Hartford Business Journal

8 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 2, 2024 DEAL WATCH DEAL WATCH | BUYERS & SELLERS Spinnaker partners with neighboring developer on Wooster Square apartment project A multifamily development firm with high-profile projects in New Haven and statewide has partnered with another company to revive a dormant apartment project in the Elm City. Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners recently teamed with New York-based real estate firm Epimoni on a plan to build market-rate apartments at 20-30 Fair St., in the Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven. Darren Seid and Epimoni had plans for the 186-unit project approved by the City Plan Commission in 2021, but the development did not take shape. Nearly three years later, Spinnaker came on board as a partner and made plan modifications that have been approved by the city. The footprint for the new six-story, $60 million project is still 160,000 square feet, but the number of units was reduced down to 168, said Frank Caico, Spin- naker's executive vice president of development. The studio, one- and two-bed- room apartments will have different configurations and be more spacious than in the original plan, Caico said. The development will have five stories of apartments, 1,000 square feet of retail space, parking and amenities, such as a fitness center, communal areas and coworking space on the ground floor, Caico said. The Fair Street project, which is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2025, will also include a greenway connecting Wooster Square with the central downtown area around State Street, the train station and the Green. A rendering of the Wooster Square multifamily apartment development at 20-30 Fair St., in New Haven. MIDDLETOWN A Middletown filtration company plans to build a new 100,000-square- foot warehouse and manufacturing facility in the city to accommodate its growth. Middletown-based Shelco Filters will use the facility, to be located at 1189 and 1221 Middle St., for its growing liquid purification filters business. The company also plans to maintain its existing Middletown building on nearby Bradley Street. The project, which needs city approval, will be built in two phases, each completing a 50,000-square- foot portion of the warehouse. Shelco is under contract to purchase the 10.5-acre site, which currently hosts a partially developed single- family home at 1189 Middle St., and an outbuilding at 1221 Middle St. EAST HARTFORD East Hartford officials have signed off on plans for a 35-unit apartment building near Rentschler Field, and a complex of two, 10-unit multifamily buildings near the Glastonbury line. The town's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a plan for a three-story, mixed-use apartment building on a 1-acre site at 351 Silver Lane, which formerly hosted a single- family house. The building will include 35 apartments and two retail spaces. The commission also approved a site plan from Sergei Gerasimov, a South Glastonbury businessman, to add two, 10-unit apartment buildings to undeveloped lots at 81 and 87 Main St., near the Glastonbury line. MILFORD A Milford property owner is proposing a new eight-unit multifamily apartment building in the center of town. Cherry Pie LLC, owner of 17-19 Cherry St., is looking to build a new three-story building with four, one-bedroom units and four, two-bedroom units. Five units would be market rate, with three units deemed affordable at 80% of the area median income, according to a project application. The property currently has a two-story multifamily building that dates back to 1920 and would be demolished for the new project. Cherry Pie LLC purchased the prop- erty for $400,000 in December 2021. The development team includes Orange- based engineering firm Codespoti & Associates P.C., and New Haven's Gregg Wies & Gardner Architects LLC. New Haven's new life sciences tower, 101 College St., loses major tenant By Greg Bordonaro & Hanna Snyder Gambini gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com A major tenant has backed out of a lease agreement to occupy more than 160,000 square feet in a new life sciences tower in downtown New Haven. Arvinas Inc. in a filing this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed it's scrapping plans to occupy 163,784 square feet of space at 101 College St., a new 525,000-square-foot life sciences tower developed by Carter Winstanley. The clinical-stage biotech company, which is working on treatments for breast and prostate cancers, said it has agreed to pay the landlord a $41.5 million lease termination fee. The company was announced as a tenant in the building in May 2021, and planned to occupy space on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors and a portion of the first floor. The lease termination comes as demand for lab space has slowed in the New Haven market. Other tenants lined up for 101 College St. include Alexion Pharma- ceuticals, BioLabs and Yale University. In a statement to HBJ, Arvinas said its decision to terminate the lease "was prompted by our realization that we do not need the extra space. The pandemic encouraged new ways of working and we've now embraced a geographically diverse workforce The new 525,000-square-foot life sciences building at 101 College St. in downtown New Haven. with remote employees based across the country, in addition to our on-site employees, of course. Arvinas' head- quarters will remain at Science Park, which is able to accommodate our current and future space needs. 101 College St. was meant to serve as our second location within New Haven." Arvinas occupies 66,000 square feet in Science Park, the company said. The decision to terminate its lease comes as Arvinas has undergone multiple changes in its C-suite, including the appointments of new chief financial and chief medical officers. elevators has been out of service for years. The second elevator is, at times, inoperational as well, forcing employees and clients to climb several flights of stairs, which are often wet, or walk up several garage ramps when the stairwells are closed due to flooding, according to the suit. Inside the office building, an elevator serving Shipman's 19th-floor reception area had not worked for months. At one point in 2023, neither of the elevators serving the 19th floor worked, forcing clients and employees to climb 19 flights of stairs to access Shipman's offices. Also, the suit said the building is plagued with plumbing problems. Several times in 2022, the water pressure was extremely low because multiple pumps in the building failed, and the remaining pump "lacked sufficient power to move water to higher floors." In at least one case, the water pres- sure was so low that Shipman had to close its offices because there were no working toilets. Also, the suit said that, in December 2022, the heat in the building stopped working, forcing Shipman to close its offices until the problem was fixed. Employees have also encountered unauthorized individuals and wildlife in the building. In one case, a snake slith- ered from a non-functioning elevator into the lobby. Often, raccoons are seen in the parking garage stairwell. The landlord has repeatedly blamed his business' financial condition for his inability to make repairs, the suit said. The complaint includes four counts: breach of lease, unjust enrich- ment, fraudulent misrepresentation and specific performance. Shipman is seeking compensa- tory damages in excess of $15,000, attorneys' fees and costs, an award of pre- and post-judgment interest and rescission of the lease. The suit was filed by Shipman attor- neys Anne Littlefield and Alison Baker. HBJ Editor Greg Bordonaro and Staff Writer Michael Puffer contrib- uted to this story. Shipman & Goodwin Continued from page 7

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