Commercial Kitchens Coming To James St.

A factory building that once churned out button-down shirts and laminated credit cards could soon grow local food businesses.

That’s the hope, at least, of the Fair Haven-based farmers market nonprofit CitySeed, which recently purchased the former factory building at 162 James St. 

It plans to convert the mural-decorated, two-story industrial building into a teeming hub of commercial kitchens rentable by the hour, as well as an office and co-working space designed to support local culinary- and agriculture-minded entrepreneurs.

City Seed Inc. bought 162 James for $1.385 million from a holding company controlled by Steven Snow of Fairfield, according to a warranty deed posted to the city’s land records database on March 1. The city most recently appraised that same property as worth $596,400 for tax purposes.

Now vacant, the building was last home to Snow’s company Connecticut Laminating, which produced everything from laminated credit cards to military IDs. Before that the building was a Gant shirt factory.

On Wednesday morning, CitySeed Board Chair Christine Kim, Interim Executive Director Ashley Kremser, and architect Samuel Gardner led a dozen local and state electeds and city economic development officials on a tour of the food incubator to-be.

Finding a way to provide rentable, affordable, licensed commercial kitchen space to New Haveners looking to grow their own food businesses has been a goal of the city for well over a decade, Kim said. This new CitySeed property purchase — made with the help of a state Community Investment Fund grant — will help make that long-sought dream a reality.

Kim and Gardner said the to-be-renovated former factory building will have four commercial kitchens available to rent by foodie entrepreneurs, as well as a kitchen to be used by CitySeed’s refugee chef program Sanctuary Kitchen, a ​“swing” kitchen to be used by CitySeed, and another ​“teaching” kitchen open for public demonstrations and events.

CitySeed — which was founded 20 years ago — will also move its offices from its current rented space on Front Street to the James Street building. It plans to build out co-working space and office and event space, hopefully to be shared with other local food-focused nonprofits. Kim said CitySeed hopes the building will be a home ​“for everyone who loves food”: urban growers, farmers from throughout the region, and Fair Haven neighbors looking to start businesses of their own. 

Right now, access to rentable commercial kitchens is ​“a huge limiting factor” for New Haveners looking to start their own food businesses, Kim said. This building will provide that space necessary to help such businesses grow.

Gardner said the building is in ​“inhabitable” condition now: there’s working electricity and bathrooms, and minimal environmental remediation necessary, mostly to do with asbestos and floor tiles.

CitySeed estimates the full renovation project to cost around $6 million. Kremser and Kim said that, now that the organization has purchased the property, it’s on the lookout for city and state and federal financial support to make the renovation happen so that this project can be running hopefully next year.

“All of us share the responsibility to get this over the finish line,” city Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli said.

Annex resident Clementine Johnson stopped by Wednesday’s tour because she happened to be driving by and wondered what the gathering was about. She was delighted to learn that this site might one day provide rentable commercial kitchen space for local food small business owners — like herself.

Johnson has a food truck called Heavenly Icing. She specializes in baking cupcakes and other cakes, a favorite being a pound cake named after her late son, Chauncey. She said the biggest hurdle to growing her business so far has been finding commercial kitchen space to rent — exactly the type of space proposed for this James Street site.