Beacon Bulks Up 9th Sq Holdings

A Boston developer purchased four commercial buildings at the corner of Chapel and State Streets for $6.4 million, further increasing its already considerable Ninth Square real estate holdings.

That was among the latest transactions recorded in the city land records database.

BC Chapel Street LLC, a holding company owned by Beacon Communities, spent $6.4 million buying 742 Chapel St., 754 Chapel St., 756 Chapel St., and 760 Chapel St. from a variety of holding companies owned or co-owned by Greenwich-based developer (and New Haven native) Joseph Cohen.

All four mixed retail-office buildings stand near the southwestern corner of Chapel and State: 742 Chapel is a four-story, nine-unit commercial building; 754 Chapel is a three-story, three-unit commercial building; 756 Chapel is a three-story, one-unit commercial building; and 760 Chapel is a four-story, two-unit commercial building, according to the city assessor’s database.

The land deal comes roughly a month after Beacon spent $2.5 million buying from Cohen an adjacent State Street parking lot, on which the company plans to build a new six-story, 60-unit apartment building.

And it comes roughly a year after Beacon spent $65.2 million buying the nearby 335-unit, mixed-use Residences at Ninth Square.

Beacon Director of Development Thacher Tiffany (pictured) told the Independent Monday that Beacon plans to follow through on Cohen’s city-approved but unrealized plans to convert upper floor office space at 742 Chapel St. into 24 new apartments. Tiffany said that Beacon will likely not build off of Cohen’s other city-approved, unrealized plans to convert upper-floor office space at 754 Chapel St. into five new apartments.

“We purchased [these Chapel Street buildings] because we believe in New Haven and want to invest more in the city,” Tiffany said. ​“We think this really adds to our commitment to the city and is a way to benefit” nearby Beacon holdings in the Ninth Square.

“We think there’s a real benefit when doing retail to be able to think about the neighborhood holistically,” he said, ​“so you don’t set people up competing against each other a block away.”

He said that, before the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered nearly all retail in mid-March, Beacon was making great progress in bringing new groundfloor retailers to the Residences at Ninth Square complex near Orange Street and Chapel Street. He said that two new ​“fast casual” restaurants, one that serves acai bowls and one that serves arepas, will be opening soon in Beacon-owned properties on Orange Street. Those two new restaurants are Life Bowls and Somos.

As for the existing groundfloor retailers at the recently acquired Chapel Street buildings, Thacher said, ​“We have no immediate plans to change occupancy. Everyone has different leases with different expirations. As leases expire, we’ll evaluate.”

Some of the current occupants of those groundfloor retail spaces include Subway, the White Buffalo, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Tiffany said Beacon also plans to bring new tenants to currently empty office space at 760 Chapel St., the former home of the late co-working space The Grove. ​“We’re excited to get that space active again,” he said.

Slate Liu-Ballard (pictured at left), who co-owns The State House music venue, said Beacon’s recent Ninth Square purchases bode well for the mixed-use neighborhood.

“I am excited to have a landlord that has a vision for the area and that is talking about some really cool ideas for the entire Ninth Square,” he said. The State House occupies a building in the larger State Street lot that Beacon purchased from Cohen last month.

“We remain hopeful that we’re going to be able to at least work out some short-term solutions with them,” he said about his new landlord.

“All I’ve heard from other business owners is that Beacon has been really great to work with and has just been really responsive to getting vacant property filled,” he continued. ​“It’s good to have somebody that’s really investing in these properties.”

“Just Business. Just Economics”

Cohen (pictured at center) told the Independent in a Friday phone interview that he decided to sell the Chapel Street properties to Beacon rather that finish his planned and city-approved office-to-residential conversion for a simple reason.

“Just business,” he said. ​“Just economics.”

“There’s no magic” to the reason his company decided to sell at this moment, he said. ​“We were planning to redevelop these properties. Beacon worked with us and made an offer that made financial sense to us.”

A variety of holding companies owned or co-owned by Cohen purchased these four Chapel Street building for a cumulative total of just over $2.5 million between 2002 and 2016. The city last appraised these buildings as worth a total of just over $4.1 million. Beacon purchased them on May 22 for $6.4 million.

The recent sale represents the latest in a trend of Cohen selling downtown real estate for well above what he purchased the properties for, and well above their latest city-assessed value. He sold the 294 – 300 State St. parking lots for $2.5 million to Beacon after purchasing them in 2005 for $412,949. The city last appraised those as worth $579,900.

And in 2019, he sold three upscale High Street apartment buildings for $25.15 million. The city last appraised those buildings as worth just under $14.1 million.

Church Of The Redeemer Sold For $1.625M

In other recent property sales, on May 18, 575 Whitney LLC, a holding company owned by the Mod Equities, purchased the Church of the Redeemer building at 575 Whitney Ave. for $1.625 million from the recently departed United Church of Christ-affiliated congregation. The city last appraised the building as worth $5,503,400.

In February, Mod, a New Haven-based development company run by New York-based brothers Jacob and Josef Feldman, won City Plan Commission approval to convert the church into 24 market-rate apartments.

On May 28, SKNH LLC, a holding company owned by New Haven-based real estate investors Mendel Paris and Sim Levenharz, spent $2.115 million purchasing 13 different residential buildings containing a total of 33 different apartments from a variety of holding companies owned or co-owned by Perry Antelman.

Those recently sold properties include 162 Basset St., 354 Sherman Ave., 119 Carmel St., 2 Derby Ave., 573 Winthrop Ave., 222 Hallock Ave., 605 Sherman Pkwy., 362 Newhall St., 348 Valley St., 197 Bassett St., 490 Howard Ave., 456 Huntington St., and 850 Winchester Ave. Those buildings last sold for a combined sum of $1,095,600 between 2008 and 2016. The city last assessed them as worth a total of $1,953,300.

And on May 26, holding companies co-owned by the local investor Chaim Vail and the Teaneck, New Jersey-based investor Yonah Schwartz purchased six buildings containing 25 different apartments for $4.95 million from holding companies owned by NHR Properties’ Juan Salas-Romer.

Those properties include 320 Ashmun St., 519 East St., 533 East St., 535 East St., 543 East St., and 545 East St. Salas-Romer purchased them in 2014 for a combined sum of $1.705 million. The city last assessed them as worth a total of $2,517,700.

Previous property sale coverage:

• Lot Buyer Promises Affordable Apartments
• Mandy Picks Up 10 Houses For $2.2M
• ConnCAT Buys Dixwell Clinic Building
• 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