ConnCAT Buys Dixwell Clinic Building

Local developers behind a planned $200 million overhaul of Dixwell Plaza have purchased Cornell Scott Hill Health Center’s site there for $1.8 million, even as they temporarily postpone the rebuilding project to focus on raising money for neighbors during the Covid-19 crisis.

According to the city land records database, on April 15, 230 Dixwell Avenue LLC, a holding company owned by the the Connecticut Community Outreach and Revitalization Program (ConnCORP), purchased the two-story office building at 230 Dixwell Ave. from the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Corporation for $1.8 million.

The city last appraised the site as worth $1,748,000.

The Dixwell Plaza acquisition is the latest property purchase made on the block by ConnCORP, a for-profit subsidiary of the Science Park-based nonprofit Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT).

Earlier this year, ConnCAT and ConnCORP leaders announced that they plan to convert the 1960s-era shopping complex on Dixwell Avenue between Webster Street and Charles Street into a new performing arts center, banquet hall, grocery store, museum, office complex, daycare center, fitness center, retail storefronts, and 150-plus apartments and townhouses.

Over the past nearly two years, ConnCORP has been steadily buying up condos in the shopping complex through a variety of holding companies.

“We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that this community development moves forward even during the time of Covid-19,” ConnCORP President and CEO Paul McCraven (pictured) told the Independent by email Tuesday. ​“Acquiring the Cornell Scott property was part of the original plan, and we’re excited to be able to move forward on this project to give this community what it wants and deserves.

“As ConnCAT Place gets underway, we’re committed to continuing a partnership with Cornell Scott and supporting their work to provide much-needed healthcare services to our community and those who need it most.”

Cornell Scott Hill Health Center President and CEO Michael Taylor stressed that the building sale will not affect the quality or continuity of care currently provided out of that site, which has recently been converted into a walk-up coronavirus swabbing and testing center.

“It won’t affect the provision of services at all,” he told the Independent by phone Tuesday.

He pointed out that Cornell Scott Hill Health Center has long planned, and still plans, to move its clinic into the new Dixwell Q House, which the city is currently in the process of building across the street.

“With that [planned move], we had no need to retain ownership of our 230 Dixwell Avenue property,” he said.

Taylor (pictured) said he recently attended a Q House Advisory Board meeting and that the building is still on schedule to be finished and open by next spring, which is when the health center would move its operations.

“We haven’t decided how we’re going to spend the proceeds,” Taylor said about the $1.8 million sale of 230 Dixwell Ave. ​“There’s never any shortage of places to spend the money.”

He said the community health center will likely spread the money across renovations to its flagship Columbus Avenue site, a new site slated to open in West Haven, and the planned addiction recovery and wellness center on Cedar Street that will replace the current Grant Street Partnership.

ConnCORP spokepserson Mercy Quaye said the redevelopment team is currently focusing on raising and distributing money through its Covid-19 crisis relief fund efforts, and that the team plans to reschedule community conversations about the Dixwell Plaza project that were initially slated to take place this spring and were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Bank Building Sold; Mandy Buys In The Heights

In other recent property sales, on April 17, Church 209 LLC, a holding company owned by Dennis Nicotra of the local investment company Olympia Properties LLC, purchased the two-story bank building at 209 Church St. for $1.7 million from Gary Ginsberg, June Sachs, and Terri Sachs Wilson.

The city last appraised the downtown building as worth $2,741,500.

And holding companies affiliated with the local mega-landlord Mandy Management purchased five condos in a six-unit complex at 20 Warwick St. in Fair Haven Heights.

On March 17, Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased 20 Warwick St., Unit 2 from Jacqueline Tower for $46,500. The condo last sold for $27,000 in 2006, and the city last appraised the property as worth $27,800.

On April 22, Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased 20 Warwick St., Unit 4 from Marilyn Torres for $54,000. The property last sold for $60,000 in 2007, and the city last appraised it as worth $26,700.

On April 22, Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased 20 Warwick St., Unit 1 from Aaron Green for $45,000. The condo last sold for $58,000 in 2004, and the city last appraised it as worth $33,800.

On April 22, Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased 20 Warwick St., Unit 3 from Dominic Mongillo for $45,000. The condo last sold for $40,000 in 2008, and the city last appraised it as worth $26,700.

And on April 22, Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased 20 Warwick St., Unit 6 from Willmott Properties LLC for $45,000. The condo last sold for $27,500 in 2011, and the city last appraised it as worth $33,300.

In the Hill, another Mandy-related holding company, Real Estate Group XV LLC, purchased the two-family house at 20 Arch St. on March 30 from Todd and Leslie Foster for $170,000. That property last sold for $110,000 in 2010, and the city last appraised it as worth $144,300.

And in Newhallville, the Mandy-related holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased the single-family house at 202 Ivy St. for $100,000 from Arrowhead Holdings LLC on April 23. The property last sold for $18,000 in 2018, and the city last appraised it as worth $85,500.

Previous property sale coverage:

• City Buys Walt’s Cleaners For Dixwell Plan
• 2nd Try Adds $1M To Purchase Price
• Investors Drop $1.1M On East Side Condos
• Out-Of-Town Builder Buys Park St. Block For $4.7M
• Ocean Spends $1.45M On 7 Houses
• 66 Norton Sells For $1.46M
• Mandy’s Buying Spree Tops $16.1M
• ​“Rt. 34 West” Hotel Site Sold For $2.8M
• Spinnaker Flips Comcast Project For $14.6M
• Sherman Medical Building Sells For $2.7M
• Pike, Mandy Spend $2M+ In Latest Buys
• 200+ Apartments Planned At Empty Eyesore
• Annex Apartments Sold For $3.95M
• Mill River Office Building Sold For $4.65M
• Local Landlords, Albertus Magnus Expand
• Mandy Buys Warehouse For $1.6M
• Pike Collects $890K On Wooster Sq. Sales
• Springside Apartments Sell For $3.2M
• Family Dollar Sells For 1.8M Dollars
• Pike Sells 2 Buildings To Yale For $3.8M
• Mansion Sells For Only $1.45M
• Landlord Tops 340 Units
• High Street Apts Sell For $25M+
• St. Michael’s School Sold, For Apartments
• Ocean Management Acquires Perrotti Westville Properties
• Paris Realty Picks Up 6 Q Meadows Condos
• Landlord Boosts West River Condo Holdings
• $21 Million Changes Hands In 2 Days
• 50 Factory Jobs Coming To Fair Haven
• Brendan Towers Sold For $6M+
• Investors Drop $917K On West Side Condos
• Mandy’s 2018 Buying Spree Nears $13M
• Mandy Empire Buys Up The Block
• Roots Planted In Newhallville
• Latest Sales: Mandy Buying Spree Continues
• Latest Sales: Mandy Expands In City Point
• Latest Sales: East Rock Home Buy Tops $1M
• Latest Deals: Beulah’s 5th Rehab On Block
• Latest Sales: NHR Sheds Small To Focus Big
• Latest Sales: Mandy Buys In Heights
• Home Sale Price Doubles In 13 Years