Minus Title, Broadway Lot ​“Lease” Speeds Ahead

A $3 million plan to lease a downtown parking lot is a de facto sale of the property to Yale. So why not just sell it? One reason: The city isn’t sure it owns it.

That’s what city attorney John Ward told the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee Tuesday night. He said the city hasn’t been able to verify that the city has the ​“simple fee title” to the property, the title that would show the city has full and unencumbered ownership of the property.

The property in question is the parking lot that divides the eastbound and westbound halves of Broadway. Racing to plug a current-year budget hole, the city is working on a deal to lease that parcel to Yale for an upfront sum of $3 million, followed by $1 each year for 97 years. At that point, the property will become Yale property, according to the lease agreement, Ward told aldermen.

The proposed deal takes the form of an amendment to an existing lease agreement between Yale and the city. That 99-year agreement, signed two years ago, leased two other small Broadway parcels to the university. ​“Begonia Island” and ​“Market Island” were signed over in exchange for cash during a time when the city was facing a budget deficit, as it does again now. The Broadway parking lot deal is being offered as part of a solution to the $4.2 million hole in the current fiscal year’s budget, which ends June 30.

In order to ensure that the deal goes through in time to plug the hole, aldermen on the Finance Committee gave only their tacit approval to the deal Tuesday night.

Instead of voting it up or down, which would require it to appear on the full Board of Aldermen agenda through two meetings before a vote, the committee chose not to vote on the plan. That allows the plan to be discharged directly to a board vote next Monday.

Before making that decision Tuesday night, aldermen heard from city officials on the plan and from members of the public — against the plan.

Mike Piscitelli, deputy economic development administrator, presented the deal as a ​“responsible way forward” in the face of a budget deficit. The lease proposal came about after the failure of other proposed revenue measures, including a disgraced parking meter monetization plan and an attempt at selling a Temple Street parking garage.

The 1.2‑acre Broadway lot has 136 spaces. It’s operated by the New Haven Parking Authority, which has taken in a net annual income from the lot of between $88,600 and $97,100 in the last four years, Piscitelli said.

Under the terms of the lease, Yale would have to pay property taxes on the property, amounting to about $90,000 per year, Piscitelli said.

The terms of the lease also state that the parking lot always be open to the general public, although Yale can set whatever parking rates it likes, Piscitelli said. Any change in the use of the land by Yale would require approval by the city.

Piscitelli said the city and Yale agreed to the lease price of $3 million after three appraisals. Two of those appraisals put the parcel’s value in the $2 million range. The third put it at $4 million, but aldermen pointed out flaws in the math used to arrive at that figure.

Piscitelli and Ward both said that the lease is essentially a sale of the property to Yale. After the 97 years remaining in the lease, the property would be quit-claimed to Yale (given basically for free).

However, the conditions of the lease would still apply after the sale, Ward said. That is, Yale would still be required to keep the lot open to the public and keep it as a lot, unless given permission by the city to do otherwise.

East Rock Alderman Justin Elicker asked why Yale is interested in the property. Lauren Zucker, Yale’s new head of New Haven affairs, said Yale has invested a significant amount of money in the area and thinks the lot is a good amenity for local retailers, many of whom rent from the university. She said Yale has no plans to raise parking rates there or to build anything.

Hill Alderman Jorge Perez asked: If Yale gets it after 97 years anyway, why not just sell it now outright?

It’s quicker and easier to just add it to the existing lease, Piscitelli said.

Ward offered another reason: The city hasn’t been able to make sure it has the title to the property free from an lienholders.

But the intention is to sell it, Perez said.

Ward said yes. ​“This thing is never coming back, no matter what,” he said.

Inefficiency

Tuesday’s meeting featured several outspoken opponents of the parking lot lease plan.

First up was West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson, who said that the city should not be selling off a property that generates revenue. He said the lot could be run more efficiently than it is. The parking authority pays out over $250,000 annually to staff the lot, he said. ​“That’s income right there.”

“This lot is worth a whole lot more money than $3 million,” he said. The plan is as bad as the parking meter monetization proposal, he said.

Alderman Elicker later pointed out that the deal is not like the monetization deal because it is a sale, not a long-term loan to be paid back.

Not only should the parking lot deal not go through, it shouldn’t be fast-tracked, Goldson said.

“I’m a small-government guy,” Goldson said. The city shouldn’t be in the business of running parking lots, he said. But it should at least get a good price for selling them off, he argued.

He said the city should have put out a request for proposals to find a buyer for the lot instead of simply negotiating a deal with Yale. ​“My biggest issue is the price,” he said. ​“I think we should be getting more.”

Ken Joyner, a Newhallville budget watchdog, also came out against the plan. He said the city shouldn’t sign on to a 99-year lease that will be in place for many administrations and boards of aldermen to come. He invoked the current controversy over a mere 20-year agreement with Yale over closed streets downtown.

After the meeting, Board of Aldermen President Carl Goldfield acknowledged that the city has not run the parking lot as efficiently as it might have. ​“That’s always a problem for us. We don’t tend to run things efficiently.”

That means the lot is bound to have a higher value to someone else, he said. Like Yale.