Thomas Breen photo
Woodbridge Crossing on Fowler Street.
Two investors expanded their west side condominium holdings by purchasing 18 units for $917,000 in a three-decade-old Amity complex, as part of the latest land transactions in town.
According to recent city property transaction records, Daniel Scherban and Joseph Scherban spent $917,000 at the end of 2018 on 18 condos located on Fowler Street and Frederick Street.
All 18 condos are in the Woodbridge Crossing condo complex. The complex, formed in 1987, contains 80 brick-and-vinyl-sided units tucked just off of Whalley Avenue, adjacent to the St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Fowler Street.
The Woodbridge Crossing units aren’t the first west side condos the Scherbans have picked up in recent years. At the end of 2017, the Scherbans spent over $800,000 buying 13 units in the Carriage Hill condominium complex at Whalley Avenue and Ella T. Grasso Boulevard.
The Scherbans did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article. The two holding companies the Scherbans used to purchase the properties both list their mailing addresses as 395 Orange St. Daniel Scherban’s LinkedIn page identifies him as the “principal of [a] multi-family acquisitions firm that acquires and rehabilitates properties in Northeast United States.” Joseph Scherban’s LinkedIn page identifies him as an investment banking associate at Lazard.
96 Fowler St.
On Dec. 17, Rent New Haven, LLC, a holding company owned by the Scherbans, paid $500,000 to the Scarpa Family Limited Liability Partnership for eight single-story Woodbridge Crossing condos: 100 Fowler St., Units 1‑L and 2‑L; 90 Fowler St., Units 1‑L and 2‑L; 77 Fowler St., Units 1‑L and 2‑R; 74 Fowler St., Unit 2‑L; 87 Fowler St., Unit 2‑L; and 11 Frederick St., Units 1‑R and 2‑R.
On Dec. 18, Rent New Haven, LLC paid $260,000 to Neil Crane’s holding company Z.X. Fowler, LLC for the single-story condos at 81 Fowler St., Unit 1‑R, 96 Fowler St., Unit 1‑L, 98 Fowler St., Units 1‑R and Unit 1‑L, and 98 Fowler St., Unit 2‑L.
Also on Dec. 18, the Scherbans’ Rent New Haven, LLC paid Stephen Goldberg’s holding company SBGDLG, LLC $113,000 for the single-story condos at 81 Fowler St., Unit 2‑R and 111 Frederick St., Unit 2‑L.
And on Dec. 19, Penny Lane Associates, LLC, a second holding company owned by the Scherbans, paid $44,000 to David Sybert for the single-story condo at 111 Frederick St., Unit 1‑L.
The city appraised each of the recently sold Woodbridge Crossing condos at $38,600, $38,700, or $38,800 in 2017. The Scherbans spent an average of $50,944 on the 18 Amity condos.
111 Frederick St.
While most of Woodbridge Crossing’s condos appeared simple, clean, and quiet on a freezing Tuesday morning visit, the units at 111 Frederick St., still bore the scars of a fire that displaced 11 tenants in Oct. 2017.
The back half of the building was still covered in a billowing blue tarp, and the windows facing Fowler Street were covered in plywood or exposed to the elements. A construction contractor who declined to share his name said his team is busy tearing out floors and taking out windows. He said his team will remove and replace the building’s fire-scarred roof next week.
Woodbridge Crossing tenant Erica Ellis.
But despite the year-old eyesore next door, at least one neighbor said she loves living in Woodbridge Crossing because the neighbors are kind, the landlords responsive, and the neighborhood quiet.
“I’m looking to stay here for a while,” said Erica Ellis, a Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) cafeteria worker who moved into one of the condos at 113 Frederick St. just three months ago.
215 Church St.
In other recent property transaction news, a holding company associated with the local mega-landlord Mandy Management ended a busy 2018, during which they spent nearly $13 million on over 170 housing units throughout the city, with the multi-million-dollar sale of a downtown former bank building.
On Dec. 21, Netz 215 Church, LLC, a holding company owned in part by Mandy Management founder Menahem Gurevitch, sold the two-story, red-brick bank building at 215 Church St. to Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $2.7 million. The Mandy-affiliated holding company paid $1.9 million for the Church Street property in 2013. The building used to house the local bank, The Bank of Southern Connecticut, which was purchased by the Naugatuck Valley Finance Corporation in 2010.
Biohaven’s website identifies the company as a “clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company” with “a portfolio of innovative, late-stage product candidates targeting neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases.” The company was founded in 2013 and is traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange.
Representatives from Mandy Management and Biohaven did not respond to requests for comment by the publication time of this article.
Previous property sale coverage:
• 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
But despite the year-old eyesore next door, at least one neighbor said she loves living in Woodbridge Crossing because the neighbors are kind, the landlords responsive, and the neighborhood quiet.
"I'm looking to stay here for a while," said Erica Ellis, a Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) cafeteria worker who moved into one of the condos at 113 Frederick St. just three months ago.
I hope you can pay Market Rate Rent. If you are looking to stay.