“Do you want to know the truth?” the man in the pinstriped three-piece suit and black socks decorated with dollar signs asked in the hallway of City Hall. Then he revealed the real reason he was trying to get Ferry Street re-zoned: to lure Hollywood celebrities to town for surreptitious facelifts.
Alejandro De Frutos envisions a high-end plastic surgery hospital in Fair Haven, marketed towards movie stars looking for a discreet place for high-end plastic surgery. If he gets his way, the rich and famous will be having their wrinkles erased where the paparazzi least expect it: in the midst of the Fair Haven neighborhood’s commercial corridor..
De Frutos (pictured above) showed up at the City Plan Commission on Wednesday night to seek a recommendation for a zoning ordinance map amendment. The move would change the designation of six properties near the corner of Ferry and Grand from residential to commercial. Five of the properties have frontage on Ferry Street; one has frontage only on Exchange Street.
De Frutos, a Fair Haven developer, already owns several of the properties in question (pictured). He said he’s all set to purchase the rest of them if the zoning change goes through.
He didn’t disclose his plastic-surgery vision to the City Plan Commission. Nor did he tell them about his Plan B: to lease the property to a small independent Hollywood studio.
At the end of the evening, the board voted to recommend the rezoning of all of the Ferry Street properties but not the Exchange Street lot. The decision left De Frutos frustrated and put the future of his project in jeopardy. He can still pursue the full plan before the Board of Aldermen.
The Pitch
De Frutos’ architect, former public-housing chief Regina Winters, was the first to address the commission in favor of the zoning amendment.
“We propose to change the nature of that whole corner,” she said. Winters explained that a zoning change would allow De Frutos to develop the area, now characterized by a McDonald’s restaurant, into a viable commercial space and “provide a sense of continuity down Ferry Street.”
Fair Haven alder Migdalia Castro (center in picture), the zoning ordinance’s official sponsor, voiced her support, saying that Grand Avenue, Fair Haven’s commercial corridor has become a “bright and vibrant” area.
“Next in line is Ferry Street,” she said.
Castro mentioned the recent re-opening of the Ferry Street bridge and the possibility of creating more jobs in the area as further reasons for her enthusiasm.
Angelo Reyes, representing the Grand Avenue Village Association (GAVA), said, “It’s a good concept as far as GAVA is concerned.” Reyes said that the project could help “bring the neighborhood back to what it was, which is a village.”
“If you guys allow me to do this, I think it’ll be something very positive for the community,” De Frutos told the City Plan Commission.
“What are you thinking about building there?” commissioner Roy Smith asked.
“Something that makes economic sense,” De Frutos replied. He mentioned the possibility of a doctor’s office, a law firm, or a Hollywood movie company.
The Truth
De Frutos actually had something more specific in mind. After speaking to the commission, De Frutos stepped out in the hall to explain his full vision.
De Fruto said he has been negotiating with a company from Spain, Instituto Medico Asistencial, that builds small hospitals “all over Europe” that specialize in plastic surgery.
“High, high-end plastic surgery,” De Frutos said.
De Frutos said that company representatives came and looked at Ferry Street at the end of September. “They were very excited,” he said.
The company deals with “very high-end clientele… the type that don’t want to be found anywhere,” De Frutos explained. Representatives also looked at a location in Stamford, but decided that it was “too high-profile,” De Frutos said.
De Frutos’ plan B was to build a movie studio for an independent Hollywood movie company interested in moving into New Haven.
The name of the Hollywood company?
“That I cannot reveal,” De Frutos said. “They’re talking about making a movie about New Haven, believe it or not.”
De Frutos, who lives in West Haven, currently owns Cyberwireless Telecom, a cellphone store across the street from the properties in question. He said that he also owns two other businesses, De Frutos and Torres General Construction and New World Properties.
The Frustration
When it came time to vote on the proposal, Roy Smith (at right in picture) was all for it.
“It seems like a great idea,” he said.
But Alderman Roland Lemar (center in picture) thought that the property at 173 Exchange should not be converted with the rest of the properties as part of a new commercial area. “That’s clearly defined as a residential neighborhood abutting that zone,” he said.
Commissioner Ed Mattison moved the proposal with the exception of 173 Exchange. The motion passed unanimously.
Left with significantly less workable property than he had hoped for, De Frutos was frustrated.
“Fair Haven has nothing because no one has the view in mind!” he said.
“The opportunity of bringing in a hospital is one opportunity in a million years,” he continued. If 173 Exchange is not part of the package, his deal is sunk, De Frutos said. “That’s not smart, in my opinion.”
“This is what they opposed to,” De Frutos said, beginning to unroll a stack of architectural plans, over the quiet protestations of Regina Winters.
“They’re all against me,” De Frutos said, rolling the plans back up. “Even my own people are against me.”
With that, De Frutos donned his calf-length fur coat and left.
“No one sees his vision like he does, and that’s his frustration right now,” Angelo Reyes explained.
The zoning ordinance map amendment moves next to the Board of Aldermen, where De Frutos may have a last chance to plea his case. Gauze-wrapped starlets may yet appear on the streets of Fair Haven, fresh out of their high-end rhinoplasties.