Mendy Paris with attorney Ben Trachten. Below: 540-580 Grasso lot.
Thomas Breen photos
Two New Haven landlords picked up a 10-acre office complex in the Hill for $6.85 million — with the hope that a sea of surface parking will attract business tenants, even during a pandemic.
According to the city’s online land records database, on Sept. 22, SP Ella LLC paid $6.85 million to New Haven Plaza LLC for the three commercial-office buildings at 540, 560, and 580 Ella T. Grasso Blvd.
SP Ella LLC is a holding company owned by the New Haven-based investor duo Mendy Paris and Sim Levenhartz. New Haven Plaza LLC is a holding company owned by Robert Viani of Glastonbury.
The 10.1‑acre site — which includes two single-story office buildings and one two-story classroom building — was last appraised by the city as worth a total of $12,178,000.
Reached by phone, Paris said that the office complex is currently mostly empty. Only around 40 percent of the available office rental space is leased up, by such tenants as the New Haven Adult & Continuing Education Center and Workforce Alliance.
Paris said that he and Levenhartz are already in negotiations with “multiple large tenants” to fill in the empty office spaces left vacant in recent years by former occupants like Riverside Education Academy and ASPIRE, a middle school operated by Area Cooperative Education Services.
540 Ella T. Grasso Blvd.
The site’s draw? Hundreds upon hundreds of surface parking spaces.
Paris said the three combined properties have a total of 700 such parking spaces. (The city assessor’s database record for the property does not list an official number of parking spaces at the site.)
“These buildings attracted us because there’s a lot of parking, and you don’t find that a lot at office buildings” in New Haven, Paris said. “We see it as being a very vibrant hub with all the parking. There’s not a lot of places in New Haven that can offer that much parking.”
560 Ella T. Grasso Blvd.
Local and statewide housing advocates have called for a reduction in on-site parking requirements in the city’s zoning laws in order to spur the development of new living space. Paris argued the ample parking available on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard should prove to be a boon for attracting new businesses.
Commercial and office real estate has taken a major hit nationwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paris said he’s banking on New Haven being the beneficiary of business out-migration from denser cities like New York and Boston.
And with so much space available at the Ella T. Grasso Boulevard site, he said, new tenants won’t have any trouble social distancing.
“In general, we’re very bullish towards commercial properties in New Haven,” he said.
A business directory for New Haven Plaza. Several of these businesses are now gone.
When asked about the gaping difference between the $6.85 million sale price and the city’s $12.1 million appraisal of the Ella T. Grasso Boulevard properties, Paris said, “The market and the city don’t always agree on valuations.” He said that his company and the previous owner agreed to a sale price before the Covid-19 pandemic made landfall in March.
The Ella T. Grasso Boulevard purchase represents the third multi-million dollar commercial real estate acquisition made by Paris and Levenhartz over the past 12 months.
In Sept. 2019, they bought the four-story, 68,000 square-foot office building at 414 Chapel St. near the Mill River for $4.65 million. That same month, they also purchased two Westville commercial buildings — including a dilapidated, vacant building at 50 Fitch St. — for a total of $3.1 million.
The investors received City Plan Commission permission last year to convert the Mill River building into 87 market-rate apartments. They also said upon buying the Westville property that they plan on converting 50 Fitch St. into 200-plus new luxury apartments.
Paris said Monday that both of those office-to-housing conversions are still in the works. “We’re still in the predevelopment phase” for 50 Fitch, he said. “We’re still going through the plans.” As for 414 Chapel, “We still plan on converting that to residential use.”
“We’re definitely excited about the future of New Haven,” he said.
Mandy Adds More To Local Housing Empire
City assessor’s database
239 Fitch St.
In other recent local property deals, the New Haven-based megalandlord Mandy Management spent $1.85 million buying eight residential buildings containing 19 different apartments in Beaver Hills, Dwight, Cedar Hill, Fair Haven, and the Hill.
On Sept. 16, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC bought the five-unit apartment building at 239 Fitch St. for $660,000 from Hubinger Street Associates LLC. The property last sold for $412,500 in 2005, and the city last appraised it as worth $384,600.
On Sept. 1, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC bought the three-family house at 1535 Ella T. Grasso Blvd. for $355,275 from Alberto Ocasio. The property last sold for $281,000 in 2006, and the city last appraised it as worth $253,600.
On Sept. 4, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC bought the three-family house at 20 Platt St. for $285,000 from 20 Platt Street LLC. The property last sold for $210,000 in 2018, and the city last appraised it as worth $176,400.
On Aug. 24, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC bought the two-family house at 76 Rock St. for $143,000 from Marcia Lopez. The property last sold for $90,000 in 2005, and the city last appraised it as worth $98,800.
On Sept. 15, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC bought the two-family house at 25 Pine St. for $135,000 from 25 Pine Street LLC. The property last sold for $137,500 in 1988, and the city last appraised it as worth $114,800.
On Sept. 8, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC bought the two-family house at 28 Frank St. for $110,000 from Sancho Management Group LLC. The property last sold for $12,000 in 1997, and the city last appraised it as worth $103,300.
On Sept. 11, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Real Estate Group XV LLC bought the single-family house at 193 Frank St. for $86,000 from William Peterman LLC. The city last appraised it as worth $71,100.
And on Sept. 11, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Real Estate Group XV LLC bought the single-family house at 184 Frank St. for $76,000 from William Peterman LLC. The city last appraised it as worth $65,300.
Previous property sale coverage:
• Winstanley Snags Temple Medical For $21M
• Local Builders Buy Fair Haven Warehouse
• Yale Buys York Townhouses For $2.85M
• So Long “Heights On River.” Hello, Mandy
• Beacon Bulks Up 9th Sq Holdings
• Lot Buyer Promises Affordable Apartments
• Mandy Picks Up 10 Houses For $2.2M
• ConnCAT Buys Dixwell Clinic Building
• City Buys Walt’s Cleaners For Dixwell Plan
• 2nd Try Adds $1M To Purchase Price
• Investors Drop $1.1M On East Side Condos
• Out-Of-Town Builder Buys Park St. Block For $4.7M
• Ocean Spends $1.45M On 7 Houses
• 66 Norton Sells For $1.46M
• Mandy’s Buying Spree Tops $16.1M
• “Rt. 34 West” Hotel Site Sold For $2.8M
• Spinnaker Flips Comcast Project For $14.6M
• Sherman Medical Building Sells For $2.7M
• Pike, Mandy Spend $2M+ In Latest Buys
• 200+ Apartments Planned At Empty Eyesore
• Annex Apartments Sold For $3.95M
• Mill River Office Building Sold For $4.65M
• Local Landlords, Albertus Magnus Expand
• Mandy Buys Warehouse For $1.6M
• Pike Collects $890K On Wooster Sq. Sales
• Springside Apartments Sell For $3.2M
• Family Dollar Sells For 1.8M Dollars
• Pike Sells 2 Buildings To Yale For $3.8M
• Mansion Sells For Only $1.45M
• Landlord Tops 340 Units
• High Street Apts Sell For $25M+
• St. Michael’s School Sold, For Apartments
• Ocean Management Acquires Perrotti Westville Properties
• Paris Realty Picks Up 6 Q Meadows Condos
• Landlord Boosts West River Condo Holdings
• $21 Million Changes Hands In 2 Days
• 50 Factory Jobs Coming To Fair Haven
• Brendan Towers Sold For $6M+
• Investors Drop $917K On West Side Condos
• Mandy’s 2018 Buying Spree Nears $13M
• Mandy Empire Buys Up The Block
• Roots Planted In Newhallville
• Latest Sales: Mandy Buying Spree Continues
• Latest Sales: Mandy Expands In City Point
• Latest Sales: East Rock Home Buy Tops $1M
• Latest Deals: Beulah’s 5th Rehab On Block
• Latest Sales: NHR Sheds Small To Focus Big
• Latest Sales: Mandy Buys In Heights
• Home Sale Price Doubles In 13 Years