Former Denny’s site sold for $2.2M

WEST HAVEN — For years, breakfast beckoned to hungry travelers passing through West Haven on Interstate 95.

When chain restaurant Denny’s decided to reduce its footprint in Connecticut, a West Haven location directly facing traffic from Exit 42 was one of four casualties last fall. Three months after Denny’s decided to vacate the 5,468-square-foot building with its sloping red roof, an investor purchased 487 Saw Mill Road for $2.2 million on Dec.12, 2022.

Although the building, built in 1979, is assessed for $742,560, investor Bill Baker said he sees potential.

“We bought it based on the strength of the site, the strength of the location,” he said.

Baker, owner of Endurance Properties LLC based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., said there are not any concrete plans for the building’s use.

“We’re investors in retail properties and developers of retail properties. In all likelihood it’ll be retail: restaurant, medical, dental, a use along those lines,” he said. “We’ve just started talking to people about the property in terms of either leasing the building as-is or redeveloping the site.”

Mayor Nancy R. Rossi said she had learned of rumors that Chick-fil-A had been eyeing the site; Baker on Tuesday did not confirm any concrete plans for the site.

Rossi said a Chickfil-A “would be great in that location,” but she sees a lot of potential for the site overall because of its proximity to on- and off-ramps for Interstate 95.

“(T)he businesses that are already on the corridor seem to be thriving,” she said.

Christine Sullivan Gallo, chairwoman of the city’s Economic Development Commission, said she would like to see a diner concept in that space, as there are several fast-food options on that road. Having a Denny’s gave people an option for a casual but full-service dining experience, she said.

“The location is so good, so I would really like to see a diner-type restaurant go in there,” she said.

The Saw Mill Road corridor has been one of the fastest-changing in West Haven throughout the last few month. In October, the city celebrated the grand opening of a 7Eleven gas station and convenience store where a former Staples building sat vacant for years. A Saw Mill Road Starbucks is also leaving its strip mall location and moving across a parking lot to occupy the former Stewart’s All American Grill restaurant where it will incorporate a drive-thru.

Sullivan Gallo said she believes the 7-Eleven has greatly improved the overall landscape of the immediate area.

“You’ve got one whole chunk of Saw Mill Road that’s kind of completed now,” she said. “It seems like a good, viable business district.”