New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Armstrong building sold, apartments are planned
WEST HAVEN — A Bronx-based realty company purchased the historic Armstrong Building on Elm Street, according to property records.
City Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan said he met with representatives of Bajraktari Realty in July for a tour of the building. The building, which was purchased by W H Realty LLC for $700,000 in 1994 before the deed was shifted to a Stop & Shop LLC in 2013, sold for $975,000, according to a property deed.
Stop & Shop, a Massachusettsbased chain owned by Dutch compa
ny Ahold Delhaize, has a supermarket location at
460 Elm St. just across from the property. As a condition of the sale, the new owners are forbidden from selling food. Tiernan said representatives with Bajraktari Realty said the intent is to develop apartments.
Representatives of Bajraktari Realty did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Tiernan said that, during the realty company representatives’ visit, he explained the terms of the Transit Oriented District where the building, which is recorded by the assessor’s office as being six stories, sits.
The Transit Oriented District is “supposed to encourage uses that complement the train station,” Tiernan said. “Apartments would clearly complement the train station.”
Despite the $975,000 sale, the property is appraised at $2.67 million. However, Tiernan said there is considerable cleanup work that must be done to the contaminated site.
“If they value it at $2 million, that’s probably the discount,” he said. Tiernan said he expressed to the developer the city’s willingness to apply for a competitive
grant from the state for funding to remediate contamination such as asbestos from the site.
Tiernan said that, during discussions, the developer did not discuss seeking any tax abatement. He said he understands from discussions that the proposed apartments would target a demographic of young professionals — apartments that are neither incomesubsidized nor high-end.
Mayor Nancy Rossi said the Armstrong Building has been one of the sites with development potential she has been asked about most. She said she was happy with the news of the transaction.
“That’s another development where we can do something good there,” she said.
Rossi said her administration now hopes to entice developers to take a look at a building on an adjacent parcel.
“Hopefully the other piece will sell, too,” she said.
Alan Olenick, executive director of the West Haven Chamber of Commerce, said he believes the site could be an “economic engine” for the city if developed properly.
“That would be a huge boon if that could get developed into something,” he said. “The timing of this is very good.”
The site also has attracted
the attention of officials such as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn. In 2014, Blumenthal toured the site with former Mayor Ed O’Brien to tout the site’s potential.
“The potential to unlock development here is absolutely unparalleled,” Blumenthal said of the building at the time.
The building gets its name as the one-time headquarters of the Armstrong Rubber Co., a major tire manufacturer and a large employer in the region.
Tiernan said residents of West Haven might expect to see Bajraktari Realty’s name again, as the company had expressed interest in other sites.
“They’re dipping their toe into West Haven,” he said. “And now I have 975,000 reasons to believe them.”
Maura O’Brien, external communications and community relations manager for Stop & Shop, said in an email that there has been a change of ownership for the property at 475 Elm St. in West Haven.
“Stop & Shop intends to continue serving the West Haven community in our store located at 460 Elm Street and does not intend any change to our West Haven store's operation,” O’Brien said.