The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Group looks to rehab Yankee Pedlar
State law could be used to name receiver to fix up blighted site
TORRINGTON — The future of one of downtown’s most historic structures soon may be in the hands of a nonprofit development group instead of its owners.
Yankee Pedlar Inn, purchased by Jayson Hospitality in 2014, was gutted several years ago and since has sat vacant — and vulnerable to fire, vandalism and trespassing, according to city officials, who recently met to discuss a proposal from Mayor Elinor Carbone to use a state statute regarding abandoned and blighted properties to protect the building.
Public Act 19-92, CGA 8-169AA, allows a municipality to petition for receivership to rehabilitate a building and prepare it for sale or to return it to the owner. The city’s expenses to do the work would be reimbursed either by the sale of the property or by the owner, Carbone said.
Carbone recommended using the nonprofit group Torrington Development Corp., of which she is a member along with City Counsel Vic Muschell, attorney Peter Herbst and a group of business owners, bankers, engineers, developers and others. According to its mssion statement on torringtonct.org, “the Torrington Development Corporation will plan, lead, direct and coordinate com
prehensive efforts to improve the City’s economic base.”
The council voted unanimously to apply using the statute.
Jayson Hospitality’s principal owners are listed as Ashok Patel of Lexington, Mass., and Jayant Patel of Portsmouth, N.H. Attorney Michael G. Milazzo of New Haven also is listed, according to the Connecticut business registry. Neither Patels’ phone number was in service. When reached, Milazzo said he had no comment on the city’s efforts to establish a receiver.
Carbone said Torrington has worked with the owners for the last six years, providing grant and other funding information, energy efficiency programs and other resources to offset the costs of renovation. “By mid-2016 after the building was gutted, it became increasingly clear that the owner was struggling to keep up with the project,” the mayor said.
By 2017, all tenants at the inn were gone, and the building was vacant.
“We ramped up our efforts and helped find partners, lending institutions and even possible purchasers for the inn,” the mayor said. “We enforced safety regulations . ... The building has deteriorated, with frozen pipes, unsheltered residents seeking shelter, and code compliance (failure). We have spent weeks finding the most effective way to protect the inn and adjoining properties.”
Carbone said vandalism has occurred at the site.
Public Act 19-92 is designed as a mechanism to help municipalities in the rehabilitation of abandoned properties. The inn, the mayor said, qualifies for the city’s action. “There are five qualifications: no occupation of the building, no marketing of the property, no good faith efforts to sell it, not subject to foreclosure, and the owner (failing) to show any effort,” Carbone said. “The inn qualifies under all those conditions.”
Attorney Kevin Nelligan assisted the city by researching the new statute and options for the Yankee Pedlar. “It’s a very new statute,” he said. “It works when the owner is unable to do what the law requires, and allows someone else to step in.”
Economic Development Director Rista Malanca said it’s important to use the legislation now because of the city’s efforts to improve its downtown. Having the historic building stand empty on Main
Street is hurting everyone and is a public nuisance, she said.
“Since the building’s been vacant, there have been more than 90 police calls,” Malanca said. “There are fire code issues; we hear these horrible stories about downtown buildings burning down, and taking other buildings with them ... so we need to get the fire code violations remedied. And we need to improve the appearance of the building.
“It’s blighted, and it’s impacting the whole area, property values, sales of properties,” she said. “When it’s renovated and open it will create jobs downtown.”
Malanca also said the inn’s value has dropped significantly.
“We went back through our revaluation years, and in 2013 the inn’s assessed value was just over $1 million,” she said. “That decreased to $400,000 in 2016 and .... $278,000 in 2018.”
Torrington filed the paperwork Jan. 14, asking the state to hold a hearing on its request to name Torrington Development Corp. receiver.
“Now we just wait,” Malanca said. “We’ve filed what’s needed and we will wait to see if we can get a hearing.”