Thomas Breen photo
The current dirt pile at 87 Union St.: Soon to transform into nearly 300 apartments (below).
NILES BOLTON ASSOCIATES
The New York City-based developers of a planned new 299-unit, mixed-use Wooster Square apartment complex recently closed on a $50 million construction loan that should allow them to resume work at the site later this week.
According to the city’s online land records database, on Feb. 18, 44 Olive Limited Partnership sold the roughly 50,000 square-foot lot at 87 Union St. for $10 million to 44 Olive Street Ground Owner LLC.
That was one of a slew of recent land record filings related to the Olive Street / Union Street project — which ultimately resulted not in a change in ownership, but rather in an infusion of cash to the current builders.
On Feb. 7, 44 Olive Street Ground Owner LLC signed a 98-year ground lease with 44 Olive LH Limited Partnership that gives the latter the right to develop the site through Feb. 28, 2118.
And on Jan. 15, 2020, 44 Olive Limited LH Partnership closed on a $50 million mortgage for the construction project with the Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank.
Peter Antoniou of the New York City-based development firm Adam America told the Independent by email Monday that his company and Epimoni are still the ones building the planned 299-unit market-rate apartment complex.
“We are actually still the developer of the project and recently closed our construction loan,” he wrote. “What you are seeing was just a function of our internal capitalization of the project.
“You will see construction recommencing this week and we are excited to be bringing the project to Wooster Square.”
Adam America and Epimoni bought the site from local building Noel Petra and Westport developer David Adam Realty for $10 million in 2018. They then received a five-year extension from the City Plan Commission, giving the developers until 2025 to finish the project, which should include 6,100 square feet of retail in addition to the 299 apartments.
The developers broke ground on the project in March 2019, and soon thereafter demolished the sole remaining building on the site, the former home of Torrco plumbing supplies.
Since last September the site has been home to a massive pile of dirt , which Antoniou has said is clean soil that will be used to backfill the site after construction contractors pour the new foundation.
That very same Olive Street block is slated to see the construction of 230 additional new apartments right next to 87 Union St. The Houston-based developer Hines purchased the former Comcast building and an adjacent lot for $14.6 million last November, and plan to begin demolition later this month.
City assessor’s database
241 Quinnipiac Ave.
In other recent property transactions, on Feb. 19, 241 Quinnipiac Avenue LLC purchased the three-building, 32-unit Fair Haven Heights apartment complex at 241 Quinnipiac Ave. for $3.85 million from 241 Georgetown LLC.
Those apartments last sold for $3.15 million in 2017, and were last appraised by the city as worth $2,061,000.
The holding company that now owns that apartment complex is controlled by New Canaan-based investor Prakash Wadhwani.
He is a former investment banker who is also the franchise owner of a West Haven burger restaurant.
“It’s good to keep money in Connecticut,” Wadhwani told the Independent Tuesday afternoon when asked why he decided to purchase this particular complex. “And there are better cap rates in that area compared to the Fairfield County area.”
He said he already owns a nine-unit apartment complex nearby on Fairmont Avenue. Both that complex and the recently acquired Quinnipiac Avenue apartments are rented primarily by tenants who receive federal Section 8 housing subsidies, he said.
Wadhwani said that this represents a “long-term hold,” one he anticipates owning and maintaining for at least a decade. He plans to keep the apartments as is, keep the tenants he is inheriting, and make some system repairs to the complex over time, such as replacing the heating system.
34 Hallock St.
Affiliates of the local mega-landlord Mandy Management also recently spent $617,000 picking up a total of eight housing units in five different buildings in Newhallville, the Annex, Mill River, and the Hill.
On Jan. 15, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Real Estate Group XV LLC purchased the two-family house at 34 Hallock St. from Esther Yalartai and Harmon Yalartai for $115,000. The city last appraised the property as worth $120,400.
On Jan. 30, the Mandy-affiliated holding company Real Estate Group XIV LLC purchased the three-family house at 114 Shelton Ave. for $210,000 from E&F Real Estate LLC. The building last sold for $55,000 in 2014, and the city last appraised it as worth $153,100.
Also on Jan. 30, Real Estate Group XIV LLC bought the condo at 12 Chamberlain St., Unit 4 from E&F Real Estate LLC for $82,000. The condo last sold for $54,501 in 2013, and the city last appraised the property as worth $58,800.
On Feb. 14, Real Estate Group XIV LLC purchased the single-family house at 164 Peat Meadow Rd. from Mendel Paris for $120,000. The property last sold for $93,450 in 2020, and the city last appraised it as worth $124,000.
And on Feb. 18, Real Estate Group XV LLC purchased the single-family house at 70 Mill River St. from Aisha Properties LLC for $90,000. The property last sold for $40,000 in 2008, and the city last appraised it as worth $58,500.