Closed Church Eyed For 24 Apartments

The Feldman brothers development team plans to convert the Church of the Redeemer and its adjoining buildings into 24 market-rate apartments, all while preserving the Federal-style Whitney Avenue landmark.

Jacob and Josef Feldman of MOD Equities made that pitch Monday night at the regular monthly meeting of the East Rock Community Management Team in the community room at mActivity gym on Nicoll Street.

Jacob told the roughly 40 neighbors present that MOD, which is based out of New Haven and owns a number of commercial and residential properties Downtown and in East Rock, is under contract to purchase the late home of the roughly 180-year-old congregation that held its last service at 495 Whitney Ave. / 185 Cold Spring St. in Sept. 2018.

The brothers’ property management and development company plans to undertake an ​“interior adaptive reuse” that would result in 24 studio, one‑, two‑, and three-bedroom apartments.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Jacob said about the roughly 24,000 square-foot parcel where the church buildings currently sit at the intersection of Whitney Avenue and Cold Spring Street. ​“It’s a beautiful corner.”

David Carter, the moderator of the now-shuttered United Church of Christ-affiliated Redeemer, said that the church’s congregation has moved on over the past year to the UCC’s Spring Glen Church in Hamden as well as to the First Presbyterian Church in New Haven.

The church held its final organ concert at its Whitney Avenue location earlier this month, he said. Now, the pipe organ inside the building is being disassembled and transplanted to a church in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The organ should be completely disassembled and out of the church by end of the year, he said.

As for the planned apartment project, the Feldmans said the converted residential building should have 24 on-site parking spaces, all located on a back lot that used to house the church’s gymnasium.

He added that he sees the target audience for the prospective apartments as twofold: neighborhood natives who have lived in East Rock for years and are looking to downsize, and newcomers who want to send their kids to Worthington Hooker school but need some time before settling down and purchasing a house.

The site plan for the project isn’t finished yet, he said, though he hopes to go through the City Plan Commission review process in January so that MOD can begin the expected eight month build-out sometime early next year.

He described the current main church building with red-brick siding elegant white tower as ​“an iconic building in East Rock.”

“We don’t want to touch that in anyway,” he said about preserving the facade and building-exterior and focusing the conversion on the interior alone. A planned 30-unit apartment complex that MOD plans to build on Howe Street has been held up for months because of the so-far-successful petitions of neighborhood historic preservationists, who have lobbied the state attorney general to stop MOD from knocking down two historic, dilapidated homes.

“Will this be fully compliant with zoning?” asked East Rock resident John McFadyen (pictured).

Yes, Jacob said. MOD isn’t looking for any zoning relief for this project.

Have you spoken to the abutting neighbors yet? asked Newhallville/Prospect Hill Alder Kim Edwards. What do they think of the project?

Jacob said he had reached out to the neighbors behind and next to the property, and had spread the word with the alders and the management team. He promised to keep up the outreach, and to stay in touch if he hears of any concerns.

Are you looking for any tax relief or subsidies for this project? asked Lynne Street.

Nope, Jacob said. MOD doesn’t plan on seeking out any kind of public subsidy for the conversion.

“We’re not 100 percent finished with the plans,” he confessed. But they’re close, and planning on getting started with the conversion come early next year.