot of people don’t know about this location. We find it a really beautiful, gorgeous property, and will encourage more people to do kayaking” and make use of the waterfront.
In addition to adding new stone, lighting, landscaping, and repainting some of the property, he said he hopes to “bring some bands, have some live music,” create “more of a community” vibe at the marina.
Paris was asked about how his plans for the property fit in with the community-focused mission of his recently launched HAVN Ventures investment firm. He said that “we had options to do a [housing] development there” at the marina site. “We chose not to go that path, because we really thinks it’s a beautiful marina. We chose not to put 100 units there. We really want to get community” input on what comes next.
He said he plans to pay a visit to the neighborhood’s community management team in the coming weeks to discuss his recent purchase of the properties and to talk about his vision, and the neighborhood’s vision, for the marina going forward.
“It’s just a really nice atmosphere there. We want to keep it as much as possible the current status, nothing dramatic.”
When asked about chatter at the HAVN Ventures launch party about potentially building “floating houses” and tiny houses on the marina property, Paris said he’s still mulling over both of those ideas. Nothing definite, he said, but he’s still considering those small-scale development possibilities.
Anthony Santiago Jr. and Sr., back from an afternoon on the water.
After a recent afternoon spent out on the water on their 31-foot Sea Ray boat, father-son duo Anthony Santiago Sr. and Anthony Santiago Jr. praised the marina for offering easy and affordable access to the river.
“The marina’s in great shape,” said Santiago Sr., who lives in West Haven and who has been renting a boat slip at the Fair Haven marina for the past year.
Anything he’d like to see the new owners add to the venue? Perhaps a new pumping station, he said. Otherwise, “it’s a pretty nice” place to be.
Hard Money Loan; “I’m A Leverage Guy”
The city land records also show that, on the same day that Paris and Grunblatt’s QRM LLC took ownership of the Front Street marina properties, it received a $1.3 million open-end mortgage from the Southport-based private investment firm Stormfield Capital.
That firm’s website describes it as a “balance-sheet commercial bridge lender and direct hard money lender” that tends to fund transactions that are “either problem solving or opportunity facilitating in nature. By focusing on the current and future potential of the underlying real estate collateral, we are able to fund situations other lenders will not.”
The one-year loan’s maturity date is Aug. 6, 2022. It comes with a 9.25 percent annual interest rate — with interest-only payments due every month starting in October.
Asked about the high interest late on the short-term loan, Paris said, “It’s a hard money loan. The plan is to refinance it after the value add.” Because the marina property wasn’t profitable previously, he said, he couldn’t get a traditional commercial loan for it.
“I’m a leverage guy,” he continued. “The idea is you get a bridge loan, a hard money loan, then you refinance after a year, year and a half. The value add I see is just bringing more business into the area.”
After all, he concluded, even with his company’s community focused outlook, it is still a business at the end of the day. “We’re not a nonprofit.”
Click here, and see below, for more on recent local property transactions.
New Haven land records database
Recent property transactions in town.
The marina is an under appreciated asset. Given the tragedy of I95 and oil tanks ruining much of our harbor front, the Q riverbanks are our best New Haven waterfront.
I wish these guys luck. I wouldn't object to housing if it was designed to preserve and improve public access. Houseboats sound fun!