91 Shelton Deal: Tenants Can Stay

Developers returned to the City Plan Commission with a promise: If they get permission to transform a Shelton Avenue industrial building into self-storage units, the artists currently working there can stay.

That commitment emerged at a special meeting of the City Plan Commission on Wednesday evening, during which Diamond Point Development made a second attempt at securing a special permit and site plan approval to build a storage facility in Newhallville.

Diamond Point is seeking to purchase the industrial building at 89 – 91 Shelton Ave. and transform it into a hub of self-storage units, with continued tenancy for the gymnasium currently operating there and a new 4,810 square foot ​“community space” built in for use by the Dixwell and Newhallville Community Management Teams. 

The building is currently owned by Schneur Katz, who has been trying to sell it off and on for over a decade. At the moment, the building is largely vacant, though it houses the City Climb rock climbing gymnasium as well as offices and studios used primarily by local artists. 

When Diamond Point’s Jason and Aaron Sommer initially presented these plans to the commission in late January, they met resistance from some neighbors and current tenants of the property. The commissioners postponed their decision on the special permit and site plan until they could secure more information about the artists’ future in the building.

So the group reconvened by Zoom on Wednesday for a second round of discussion — after which commissioners voted to postpone their final decision yet again until a later meeting.

Diamond Point representatives kicked off the dialogue by making an hour-long new case for their application, starting with an update that they had met with the current tenants and worked out an arrangement with each of them.

Of the 29 offices currently occupied in the building (cumulatively representing about 8,000 square feet of the total 150,000 square-foot building), 17 tenants are planning to relocate. In some cases, those tenants will move to another building owned by Katz on Grand Avenue. Six tenants have decided to stay at 91 Shelton, while another six are still deciding whether to move.

“We pledged to these tenants: We will keep you in a unit, a comparable suite, for the same rent,” said attorney Carolyn Kone. ​“We have the support of these tenants.”

Kone was asked about concerns that a storage facility wouldn’t fit in with a residential neighborhood. She responded that ​“the use that we’re proposing is significantly less incompatible with the residential use than the as-of-right permitted uses,” which she claimed include an ​“incinerator.”

“So if this commission were to deny this application on the grounds that this isn’t compatible with the residential uses, I don’t believe any court would uphold that denial,” Kone said.

Commissioners heard mixed opinions among 20 members of the public who testified, a majority of whom opposed the project.

The tenants themselves were divided.

Tim Goselin of the band Renegade Lounge expressed distrust that commitments from the developer to preserve artist spaces in the building would pan out. He framed the storage plans as an example of how artists have increasingly been priced out of New Haven. 

“Increasingly, there’s no place for the people who live and work in this town and no place for the people who create this town’s culture,” he said.

Meanwhile, 91 Shelton tenant Ivan Furman argued that the development would be an antidote to the very trend making it harder to survive as an artist in the city. ​“I validate and confirm that we’re not being thrown out,” he said. ​“What they propose is a benefit not only for the tenants, but for the community. There is no such space for artists in Connecticut with regards to price range.”

Members of the Newhallville Community Management Team leadership testified that both the promised community space and the storage service itself would enrich the neighborhood. 

“It’s an eyesore right now on Shelton Avenue,” said Carlota Clark. ​“From what they have told us … they will fix the building, light it up. … The world is changing and we need some of that economic development.”

Other local residents framed the development as not sufficiently beneficial to the neighborhood to warrant a special permit.

“This is not something that will help revitalize this neighborhood,” said Kim Rogers. ​“We do not need 1,000 units of storage in the middle of our residential neighborhood.”

“This project would destroy something vibrant and culturally viable and replace it with something lifeless,” argued Emily Sigman.

The neighborhood’s current alder, Troy Streater, and former alder, Steve Winter, both testified in opposition. They criticized the developers for allegedly mischaracterizing interactions with Streater in their presentation. According to Diamond Point representatives, Streater was initially ​“silent” in a meeting and subsequently dodged their calls; however, both the current and former alder maintained that Streater had been vocally opposed to the project and argued that the developers’ statements were evidence they could not be trusted. (The Diamond Point presenters later doubled down on their narrative of events.)

Public testimony concluded after 11 p.m., and the late hour prompted commissioners to conclude the meeting there, with plans to deliberate and vote later in the month.