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Former UI HQ Gathers Moss
Temple Street structure could be developed as downtown cinema
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Business New Haven
6/9/2003
By: Melissa Nicefaro
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NEW HAVEN - Late last month Bow Tie Partners, a real estate investor and development partnership headquartered in New York, has purchased 80 Temple Street, former headquarters of United Illuminating in downtown New Haven, and may redevelop it into an upscale urban cinema.
Father and son partners Charley and Ben Moss are known for their imaginative and creative redevelopment of historical urban buildings. The Mosses are studying several potential uses for the property, according to Jack Keogh, a broker with Traub & Co., a commercial real estate brokerage firm.
The Mosses have experience operating theaters at their flagship property in Times Square.
Although Charley Moss was traveling and unavailable for comment at press time, Henry Fernandez, the city's economic development administrator, acknowledged to BNH that, "We have been discussed several potential uses with [the Mosses] including residential, real retail and possibly a theater."
Bow Tie Partners' portfolio includes properties in Colorado, New York and Connecticut. Its flagship property, the Bow Tie Building in Times Square in New York City, was home to multiple movie theaters until it was converted in 2001 to house the showcase locations of Toys R Us and the Swatch Watch Co. The Toys R Us facility features a 60-foot operating indoor Ferris wheel.
Built in 1939 as the headquarters of United Illuminating, 80 Temple Street consists of three stories (probably not tall enough for a Ferris wheel) and approximately 80,000 square feet of usable, plus a 33,000 square-foot basement.
The acquisition, for a cash price of $2,520,000, was brokered for Bow Tie Partners by Carl Traub and Keogh. The seller was Temple George Associates, LLC.
Keogh says the new owners are still studying what the best use might be for the building. "They are going to renovate the building and put it to use in some fashion, but the exact use it will be put to is determined by market studies, which they're in the process of doing," he explains.
"They did enough homework before buying the building to determine that it was a good value to them," adds Keogh. "They are confident that they will be able to put the building to profitable use."
Bow Tie Partners is also the owner of Merritt 95, a 60,000-square-foot office park in Milford that is being renovated and upgraded to serve tenants seeking efficient, modern office environments. The Milford property includes a 40,000-square-foot freestanding building that is available for lease and will feature a new, two-story glass atrium lobby.
Traub & Co. is the exclusive Connecticut brokerage representative of Bow Tie Partners.
UI moved out of the 80 Temple Street location in early 1994 when it sold the building to developer David Chase. The deal involved moving UI headquarters to Chase's Financial Center at 157 Church Street, where it remains today. UI was the last occupant of 80 Temple Street.
Chase sold the building to the Temple George partnership that owns the New Haven Hotel next door and Temple Medical Center at 40 and 60 Temple Street. Until recently, plans for a medical conference center at 80 Temple Street were being toyed with, but plans never came to fruition.
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