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What Goes Up -
and Down
A new wave of commercial construction changes region's landscape
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Business New Haven
11/3/1997
By: Susan Banfield
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The razing of old buildings, especially those that have been fixtures in a city for years, is often greeted by mixed feelings. But when the old structures are replaced by new ones, regrets must yield to the fact that this is a reliable indicator of a growing economy.
Currently in the New Haven area a number of structures are falling to the wrecker's ball. In most cases, the tearing down is a prelude to major new construction.
The old Comcast Cable building on Whalley Avenue at Orchard Street was knocked down to make way for a new Shaw's Supermarket. “We're building a shopping center containing a Shaw's with approximately 20,000 square feet of retail space,” says Martin Berger, manager for McCann Real Equities Development, LLC of Armonk, N.Y., the project's developer. The owner of the project is Coral New Haven Associates, LLC, comprising in part of the Greater Dwight Street Development Corp.
“What's noteworthy about the project is it's the first time in 20 years that a large supermarket has opened in a downtown urban environment like New Haven,” Berger says.
One reason it is daunting to build a large supermarket in an urban environment is the difficulty of site-acquisition for a large-footprint facility. McCann had the help of a group called TRI, a private organization that specializes in bringing supermarkets to urban environments.
“The store will provide a brand new modern day supermarket and shopping center downtown, so where people were forced to go outside the neighborhood for food shopping, or faced with buying high-priced items at bodegas, they can now buy at a local supermarket,” Berger says. “Secondly, it will bring 300 jobs to the area, and thirdly, it's a catalyst for other development.”
“That deal is certainly a catalyst to move newer retail up Whalley Avenue,” says Stephen Miller of Levey Miller Maretz & Proto Realtors. “There has been a lot more retail activity since the Shaw's project was announced.” McCann hopes to have the new Shaw's open for business by July 1, 1998.
Meanwhile, Comcast Cable moved to its new 50,000 square-foot home at 630 Chapel, on the corner of Olive Street, in mid-October. Comcast did extensive renovations to the building, including a new roof, new HVAC, new phone system, and a new customer payment center that features an entire wall covered by TVs.
General Manager Tom Coughlin describes it as a “fun and high-tech place to visit.” The renovation was the work of Essex Newberry, whom Coughlin praises for taking just three months to complete a six-month project.
While the New Haven Veterans' Memorial Coliseum is not being razed, its old scoreboard has been scrapped. The 27-year-old board (the manufacturer of which is out of business) has been replaced by new state-of-the-art equipment: a scoreboard with video capability, two auxiliary scoreboards and two message centers with animation capabilities.
According to Coliseum Executive Director James Perillo, the money for the $850,000 system came out of $2.5 million provided by the state for renovations, the purpose of which was “so we could attract a quality hockey team back to the city,” Perillo says. The Beast of New Haven opened its 1997-98 home season October 24 against the Worcester IceCats. The new scoreboard was in place for the opening clash.
In West Haven, buildings started falling October 21 to make way for the Saw Mill Road Redevelopment Project, centered at the intersection of Saw Mill and Alling's Crossing roads. The land was made available for redevelopment by the city's Redevelopment Agency, according to Jim Hill, Commissioner of Planning & Development.
The first phase of the project will involve a five-acre parcel. The area should be cleared by the end of November, says Hill, with new construction slated to commence in the spring. Meanwhile, West Haven will acquire an adjacent 20-plus acres some time after the first of the year for Phase II of the project.
The developer, Devcon Enterprises of West Haven, plans to spend between $20 million and $25 million on the project. Although it has not yet been determined what businesses will be occupy the site, Devcon is reported to be negotiating with several future tenants.
“There's been some opposition to [the project] from property owners and others,” Hill allows. Still, city officials expect it to generate about 500 new jobs and increase the municipal tax base.
In downtown New Haven, tearing down is not being so quickly followed by new construction. The former Edw. W. Malley building began to come down October 28, after nearly two months of preparatory environmental remediation, particularly asbestos removal.
At first the site will simply be landscaped for use as a public space. There are no plans for redevelopment yet. “We don't want to rush into anything,” explains city Deputy Business Development Director Judy Sheiffele, as the space is a key one - the gateway to downtown for anyone who exits off the Route 34 connector.
Another downtown building, the Phoenix building on lower Chapel Street between Church and Orange, was also recently demolished. The building had been found to be structurally unsound and had been acquired by the city in a tax foreclosure. No development interest in the site has yet been expressed, Sheiffele says. BNH
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