NewHavenBIZ

16 n e w h a v e n B I Z | A p r i l 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m By Liese Klein T here's a saying around the New Haven Food Terminal: If you took a picture of the dozen or so businesses there in 1961 and compared it to a modern-day photo, it would look pretty much the same. Many of the immigrant families that founded the Food Terminal in 1961 still run operations there in 2022. e facility, which sprawls over 15.52 acres at 200-400 Sargent Dr., is owned by many of its tenants that have shares in the property. It still has an early 1960s look and some of its original retro signage. What has changed, and continues to do so in potentially significant ways, are the faces and the Food Terminal's neighborhood. e loss of a major tenant and potential nearby gentrification may challenge the future of this fixture of the region's food infrastructure. In a major shi for the Food Terminal, Long Wharf eatre announced in February it would leave the space it has occupied there since 1965. Other recent developments hint at a shi toward residential development and upscale uses in the terminal's environs. Just north of the Food Terminal, at 500 Sargent Drive, the brand-new Hotel Marcel is set to open later this month. Rates at the 165-room property range above $400 a night, and operator Hilton markets its upscale bona fides as a "net- zero, fully sustainable historic hotel celebrating modern design." Across the highway at 585 Long Wharf Drive, developer Fusco Corp. plans a residential tower overlooking New Haven Harbor at the site of the former Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale restaurant. Just south of that, the modernist, glass-fronted Canal Dock Boathouse signals changing times on the waterfront. With an eye on rising sea levels and intensifying storms, a major $160 million federal project was announced earlier this year to reinforce the Long Wharf area's infrastructure, opening it up to further development. "e city of New Haven is very happening, a lot is going on," said Fran Lettiero, president of the Food Terminal board. "is strip will develop one way or the other. I don't know how. I don't know when. But I think the future is very positive for New Haven and very positive for this area." Family businesses evolve Lettiero's path to president of the joint venture illustrates the trends shaping the Food Terminal corporation — and New Haven as a whole. His father founded what would become Advance Paper Co. in the lower State Street area of New Haven in the middle of the last century. e elder Lettiero's firm was one of the 14 businesses that agreed to move to the Food Terminal site in 1961, when State Street was redeveloped as part of the era's "urban renewal" efforts. ose businesses, many run by immigrants, formed a corporation in which each firm had shares in the Food Terminal property and elected a board of directors to run things. Although many of the founders had Italian roots, Polish and Jewish immigrants also played a role in the early days, Lettiero said. "It was a blend of immigrants," Lettiero said. "I know that the perception is that it's all Italian, but it's a blend of people." In addition, Yale University owned a share of the Food Terminal and ran a major meat-cutting operation for its dining halls in four bays for 40 years. e younger Lettiero took over from his dad at Advance Paper, but sold it to office supply giant W.B. Mason several years ago. Now he works for the larger company but maintains an office at the Food Terminal and continues his leadership role. He's one of the five shareholders who no longer run their own businesses at the property. Jim Cohane also took over from one of the original founders and now runs Ideal Printing Co., which moved from Commerce Street to the Food Terminal in the 1960s. Cohane said he values the camaraderie and convenience of the cluster. "It's an interesting place," Cohane said. "Everybody gets along, everybody's got their own business." Anchored by old-timers like Ideal Printing, Lamberti's Italian Sausage and produce wholesaler Carbonella & DeSarbo, the terminal is also home to food manufacturers Carl's Boned Chicken and Gracie's Kitchens, along with Brazi's Italian Restaurant. Now run by the descendants of its founder, Lamberti's Food Terminal- made links are more popular than ever in regional markets due to the appeal of artisanal brands, said Jay Pallotti, a grandson and president and sales manager at the company. Wholesalers include Mascari Brothers and Salvatore Sampieri, owner of e Italian Scallion, a fruit and produce business. Newer tenants include Kawasaki Rail Car, which makes brakes for Metro- North and Amtrak trains in the former Yale meat-processing space. e adjacent food-business hub off Brewery Street, which is not formally part of the Food Terminal, hosts the Shiing Landscape New Haven Food Terminal navigates future in changing Long Wharf district A rendering from the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan of a food court envisioned for the Food Terminal area. Fran Lettiero, president of the New Haven Food Terminal, sees a bright future for the business hub. PHOTO | GARY LEWIS

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