Paul Bass Photo
Mini-park patron Jordan: People need a “mellow” hangout.
A downtown property owner has his eye on a controversial public space near the corner of Chapel and Orange, with hopes of putting a new building there.
Paul Denz already owns the currently vacant three-story commercial building right at the corner (pictured) at 808 Chapel. He has asked the city if he can buy the adjacent mini-park lot so he can erect a new mid-sized apartment building with a first-floor storefront.
Erik Johnson, chief of City Hall’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) chief, said Denz’s request is under discussion.
“We have not had significant conversations about next steps,” Johnson said. He said the question of whether to put the property up for competitive proposals has not arisen yet.
Denz neglected to respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.
Through his Corner Block Development LLC, he purchased 808 Chapel in 2012 for $300,000; at the time the city’s building official had deemed it unsafe and ordered it demolished. The order has since been rescinded pending completion of some interior work, according to Acting Building Official Daniel O’Neill.
The building would probably come down as part of the project if Denz succeeds in convincing the city to sell him the adjoining lot. A single new four-story building, with apartments above and retail on the first floor, would go up on the two newly combined properties.
In general, the city has promoted the idea of building more downtown housing. And the vacant lot next to Denz’s building has caused controversy in the Ninth Square district.
Lots of people hang out there, many waiting to catch buses. It’s a major transfer station for east-bound buses that formerly stopped on the Green. Johnson said discussions on whether to sell the site must include future plans for bus connections.
The lot has seen its share of crime, including this recent incident. Some of the people hanging out there have nowhere else to go during the day; some drink there. After neighboring businesses complained about it becoming a pissoir, a fence went up on part of the land. Artspace sometimes stages public-art shows on the back portion, like this mini-golf exhibit.
Some of the park’s regulars said they’d like to keep it the way it is.
“I don’t think they should build it,” said Eric Jordan, a carpenter out of work on disability who sat on a bench one recent afternoon as he waited to catch a D or Q bus to Fair Haven. “People come here to gather. Senior citizens. Homeless people. People getting off work.” They need a place that’s “more mellow” than the Green, where too many fights break out, Jordan said.
“I saw six fights the other day” on the Green, piped up Arkell Pierce, a New haven high-school senior who spends 15 – 20 minutes a day in the park waiting to make the connection between two buses to get home from school.
Another park regular, Brian Tyson, offered a different view on the building plan as he waited for the D bus: “That’d be nice,” an improvement for the spot. Another park regular next to him (who declined to be identified) agreed: “Somebody’s got to do something. But what are they going to do about the rats?”
“See that black box?” the regular added, pointing to the ground next to a side wall on Denz’s corner building. “That’s a rat box,” stocked with poison for the critters to bring back to their nests. Would they too have to find a new hangout if the city says yes to Denz?