9 Apts. OK’d For Former Vito’s Deli Building

A Wyoming-based developer won permission to convert a vacant office and commercial building into nine new apartments — as long as he preserves at least part of the former Vito’s Deli storefront for some kind of groundfloor commercial use.

That was the outcome of Wednesday night’s latest regular monthly meeting of the City Plan Commission. The virtual meeting took place online via Zoom.

The local land-use commissioners voted unanimously in support of an application by a holding company controlled by David Solarz of Jackson, Wyoming, to convert the existing four-story building at 37 Center St. into nine new apartments and commercial and amenity space. 

They also signed off on a special permit application by Solarz’s company to allow for two of those new apartments to be located on the ground floor of the building.

Solarz’s company bought the Center Street building — which used to house the now-closed former Vito’s Deli — for $675,000 in April. 

Hartford-based architect Jeff Jahnke told the commissioners that Solarz’s company plans to do ​“an adaptive reuse project and convert it to allow” two ADA-accessible studio apartments towards the back of the ground floor, and another seven studio and one-bedroom apartments on the upper levels.

He said that the developer plans to keep roughly 350 square feet of street-fronting space where Vito’s Deli used to be as a commercial use. That area could potentially operate as a small deli or coffee shop, he said. The remaining street-fronting groundfloor space which used to be used as storage will become a lobby for the new tenants, he said. And the back of the groundfloor would become two new apartments.

Just to be clear, City Plan Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe asked, ​“your intention is to have commercial [use] on the ground floor” facing Center Street?

She asked that question after reviewing a letter submitted to the commission May 20 by local landlord David Goldblum, who owns an adjacent property at 55 Church St. In that letter, Goldblum urged the commissioners to require that the new 37 Center St. owner preserve the groundfloor commercial space.

“For many years Vito’s Deli had a very strong presence on Center Street, serving numerous customers throughout the day,” Goldblum wrote.

“Since Vito’s closing, loitering, fighting, drug use and illegal activity have become commonplace on that part of the block. The police are very involved, and we are doing what we can to support their efforts. Reactivating the 37 Center Street retail space is vital to our success as it would bring more positive activity to that part of the block and eyes on the street.

“Retail use in these spaces should be economically viable for the new owners because Vito’s was successful for many years in that location and the space is already set up for food service, which should be very attractive to food service providers and others. So I respectfully request the Commission take steps to ensure that only retail use will be permitted in the ground level units that face the street.”

Jahnke said that the developer does plan on keeping a small portion of the groundfloor space as a commercial use. While an earlier version of the developer’s site plan application did propose getting rid of all groundfloor commercial use, the most recent and prevailing application keeps that in place.

During the public hearing portion of Wednesday night’s meeting, local attorney Ben Trachten spoke up in support of the project. (He did so not in his capacity as a lawyer, but rather as a New Havener and interested member of the public.)

“I walk around downtown everyday,” he said. ​“Vacancy of commercial [spaces] is everywhere.” 

This block bounded by Chapel, Orange, Center and Church Streets ​“has always been a challenge in terms of safety,” he said. It’s only gotten less safe during the pandemic. He urged the commissioners to approve the special permit allowing residential use on the ground floor.

Westville Alder and City Plan Commissioner Adam Marchand also spoke up in favor of both the site plan and special permit applications.

He noted that many property owners and developers have come before the commission in recent years seeking to convert groundfloor commercial space into apartments. Given that the property owner here plans on keeping a small portion of the Center Street-facing storefront as a commercial use, he urged his colleagues to support both applications.

“We need greater housing density in New Haven to support lowering the costs for residents, hypothetically,” City Plan Commissioner Joshua Van Hoesen said. ​“And I see this project as a good step in that direction.”

Radcliffe also praised the apartment plan for adding ADA-accessible units to the ground floor. She said that the preserved commercial space should ​“give an opportunity for a small business to be able to have a small enough space to be able to house their business.”

The commissioners then voted unanimously in support of both the site plan and special permit applications for the project.

According to the developer’s site plan application, he plans to begin the residential conversion work this month, and predicts that the building will be open and occupied by June 2023.

Click here to read the one other piece of public testimony submitted as part of Wednesday night’s public hearing on the 37 Center St. application. The letter was written by Susan Godshall of the New Haven Preservation Trust. The letter supports the project on the grounds that the developer use materials sensitive to the building’s historic character.