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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | M a r c h 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 29 W h a t ' s T h e D e a l ? New Haven luxury apartments sell for $18.5M By Greg Bordonaro, Michelle Tuccitto Sullo & Liese Klein A relatively new 42-unit luxury apartment development in New Haven's East Rock neighbor- hood has sold for $18.5 million, land records show. e Whitney Modern apart- ments at 703 Whitney Ave., which debuted in October 2020 and celebrated its grand opening a year ago, traded hands in December, land records show. e buyers were Shlomo Katz and Shloime Rosenberg, who list Lake- wood, New Jersey business addresses, state records show. e seller was Larry Link, who is the president of New York City-based realty brokerage firm Level Group. Fink was a partner in the redevelopment project with developer Nancy Green- berg, who purchased the property about four years ago. e property, which previously sold for $1.6 million before it was redevel- oped, includes three buildings on about 1.3 acres. at includes the Hendee home, a mansion built in 1902, that has been renovated into seven apartments. e developer preserved many aspects of the historic design, such as original paneling, marble fireplaces and hard- wood floors, while also providing modern amenities. Hendee had been a wealthy grain merchant, and the mansion was later owned by a surgeon, Dr. William Verdi, one of the founders of the Hospital of St. Raphael. e Modern, a new construction built next to the original mansion, has an additional 35 apartments. It was designed as a "contemporary counter- point" to the mansion's more tradi- tional architecture, according to the developer. e New York-based architectural firm Gluck+, led by Yale architecture graduate Peter Gluck, designed it. A separate carriage house that sits behind the original home has been turned into a community amenity space for the complex, with a gym, TV room, yoga/game space, conference area and children's play room. e apartments feature different floor plans, with one and two bedrooms, and sizes ranging from 632 to 2,225 square feet. Tesla-anchored Milford property sells for $7M A Milford industrial property an- chored by electric car giant Tesla has sold for $7 million, according to the broker involved in the deal. e 70,001-square-foot property at 881 Boston Post Road sold in January. e buyer was the Greyhill Group, a New York real estate private equity firm, according to Jon Angel, president of Southport-based commercial real estate firm Angel Commercial LLC, who brokered the deal. e seller was GJS Properties LLC, which is controlled by Julie M. Scap of Fairfield, state records show. Tesla leases a portion of the building as a showroom and service center for its electric vehicles, Angel said. Another 47,867 square feet of warehouse space is available for lease. "is property caught the attention of many commercial real estate investors," said Angel. "Having Tesla as a tenant significantly strengthened the appeal of this investment." e building sits on 3.24 acres and features heavy power, a wet sprinkler system, and a security alarm system. e vacant warehouse space spans two levels and features four interior loading docks, five drive-in doors, 12- inch to 18-inch ceiling heights, and 121 parking spaces, Angel said. Weak office demand spurs more apartment conversions for 900 Chapel Street e challenges facing New Haven's office market were on stark display as developers presented a proposal Feb. 18, to the city's planning commission. Attorney Chris McKeon of Bershtein, Volpe & McKeon presented a plan to convert office space in the former Chapel Square Mall at 900 Chapel, into residential units — including the space occupied by his own law firm. "I'm very familiar with the building, its operations and, quite frankly, its significant vacancy," McKeon said. Office space is more than half vacant on McKeon's floor, the 11th level of the 13-story building. e 12th and 13th floors are also half-empty. e seventh, eighth and ninth floors have already been converted into apartments. e Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce (and New Haven Biz) continue to occupy the 10th floor of the tower. e renovated former mall tower's struggles reflect the national shi away from physical office space, McKeon said. "at is not unusual in office build- ings throughout the country as I'm sure you would imagine or heard of in the last two years." Under the new plan, presented by 900 Chapel owner CSD Mall LLC, 87 new residential units will be carved out of office space. at's in addition to the office space already converted in the tower in recent years and two new apartment floors under construction on the Church Street side of the com- plex, for a total of 172 residential units. North Haven office buildings sell for $3.7M A pair of North Haven office build- ings have sold for $3.7 million, proper- ty records show. e property, at 262-264 State St., includes two buildings with 12,000 square feet and 12,987 square feet, respectively, records show. e buyer was Hoffco State Street LLC, which is controlled by Kyle, Erika and James Hoffman, who share a Rocky Hill business address, state records show. e seller was R P M Ventures LLC, which is controlled by Mary Beth Pantalena, who has a Madison business address. e property was built in 2009, has 60 surface parking spaces and sits on 3.43 acres. Shelton shopping center fetches $33.6M Greenwich-based real estate invest- ment firm, Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., recently acquired the Shelton Square Shopping Center for $33.6 million. e shopping plaza, at 858-902 Bridgeport Ave., includes 186,000 square feet of commercial space, includ- ing one large building and three pad sites on a 20-plus-acre parcel. A Stop & Shop supermarket is the pri- mary tenant of the plaza, which is 96.5% leased, according to the firm. e remainder of the plaza has a vari- ety of businesses, such as Edge Fitness, Hawley Lane Shoes, People's United Bank, St. Vincent's/Hartford Health, Burger King, Sports Clips, a pizzeria, liquor store, optician, beauty salon, jeweler, Chinese restaurant and physical therapist. Willing Biddle, president of Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., said the company acquired the property off-market via a direct transaction. James Aries, senior vice president of acquisitions, said the purchase is consis- tent with the company's strategy to "only acquire trade-area leading grocers." Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. is a self-administered equity real estate in- vestment trust. It reports that it owns or has equity interests in 78 properties with a total of 5.3 million square feet of space. Downtown Elm City property sells for $2.8M A downtown Elm City building anchored by the ZINC New Haven and Kitchen ZINC restaurants sold recently for $2.8 million. George Zdru sold the property, at 962- 964 Chapel St., to 962-964 Chapel Street LLC. e buyer's principal is listed as Al- exander Clark of North Haven, according to the Secretary of the State's office. Stephen Press of Press/Cuozzo Re- altors in Hamden was the sole broker in the deal, and Press marketed the The Whitney Modern apartments in New Haven. PHOTO | COSTAR 881 Boston Post Road, Milford. PHOTO | COSTAR Shelton Square Shopping Center. PHOTO | COSTAR Continued on next page 962-964 Chapel St., New Haven. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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