Laura Glesby file photo
Inside the Art To Frames plant in June 2020.
Thomas Breen photo
The present view of River St., looking east from James.
An art frame manufacturer plans to add jobs and build a new warehouse next to its bustling current Fair Haven site, while a block away a River Street movie studio plan appears to have stalled amid a corporate shakeup.
That’s the latest with two business ventures — one up and running, the other not so much — near Fair Haven’s southern industrial waterfront.
The first company, Art To Frames, a Brooklyn-based and family-owned business that assembles custom-made art frames and other decorative furnishings, is looking to expand beyond its current operations at the old Von Roll electrical insulation factory at 128 – 166 Chapel St.
The second, Jaigantic Studios, a movie studio founded by actor superhero Michael Jai White, has reportedly not been in touch with the city in months in regards to previously active negotiations over buying and building up a vacant River Street lot. (See more on that below.)
Frame Co.: "We Continue To Grow"
The River Street side of Art To Frames' current setup.
A proposed resolution now before the Board of Alders seeks authorization for the city and an Art To Frames-associated holding company to apply for a $750,000 state grant to support the environmental remediation of a vacant publicly owned lot at 112 Chapel St.
City-owned land at 112 Chapel.
According to a Monday letter from city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli in support of that proposal, Art To Frames is looking to construct a parking lot and a new 10,000 square-foot warehouse adjacent to its current building, which it bought in 2019.
That expansion should result in the hiring of 15 to 20 more people in addition to the company’s current staff of 80, according to the legislative proposal.
Piscitelli wrote that soil and debris that are currently contaminated with PCBs, lead and oil will need to be removed from that vacant Chapel Street site and clean fill brought in in its place before Art To Frames can construct its new parking lot and warehouse.
He wrote that the environmental remediation should cost around $750,000 in total, and that the city is going to try to obtain that amount in funding from the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Municipal Brownfields Grant Program.
Joe and Jeff Minsky at Art to Frames's ribbon cutting in June 2020.
“In 2020, ArtToFrames moved to New Haven from Brooklyn to facilitate the expansion needs of the business,” Schneur Minsky, the company’s CEO, told the Indpendent in an email comment for this article.
“Fortunately, we continue to grow and the city of New Haven has been a great partner to work with. In addition to the new warehouse, we plan to open a retail showroom to the general public, showcasing all our made in New Haven picture frames and home decor.”
Jaigantic Update? No Comment
Jaigantic Studios image
Jaigantic's two-phase development plan, as presented to city development commissioners in March 2022.
One block south of where Art to Frames is growing its business, a separate much-hoped-for Fair Haven venture has so far failed to get off the ground.
Jaigantic Studios, a self-described “mini-major studio,” had pitched plans to spend $200 million transforming a stretch of mostly empty lots and former factory buildings on River Street into 25 new soundstages replete with thousands of jobs along with movie-and-TV-production-related economic development.
Boosters for the movie studio spent much of the second half of 2021 and the first few months of 2022 pitching Jaigantic’s plans to Fair Haven neighbors and residents across the city. The company’s then-CEO Donovan DeBoer and then-business consultant Donna Lecky appeared before the city’s Development Commission in March 2022 as Jaigantic was still negotiating a Development and Land Disposition Agreement (DLDA) with the city for publicly owned land at 46 – 56 River St. near Poplar Street.
One year later, what’s the latest?
The Independent struggled to get an answer to that question from past and present Jaigantic representatives.
Natalie Kainz file photo
Then-COO Mayne Berke and then-CEO Donovan DeBoer lay out vision for soundstages at 46 to 56 River St. in August 2021 walking tour.
Jackie Buster, a longtime New Havener and the company’s chief impact officer, told the Independent that she could not speak about the project because of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
She recommended talking with Donna Lecky, whom she described as the company’s interim CEO. (DeBoer’s LinkedIn page states that he left his role as Jaigantic Studios’ CEO in October 2022.)
Reached by phone and email, Lecky told the Independent that she is no longer affiliated with Jaigantic Studios. She recommended talking with the company’s California-based attorney, Igbo Obioha.
Obioha did not respond to numerous phone calls, emails, and voicemail requests for comment.
The only other Jaigantic Studios affiliate the Independent was able to make contact with for this article was Alan Tuchmann, who, according to this November 2021 New Haven Register article, was Jaigantic Studios’ vice president for finance at the time.
Tuchmann told the Independent by phone that he is no longer affiliated with the company. He said he couldn’t talk publicly about the project because of a NDA.
City Dev Deputy: No Updates In Months
The up-for-sale Phoenix Press site.
City Deputy Economic Development Administrator Steve Fontana, meanwhile, told the Independent in a phone interview that the city has not heard from Jaigantic Studios representatives in months.
“We haven’t gotten any updates from them at all,” he said.
He said the city had been negotiating a DLDA with the studio for a River Street property as recently as last spring.
“We got to a point in June where there were a couple of outstanding deal points. We didn’t resolve them at the time.” Fontana declined to say what exactly those sticking points were in the negotiations. He did say they were issues that could have been resolved.
He said the city checked back in with Jaigantic in September and December of last year, but didn’t hear back. The project is therefore “still pending,” Fontana said. But those DLDA “points need to be resolved.”
That doesn’t mean all is lost for River Street. Far from it. Fontana pointed to Art To Frames’ planned expansion as positive economic development for the district. He noted that the Phoenix Press site is close to selling to a buyer who would redevelop the property.
“The good news is there’s a lot of interest in industrial, commercial space and commercial properties in New Haven,” Fontana said.
"Beer Yoga" & New Brews
Armada Brewing's John Kraszewski: "The community's been great."
Armada's brewery and taproom at 190 River.
One existing nearby commercial venture that appears to be working out well is Armada Brewing, John Kraszewski’s taproom and brewery company that opened last April in a renovated two-story former Bigelow Boiler Factory building at 190 River St. at the corner of Lloyd.
On a Monday afternoon visit to his River Street business, Kraszewski said he and his staffers are busy brewing up new IPAs and pilsners — as well as new partnerships with local businesses like Strange Ways and Hope Gallery.
Running a business on a stretch of River Street with so many vacant lots is not always easy. But, he said, “the community’s been great.”
He spoke highly of commercial neighbors like Patriot Marine and Phoenix Press and Art To Frames. He said Armada recently hosted its first “beer yoga”, has partnered with the New Haven Roadrunners for a community 5K, and saw a surge in Fair Haven neighbors come by to drink and socialize over the winter holidays.
“Our focus right now is to collaborate with local New Haven businesses and make exciting experiences for guests,” he said. That’ll stay the plan as he grows his business on River Street.
Looking east on River St. from Lloyd.
Just like the LiveWorkLearnPlay or whatever it was called.
Promises made -- and often used to keep out other, more tangible and obvious businesses like breweries -- and then the economic conditions change and suddenly we're stuck holding an empty lot for ten years
Looking forward to the NHI article in ten years when we find out what will eventually happen to this lot
(Apartments. Its always Apartments)