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Growing Pains
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Business New Haven
8/24/1998
By: Linda Mele
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Oh, what a difference a year makes.
Last summer, New Haven officials were positively jubilant over the scope of planned public and private projects that were expected to breathe new life into the Elm City.
This summer, some of that jubilation has diminished as some projects languish in bureaucratic red tape and others are no nearer completion, or even starting, than they were 12 months ago.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr.'s grand plan to lower a 5,300-foot stretch of I-95 at Long Wharf and create a connection between the city and the harbor may never see the light of day.
While experts say that lowering the highway is feasible, cost estimates put the project at about $350 million with an additional $150 million for “aesthetics and landscaping,” as well as unknown costs to maintain a 24-hour-per-day pump station to discharge sea water that would seep into the tunnel.
According to city plan director Karen Gilvarg, that plan is one of several being developed to improve that stretch of I-95. The entire project, she acknowledges is still in the “very preliminary stages.”
“It's still in the study phase,” Gilvarg says, “about where the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge project was about five or six years ago. Lowering the highway is only one of the options being considered, and it was looked at first because it was the one we liked best.”
Plans for the Long Wharf Public Access Project, which would cost about $28 million to develop, include a marina, expanded pier with larger boat docks and a relocated former Yale boathouse that's in the way of the proposed Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge expansion. The project also would widen I-95 to eight lanes, reconfigure Exit 46 and create pedestrian walkways and a park.
As for the bridge expansion, the state's Department of Transportation is working with consultants to develop a final environmental impact statement that should be finished by the end of the year, Gilvarg says.
While the bridge widening and I-95/Long Wharf road work might solve many of the anticipated traffic problems for the proposed Marketplace at Long Wharf mall, officials say they are separate projects and the mall development will continue despite the snail-like pace of the road and bridge projects.
The two-story, million-square-foot, $431 million mega-mall proposal is moving along, but not without opposition.
The Westfield Corp., owners of the Connecticut Post Mall, Trumbull Shopping Park, Meriden Square Mall and Enfield Square Mall, sent a mass mailing to businesses in the Milford, Trumbull and Meriden areas to urge them to oppose the project. The tactic was similar to the type of opposition the city itself launched when a regional mall was proposed in North Haven a decade or so ago.
The Newton, Mass.-based New England Development and the Fusco Corp. of New Haven are in charge of the project. Agreements have been reached with all the land-owners, negotiations continue with prospective tenants and the developers are busy getting all the paperwork done that's necessary for the various approvals that will be needed, according to Gilvarg.
The highly touted 250,000-square-foot Williams Specialty Steel project originally slated for the old Cedar Hill railroad switching yards is still on hold. Problems with the original site forced the company to start looking elsewhere in the city, according to Anthony Uzzo, manager for economic development for the United Illuminating Co., one of the partners in the project.
Uzzo says the New York-based company is “still seriously considering New Haven,” but a new site has yet to be identified.
A project that some felt might never happen should be ready to break ground some time this fall.
The proposed new 60,000-square-foot, $12 million FBI Connecticut Division Headquarters will be built on a three-acre site bordered by Grove, State, Wall and Orange streets on a site that once housed the New Haven Arena.
According to General Services Administration regional administrator Robert Dunfey Jr., new federal security guidelines, a response to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, require a minimum 100-foot setback from surrounding thoroughfares. Determining the feasibility of incorporating that requirement on the site held the project up.
“Meeting that requirement was a particular challenge since the site is in the middle of the city, but everything is ready to go now,” Dunfey says.
The city will retain ownership of the land and lease it to contractor/owner Fusco Corp. who will pay $1 per year as long as the FBI is a tenant. Officially, the GSA will lease the building from Fusco.
The project will keep about 200 jobs in the city, generate up to 300 construction jobs and approximately $185,000 in annual tax revenues, according to officials.
Other significant downtown changes in the past year include:
n The landmark Edw. W. Malley Co. building was demolished, all the debris has been hauled off, grass was planted and the finishing landscape work is progressing.
n A proposal to house a cinema complex in the former Macy's building is still in the works.
n The Yale Co-op, a mainstay of the Yale-Broadway district for most of its 130-plus years, moved to new space in the Chapel Square Mall.
n And the 306-room Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale finally opened.
The city's $3.3 million plan to upgrade sidewalks and build a courtyard link
between Temple and College streets is moving along. Phase I included new sidewalks on the Temple Street block that houses the Omni. Phase II is underway now and includes sidewalk upgrades, new curbs and lighting and improved building facades along Chapel Street.
For Phase III, the city acquired a vacant two-story building at 156-158 Temple Street that will be demolished to create a courtyard that would link the Omni to the entertainment/theater district bordered by College, Crown, Chapel and Temple streets. Trees, benches and brick paving will enhance the courtyard.
The state has contributed $2.5 million toward the cost of the whole project.
A project the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce first proposed a decade ago is again under consideration, according to chamber Senior Vice President Fabio Sampoli.
Sampoli says the $15.7 million, 900-plus space Midtown Garage that would be built behind buildings between Church and Orange streets is “on the mayor's wish list.”
According to Gilvarg, the city is “aggressively pursuing a public/private partnership to build a garage on that site because the area is underserved for parking.”
A city spokesperson says a request for qualifications is still being drafted and is expected to be sent out with a few weeks.
There's ample activity in the Ninth Square district, according to project manager Kathleen Etkin.
Bentara, the first restaurant to open in the district, plans to expand into space next to its Orange Street eatery, Etkin says. The new restaurant annex will be called Equinox and it will have a “different look and menu,” according to Etkin.
Other activity in Ninth Square includes:
n The Old New Haven Bar & Restaurant opened on Orange Street earlier this year;
n Vito's Deli, another Center Street business, is also planning a 2,500-square foot expansion;
n The building at 99 Orange Street was purchased recently by 99 9th Square, LLC. Plans are for retail space on the ground floor and artists lofts on the upper level;
n Bradford Advertising & Public Relations bought the old New Haven Water Co. building at 100 Crown Street and moved its operations from Forbes Avenue. Bradford plans to lease space in the rest of the building;
n And the building at the corner of Orange and Center streets is slated to become a steak house and bakery.
“This activity shows the area is attracting investors,” Etkin says.
There is one space in the district that seems to be jinxed, however. An 8,000-square-foot, ground-floor space in the old Chamberlain Building still doesn't have a tenant, according to Etkin, even though three different plans have been proposed.
Hartford Brewery owner Phil Hopkins wanted to open the Nutmeg Brewery in the site, but financial problems and several lawsuits nixed that project.
William Reeves of Branford's Easyflow Brewing Systems made a bid to take over the project, but decided instead on the old New Haven Pizza site on the corner of College and Crown streets for his Crown Street Brewing. However, nothing's happened with that yet and the company's Branford telephone number is no longer in service.
The deal with the latest potential occupant, a comedy club/restaurant called C'dell'Arte that Thomas Jurewicz planned to open, also “fell through because of financial problems,” Etkin says.
Jurewicz, who helped get the Ninth Square Merchants Association off the ground and pushed for a revival of the Downtown Restaurant Council, could not be located at press time. He moved out of his apartment in Ninth Square, according to Etkin, and both his personal and business phone numbers have been disconnected.
An influx of new restaurants throughout the city continues, but some are just replacing others that went out of business.
Anna Liffey's opened on Whitney Avenue; El Niño took over the former China Hut space on College Street; owners of Gennaro's Ristorante d'Amalfi on State Street opened the Amalfi Grill on Crown Street; TK's American Cafe took over the former Hennessey's location at College and George streets; and Gecko's nightclub and cigar bar now occupies the former Bopper's on College.
In addition, Polly Esta's on Crown Street is gone, replaced by Cafe 1; the Market, a gourmet food shop and delicatessen, opened on College Street; Gallileo's opened atop the Omni Hotel; Dos Tacos moved from Park Street to Elm Street; Quizno's Classic Subs can be found on Grove Street; Willoughby's Coffee & Tea now has a shop in the Temple Medical Building; and Bo's Bar-B-Q Barn and Simply Scrumptious ice cream parlor are open for business on College Street.
And plans are even in the works for the former Bruxelles Brasserie & Bar on College Street, most recently incarnated as Barkie's. The owner of Richter's Café on Chapel Street plans a new restaurant in that space, but the details are being kept quiet.
A plethora of new businesses opened on Chapel Street, including Art House Video, Home Basics home furnishings, the Hartson Center (which offers yoga and meditation classes), a silk and fresh flower emporium called Le Jardin, a men's clothing store called Rendezvous, Sassy (health and beauty supplies), and Allegra Printing, a full-service print shop that took over the old Kinko's space.
One of the newest shops on Chapel is Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit company that operates with nearly all volunteer workers. It is one of 40 shops across the country, including one in West Hartford, that sells traditional crafts from Third World countries and, in turn, supports craft cooperatives and individuals in those countries.
Also, an upscale shop that sells hair, skin and aromatherapy products called Estetica opened on College Street; Origins Cosmetics opened on Broadway; and Wave Gallery has a new shop on Whitney Avenue called Wave on Whitney.
The revamped Broadway area saw the loss of the Yale Co-op, but Barnes & Noble renovated the former Co-op space and became Yale University's official bookstore.
Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse opened in the Super K mart Plaza on Route 80, a 152-room Grand Chalet Hotel opened at the former Howard Johnson's site on Long Wharf, and Shaw's Supermarket became the first national chain to build a supermarket in the city, a project that initiated by the Greater Dwight Development Corp. and which opened July 1 on Whalley Avenue.
Work on the Liberty Building at 152 Temple Street continues. The project includes 123 apartments and about 4,000 square feet of retail space which should be completed in the fall, according to a spokesman for owner Melvin Weintraub.
Work on the old United Illuminating Co. building at 80 Temple Street has not begun yet. A spokesman for Temple Group Associates, a joint venture partnership between Alvin Greenberg, managing partner of the Temple Medical Building and the New Haven Hotel, and Edmund Fusco Sr. of the Fusco Corp., says renovations to turn the 123,000-square-foot facility into a conference center and commercial space have not started.
Some renovations on “Big Blue,” the 550,000-square-foot former SNET building on George Street now owned by developer Robert Matthews, have been completed, but no tenants have moved in yet. However, industry sources have indicated that two, non-New Haven area biotech/biomedical companies have expressed interest in the site.
Over the past year, Gov. John G. Rowland announced a $100 million bailout of Science Park and its surrounding neighborhood which could initiate a rebirth of the biotechnology industry in the city, and Yale University announced major renovation projects at a number of properties it owns throughout the city.
Yale is also on the brink of acquiring more than a dozen downtown properties, once owned by developer Joel Schiavone, that have been mired in bankruptcy and FDIC takeover proceedings for years.
While businesses like Harty Press, FoodTech International, Associated Packaging Inc., and Onofrio Brothers are moving in, expanding and generating tax dollars and jobs, several existing businesses find themselves defending attacks by some city officials.
Four aldermen were recently sued by Medwaste Management Inc. over part of the contents of a letter to the editor that
appeared in the New Haven Register in May.
The company, which already transports biomedical waste out of Connecticut and now wants to process it at its 46 River Street plant, is owned by Alan and Jill Tuchmann. Alan Tuchmann's family has owned and operated Bechem Transport Inc., a hazardous and chemical waste transportation company, out of the same location for 27 years, and he is a minority shareholder in that business.
The letter stated that the aldermen, residents of Fair Haven and city officials oppose the facility because “Medwaste has been cited for 21 violations in five different states.”
According to the lawsuit, the claim is “false and defamatory” and was made “with actual malice.”
According to the DEP, there are no violations pending against Medwaste, although Bechem was cited for 21 offenses since 1992.
“We've made a commitment to New Haven and instead of being opposed we should be applauded,” Jill Tuchmann says. “Where others have fled the city and the state, we're staying, want to invest $2 million in technology and generate jobs.”
And, in what is probably the worst example of the city's supposedly welcoming attitude toward business, one business is being tossed out after the Board of Education took the building in which it was housed by eminent domain to expand the Sound School at City Point.
The city took the property at 82 South Water Street last month after owners of By the Sea Body Therapy invested “thousands of dollars” in an expansion proposal for which they received zoning approval only days before learning they had just 90 days to get out.
Unlike the building's owners, who are being paid $400,000 for the property, the spa owners will not receive any compensation for either the move or all the money they spent on the expansion plans. Needless to say, they aren't happy.
Businesses aren't the only ones airing grievances against the city.
Another lawsuit was filed last month against the city and DeStefano for moving ten bus stops in the downtown area claiming the moves have caused “humiliation, extreme emotional duress and inconvenience.”
In an agreement with developer David Cordish that paved the way for the renovation of the former Park Plaza (now the Omni), the city agreed to move the stops within a three-block radius of the hotel to free up on-street parking.
If nothing else, doing business in New Haven sure is interesting.
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