Paris Buys ​“Paradise”

Local landlord Mendel Paris has purchased the former west-side headquarters of a scandal-plagued landscaping company, in one of the city’s latest property transactions.

According to the city’s online land record database, on Jan. 5, SPCOVE1 LLC bought a single-story office building at 86 Fitch St., a 1.39-acre rear lot at 86 Fitch St., and an adjacent 0.72-acre Blake Street lot in two separate transactions totaling $610,000.

The city last appraised those three properties as worth a total of $667,600.

SPCOVE1 LLC is a holding company controlled by local landlords Paris and Sim Levenhartz and Branford-based investor Hugh Scott.

The two holding companies that sold those properties are controlled by Ruslan and Crystal Boyarsky of Paradise Landscaping and Tree Removal. The now-vacant Westville office and industrial site formerly housed the headquarters of Paradise’s landscaping company, which has subsequently moved to Hamden.

Rus Boyarsky did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article. In 2015 and 2016, Boyarsky’s local company got into a zoning mess as Westville neighbors complained of dust, noise, and high piles of mulch and logs on his Fitch Street and Blake Street properties. In Hamden, Paradise has spent the past few years in some more zoning hot water after the town discovered that Boyarsky had been operating a landscaping business in Hamden without a zoning permit.

In a Tuesday afternoon phone interview, Paris told the Independent that his real estate company is still evaluating how best to use the now-empty 86 Fitch St. property. In the interim, he’ll likely use the site’s parking lot to park some trucks.

“They have moved completely out,” he said about Paradise.

Paris said that one of the main motivations for his purchasing 86 Fitch St. is its proximity to 50 Fitch St. / 781 Whalley Ave., a long-vacant and dilapidated former office complex at the corner of Fitch and Whalley Avenue that Paris and Levenhartz purchased in October 2019 for $3.1 million.

Paris said that the local landlord duo still plans on converting that Westville eyesore into new high-end apartments.

“Corona put a little break on it,” he said about the slow start to that residential conversion project. He said he’s currently working with an architect on coming up with a more concrete design and plan for the proposed apartments.

“We’re moving in the right direction now,” he said.

Some of the most visible changes to the complex’s Whalley Avenue facade since October 2019 include the removal of graffiti, the replacement of broken windows … and the addition of large blue banners that read, ​“We Buy Houses. Fast Cash. Quick Close.”

Two such ​“We Buy Houses” banners hang across the building at the Whalley-Fitch corner, with a third on the back side of the building looking east down Fitch Street.

Pizza Bros Buy Wooster St. Liquor Store

In other recent local property sales, three Albanian-born, pizza-making brothers bought a Wooster Street liquor store just a few blocks away from their current Wooster Square pizza restaurant.

On Jan. 8, Zeneli Properties LLC bought the single-story commercial building at 175 Wooster St. from Ralph Durante, Jr. for $620,000. The property last sold for $385,000 in 2012, and the city last appraised it as worth $294,000.

The property is currently home to La Bella Vita Wines & Liquors.

The building’s new owners are Aleko, Gazmir and Jeshar Zeneli the three brothers who opened the pizza restaurant Zeneli pizzeria e cucina napoletana at 138 Wooster St. in August 2019.

In a recent phone interview with the Independent, Gazmir Zeneli said that the entrepreneurial trio do not have any definite plans for the newly acquired site quiet yet. For now, the site will continue to house the La Bella Vita liquor store.

“Our idea is to be on Wooster Street for a long time,” he said about their investment in another property in the heart of the city’s historic Little Italy.

When asked about how the 175 Wooster St. restaurant is holding up during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Gazmir said, ​“We’re doing ok, like everybody else. Let’s hope this year is better.” He said loyal customers have kept the restaurant afloat. The site currently has some indoor dining available — at 50 percent capacity, per the governor’s statewide Covid reopening regulations. They also are doing delivery.

“We keep going ahead,” he said.

Mandy Keeps Growing

And affiliates of the local megalandlord Mandy Management spent over $2 million buying seven different multi-family properties containing a total of 23 residential units.

Those recent Mandy acquisitions include:

• 76 Ridge St., a six-unit apartment building that Menahem Edelkopf purchased from Inevitable Realty LLC for $600,000 on Jan. 8. Edelkopf later quit the deed of the property to Mandy’s Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC. The property last sold for $300,000 in 2012, and the city last appraised it as worth $340,500.

• 157 Howard Ave., a four-family house that SFR 2 DE LLC purchased from Bobsie Perry for $370,000 on Jan. 15. The property last sold for $369,000 in 2013, and the city last appraised it as worth $215,200.

• 456 Woodward Ave., a three-family house that SFR 2 DE LLC purchased from Tyson Zahner for $300,000 on Dec. 30. The property last sold for $340,000 in 2007, and the city last appraised it as worth $185,200.

• 1536 Ella T. Grasso Blvd., a three-family house that Re Fund II SFR 1 LLC purchased from Sheila Gomez for $299,000 on Dec. 29. The property last sold for $235,000 in 2018, and the city last appraised it as worth $199,200.

• 46 Hurlburt St., a three-family house that SFR 2 DE LLC purchased from Sono Capital LLC for $246,000 on Jan. 19. The property last sold for $139,900 in 2002, and the city last appraised it as worth $139,200.

• 55 Monroe St., a two-family house that SFR 2 DE LLC purchased from Mor Bistra LLC for $135,000 on Jan. 13. The property last sold for $123,900 in 2013, and the city last appraised it as worth $124,000.

• 123 Hazel St., a two-family house that SFR 2 DE LLC purchased from John Hall for $122,500 on Jan. 18. The property last sold for $107,100 in 2020, and the city last appraised it as worth $142,400.