firetrap

ANTARES STARTED IT HERE: a derivative of Blue Back Square version of redevelopment? New real estate gaming idea here.

Antares hands off to Norwalk developer;
Blue Back Square had problems...

Fires in abandoned buildings bring urban renewal (sometimes); like fires cleansing forests for re-growth of healthy trees?

Old-time business practice? From the Library of Congress.

FIRES around the world...Moscow/Russia, summer 2010

HARBOR POINT AS CONCEIVED BY ANTARES

First residential development of Harbor Point set to open next month
Stamford ADVOCATE
Elizabeth Kim, Staff Writer
Published: 09:52 p.m., Friday, April 16, 2010

STAMFORD -- After more than a year of restoration and construction, three former Yale & Towne factory buildings will see new life next month as the first residential complex of Harbor Point.

A trio of attached, six-story, brick-faced buildings at 200 Henry St., originally built in the early part of the 20th century, will contain 225 loft-style rental apartments, comprised of studios along with one- and two-bedroom units.

As part of a gradual rollout, developer Building and Land Technology is seeking to open approximately 12 units a week beginning May 1, according to Matt Dalio, a representative for Harbor Point. Market rate units will range from $1,532 a month for a studio to $2,145 a month for a two-bedroom unit, he said.

The project marks one in a series of large-scale additions of housing in the South End that is expected to transform the former industrial district. Harbor Point, a development spread across 80-acres and estimated to cost $3.5 billion, is set to build 4,000 housing units over the next 10 years, along with 400,000 square feet of retail space, office buildings, two hotels, a school, marina and more than 11 acres of parks.

The area received its first significant influx of housing last September, when developers Jonathan Rose Companies and Malkin Properties put up 50 affordable rental units on Henry Place, between Washington Boulevard and Atlantic Street. Fairway, the supermarket chain based in New York City, is aiming to open at Canal and Market streets by the end of this summer.

Of the Harbor Point apartments on Henry Street, 11 have been set aside as affordable. The city stipulates that developers must generally set aside at least 10 percent of their units for families earning no more than $61,150, or 50 percent of the city's median income for a family of four.

The South End community organization CTE assisted the developer in finding candidates, who had to submit information on income and employment. In the end, 20 were considered qualified, according to John Freeman, a spokesman for Harbor Point. Of the affordable units, the ones with two bedrooms received the most interest. But because there were only two, the city on Wednesday oversaw a housing lottery.

A total of six families applied for a two-bedroom apartment costing $1,141 a month. Those not selected were put on a waiting list. Jocelyn Farias, a 22-year-old who works downtown as a technician for an eye doctor, was the first name to be called. She said she applied after a relative saw a newspaper ad about the affordable units and told Farias about the opportunity. Farias, a single mother, had been a sharing a one-bedroom apartment in Springdale with her 4-year-old daughter.

"I had a dream that I won," Farias said. "I'm not a religious person, but I'm a person with a lot of faith."

A transplant from California, Farias has lived in Stamford for three years. She called the city's affordable housing program "a blessing."

She said loved Stamford for its peaceful surroundings, adding, "It's a nice place to raise your kids."

The former Yale & Towne building, where she will live, was once part of a 25-acre site that contained 31 buildings, according to preservationist Renee Kahn. Those buildings, like the one on Henry Street, were designed as long and skinny structures to accommodate assembly lines. As many as 6,000 employees once worked at what was the country's foremost lock producer. After Yale & Towne moved from Stamford in 1959, different manufacturing companies took over the buildings.

Farias has started researching some of the history of the South End, saying that she read that the area where she will be moving next month had been "mostly factories."

Now, she said, "They want to make that the luxurious spot in Stamford."

Filling in the hole.

Harbor Point developer applies for zoning approval for mixed-use development south of I-95
By Elizabeth Kim, Stamford ADVOCATE Staff Writer
Published: 10:15 p.m., Wednesday, March 3, 2010

STAMFORD -- The developer of Harbor Point has requested zoning approvals for an $80 million mixed-used development on a roughly six-acre lot bordering Washington Boulevard and the Metro-North Railroad platform.

Known as Gateway, the project calls for 474,000 square feet of commercial space in two 10-story office buildings and 200 housing units, of which 25 will be built in the first phase. In keeping with the requirements of the zone, known as the Transportation Center Design District, 12 percent of the residences will be designated as affordable.

The property lies just south of Interstate 95, at a high-profile nexus of downtown Stamford that includes the RBS and UBS complexes.

"It is our view that this corner is a very important corner as you arrive in Stamford," said John Freeman, a spokesman for the developer, Building and Land Technology. "Our development will complement UBS, RBS and Metro Center by completing the fourth corner at this key intersection, with a development that creates a real destination for rail commuters and pedestrians."

Led by Carl Kuehner, the Norwalk-based development firm estimates that Gateway will generate about $4 million in annual property taxes and more than $1 million in zoning permitting fees.

Preliminary versions of the project were first unveiled last summer. In October, Building and Land Technology won a critical approval for a request to change the city's master plan after announcing that it had a potential tenant for 250,000 square feet of office space.

The firm's identity has been a closely guarded secret. At the time, the only city officials who met with the tenant were then-Mayor Dannel Malloy and former economic development director Michael Freimuth.

But just last week, representatives for the developer and prospective tenant met with Mayor Michael Pavia and his new economic development director, Laure Aubuchon.

Building and Land Technology has said the proposed tenant is expected to create about 800 jobs.

Aubuchon on Wednesday called the meeting "very positive," but stressed the tenant was, at this point, only a potential one. Although she would not reveal the firm, she said it was "certainly somebody we would be enormously proud to have as part of the Stamford community."

Asked if the presence of a potential tenant should be a factor in the city's land use approval process, Aubuchon said, "It certainly makes the project a lot more attractive, but clearly the project still has to be decided on its merits."

"It doesn't color or expedite the process. We have to follow the rules."

Aubuchon's tempered response suggests a divergence from the previous administration. Last fall, Malloy made a rare appearance in front of the Planning Board, urging it to expedite its approval of the master plan change in light of the possible tenant.

The developer is now awaiting a crucial report from Pavia and his administration on whether the city should discontinue a portion of Henry Street, which falls within the proposed development site.

Last July, when the proposal went before the Board of Representatives' land use committee, representatives from rival developer Malkin Properties and South End neighbor Pitney Bowes objected to the partial street closure, saying that it would pose negative long-term traffic effects.

Norman Cole, the city's principal planner who oversees the zoning approval process, said the developer needs to have the Henry Street issue resolved before the project goes to a public hearing before the Zoning Board.

City land use officials said they have not had time to review the final site plan, which was submitted on Tuesday.

But Robin Stein, the city's land use bureau chief, said Wednesday he could not complain about a mixed-use transit-oriented development.

Stein, noting that the developer had razed several residential homes, raised concerns last fall about gentrification in his report to the Planning Board about the project.

During the public hearing before the board, Stein asked whether Building and Land Technology might commit to providing an even greater level of affordable housing than was required.

Freeman responded Wednesday that a lot of housing that was demolished had been derelict and vacant.

He added that the South End development Harbor Point is to include 400 affordable units, which is the most thus far provided by any private developer in Stamford.

The buildings, like those in Harbor Point, have received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's initiative called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development, he said.

As part of its ongoing conversations with the state Department of Transportation, the developer is also setting aside up to 500 parking spaces for train commuters. Building and Land Technology has proposed extending the train station's southern platform and connecting it with a walkway to its parking lot.

Asked who would finance this portion of the project, Freeman said that the developer and DOT were "still in conversation about it."

He added, "Everybody has been in support of the project."

Pending zoning approvals, Building and Land Technology hopes to start construction as early as this spring, he said.

Redevelopment: You can't win no matter what you do!

Harbor Point developer finalizes $145 million bond sale
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Elizabeth Kim, Staff Writer
Published: 10:10 p.m., Thursday, February 4, 2010

STAMFORD -- The developer of Harbor Point announced Thursday it has completed the sale of $145 million in bonds that will go toward financing infrastructure improvements within the 80-acre mixed-use project in the South End.

Developer Building and Land Technology hired Stone & Youngberg, a private investment bank, to underwrite the long-term bonds. They were marketed last month to institutional investors.

"This financing is the largest of its kind since the credit crisis began, made possible by the project's location, private and public support, and experienced development team," said Ramiro Albarran, a managing director at Stone & Youngberg.

Of the bonds, $16 million were authorized under the Recovery Zone Bond Program, a federal stimulus program providing low-cost financing to shovel-ready projects. The bonds, which are taxable and due in 2039, will receive a federal reimbursement for 45 percent of the interest. Taking the interest subsidy into account, the net interest rate of the recovery bonds will be 6.875 percent, according to Albarran.

The remaining $129 million was raised through the sale of tax-exempt special obligation revenue bonds, a class of municipal bonds. Within that category, Albarran said $113 million of the bonds had a 7.875 percent interest rate and a maturity date of 2039, while $15.9 million had a 7 percent interest rate and a maturity date of 2022.

The city, which had reserved the right to approve the interest rate carried by the bonds, had anticipated an interest rate between 6 and 9 percent.

The developer is solely responsible for paying back the bonds. As part of its agreement with the city, 50 percent of any additional tax revenue earned in the Harbor Point district will go toward making bond payments, while the remaining half will go toward the city's general fund.

In a press release, Carl Kuehner, president and CEO of Building and Land Technology, said the financing would allow the company to "increase the pace of development" and "create jobs during this difficult economy."

The plans for Harbor Point include 4,000 units of housing, 400,000 square feet of retail space, office buildings, two hotels, a school, marina and more than 11 acres of parks.

Its first retail tenant, Fairway supermarket, is expected to open an 80,000- square-foot store at the corner of Canal and Market streets in August.

The project, located within walking distance of the city's train station, is expected to comply with energy-efficient building standards. It has received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's initiative called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development.

In the same press release, Gov. M. Jodi Rell called Harbor Point "a shining example of responsible growth."

Gentrification worries emerge over South End proposal
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Elizabeth Kim, STAFF WRITER
Posted: 10/11/2009 09:12:46 PM EDT
Updated: 10/12/2009 08:00:45 AM EDT

STAMFORD -- As the developer of Harbor Point moves to build on another significant South End site, the city is voicing concerns about the project establishing a precedent for gentrification.

Building and Land Technology has submitted a plan known as Gateway, which calls for a 500,000-square-foot office building and residences to be constructed on a roughly six-acre excavated lot bounded by Interstate 95, Washington Boulevard and Pulaski Street.

"This is the first time since the transformative redevelopment of the South End was first announced that a predominantly residential block has had its dwellings razed and the occupants displaced," Robin Stein, the city's land use bureau chief, wrote in his report to the Planning Board last week.

Building and Land Technology, based in Norwalk, largely has been redeveloping industrial sections of the South End. Although part of the Gateway site, known as the Manger property, was also industrial, Stein noted the block between Henry and Pulaski streets contained 14 multi-family homes built in the early 1900s.

Antares, the original developer of Harbor Point, bought the properties a few years ago. They were demolished earlier this year, leaving only two residential buildings.

"What message does this send to property owners and developers of the one remaining residential block to the south and the established residential neighborhood to the east?" Stein asked. "While presumably the owners' properties have benefited, the tenants are gone and forgotten."

The report was prepared in advance of a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday before the Planning Board. The board is set to review a proposed change to the city's Master Plan that would allow Building and Land Technology to build at a higher density.

John Freeman, a spokesman for the developer, said he does not believe the Gateway project would have an adverse impact on the neighborhood. Freeman said the plan is to make the surroundings more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly and add more residential units.

"The message that would come out of this would be a message to encourage smart growth and transportation-oriented development," he said.

As a further twist, the Gateway proposal includes 1,000 below-grade parking spaces reserved for train commuters. With the aging garage at the Stamford rail station set to be torn down, city officials and commuters have been anxiously awaiting word from the state Department of Transportation on a solution for replacement parking.

Freeman said the DOT asked Building and Land Technology to plan for the parking, but no formal agreement has been reached.

The developer has allocated another 1,000 parking spaces for occupants of the commercial and residential development.

Before the city's report was issued, the Gateway project drew criticism from W&M Properties, a rival developer, which owns two commercial buildings in the South End and is set to build another.

W&M has argued the Gateway plan would create a significant bottleneck in the South End. The firm has submitted its own parking plan to the DOT, proposing the spaces be dispersed among different sites.

Stein recommended the Planning Board delay its decision until the city releases a traffic study it commissioned. The study is slated to come out in a few weeks.

In the meantime, another interested party in the South End is set to weigh in on the Gateway proposal. Pitney Bowes, whose headquarters employs 1,000 people, has also expressed concern about the plan. The company is expected to release its own traffic study Monday.

Developers: Harbor Point on course
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/10/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT

STAMFORD - Developers of the Harbor Point project last night sought to reassure South End residents that the massive project is on track, after an announcement last week that a new partner is managing it.

John Freeman, the general counsel for Harbor Point Development, the limited liability company that oversees the 80-acre project, and Bill Buckley, who oversees construction, told about 20 residents at a meeting of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone community group that the project is on schedule and plans for it have not changed.

Freeman reassured them that he and Buckley, who have met regularly with the group, will continue to lead the effort.

"The team that you know and work with every day will still be the same team and the same faces," Freeman said.

Last week, Norwalk developer Building and Land Technology announced it has taken "sole control" of Harbor Point, which includes 4,000 units of housing, hotels, office buildings, parkland and more than 100,000 square feet of retail space. The plan was conceived by Greenwich developer Antares Investment Partners.

Freeman said Antares brought in Building and Land Technology on the project in February because the Norwalk developers had experience taking plans from ideas to construction.

Since then, "they've been doing a terrific job of getting things done," he said.

The limited liability company, Harbor Point Development LLC, still is carrying out the project, but Building and Land Technology, not Antares, now has sole control.
Freeman and Buckley told the group that Harbor Point Development has five foundation permits for the first phase, which includes a waterfront hotel, a residential building with more than 330 apartments, an office building, a restaurant and retail space.

The company should have building permits within a week and a half, he said. Some ground preparation is complete, including installing new gas pipes under sidewalks, he said. Other projects, such as remediation, regrading and widening Canal Street, must be finished.

Freeman said the developers have changed two aspects of its plan for the former Yale & Towne manufacturing site. A park, originally at the center of the residential and retail development, now will border Henry Street, and an additional building will be preserved, Freeman said.

Building and Land Technology said last week it has taken control of another Antares South End project - a proposal to build an office tower at Henry Street and Washington Boulevard.

Freeman, who is general counsel for that project, called Gateway, said rock excavation will begin soon. The zoning board granted approval Monday to rezone the land at the site of the old McCall's building for commercial use.

Most residents at last night's meeting were not focused on the shift in management. They were more concerned about traffic and other problems caused by construction, such as dust and noise. One resident said it's "a nightmare" to drive in the South End.

Freeman said Antares is working with the city to open Market Street to traffic to ease congestion on Canal, Henry and Ludlow streets.

John DaRosa, a longtime South End resident, said the biggest concern regarding the leadership change is that the project will continue without significant changes.

"People are concerned that developers will come in and buy us out," DaRosa said.

Sheila Barney, president of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, said there has been no shift in her relationship with the Harbor Point developers since the change was announced.

"What we can do is stay involved and hopefully they'll stay the course," Barney said. "There's still going to be a lot of questions that people have. Are they going to adhere to what they started?"

Developer (as was done elsewhere in CT) asks City of Stamford to help fund South End public improvements
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
Published December 18 2006

STAMFORD -- The developer of a proposed South End redevelopment project is looking to the city for help in financing more than $160 million in public improvements. However, some city officials, including Mayor Dannel Malloy, are questioning whether the improvements for Greenwich-based Antares Investment Partners 82-acre housing, retail and office project would benefit the public or the developer.

"I think the depth and the breadth of their proposal is startling," Malloy said. "We're going to take a serious look at what is fair and reasonable and what is not."

Antares' officials plan to meet with the city today to discuss a plan to build and widen roads, update sewer and drainage lines and create new park space using half the projected $21 million in property taxes generated by the project to pay for the improvements over 20 years.

"We see it as just a great opportunity for a project to create new revenue for the city," said John Freeman, an Antares lawyer. "It targets those tax dollars to public improvements in the South End."

A similar financing scheme exists in the city's Mill River Corridor, which dedicates up to 50 percent of the tax revenue from new development there to Mill River Park improvements. Because Antares plans to develop so much of the South End in a relatively short time, improvements that the city would normally make over decades -- or would never make without the development -- must be done in a few years, Freeman said.

"In this case, we have an 80-acre property and we're really building a section of the city," he said. "It's not something that a developer would be expected to pay for."

In the South End, most of the infrastructure work would be done in the first phase, in which Antares plans to build loft condominiums and several large retail stores on the Yale & Towne factory site and a harborfront plaza surrounded by condominiums, a hotel, restaurants and office space. Both sites need extensive environmental cleanup, an element the state has a financing program for that could be part of the proposal.

If the improvements are done but Antares doesn't build the tax-generating condominiums and shops, the developers, not the city, would repay the bonds.

"That's a critical element," said Michael Freimuth, city economic development director. "The fact that the city would not be exposed under the sale of these bonds is a major selling point."

The plan, which would require setting up a special redevelopment district similar to the Mill River Corridor on the 82 acres Antares owns, would have to be approved by the state legislature and by city boards, Freimuth said. Because some of the projects are included in the city's master plan, some could be partially financed using federal and state money that the city has requested or planned to request, Freimuth added.

The proposal is promising, but city officials are just starting to evaluate which projects are public improvements and which ones would primarily benefit the developer and other investors. Malloy said some level of public investment is appropriate because the city has helped jump start other major development projects, citing its construction of the parking garage for the Stamford Town Center mall and use of eminent domain power for urban redevelopment downtown.

South End infrastructure needs associated with Harbor Point project

* $35 million: Roads, sidewalks, landscaping

* $32 million: Sewer lines, storm drains, gas, electric and traffic signals

* $26 million: Public parks, open space, hurricane wall improvements, waterfront access

* $47 million: Public parking

* Unknown: Environmental cleanup

* Unknown: Seawall and harbor dredging

* Soft costs (design, planning, legal): About 15 percent of total

Source: Stamford economic development director, based on Antares submissions

And in Greenwich...
Antares to evict tenants; Deadline passes for 16 residents
Greenwich TIME
By Hoa Nguyen, Staff Writer
Published February 28 2007

Antares Real Estate is seeking to evict 16 tenants from two western Greenwich complexes undergoing condominium conversion, court records show.

Antares told the younger tenants about a year ago that they could not continue to rent at the former Putnam Green and Weaver's Hill and would have to buy their units or move out. The properties' new names are Greenwich Place and Greenwich Oaks.

Unlike seniors and disabled tenants, who under the law can continue renting their apartments for the rest of their lives, these tenants have fewer legal options.

The nine-month waiting period has expired for these 16 tenants, according to Antares, which filed eviction notices earlier this month. One tenant appears to have since moved, and two others, who also are accused of not paying rent, have not retained lawyers. The other 13 are represented by Greenwich lawyer John Vecchiolla.

Vecchiolla is also representing seniors suing Antares because they say the firm is excessively raising their rents -- with the hike in several cases exceeding 70 percent, according to that lawsuit. Antares said the rent increases are to pay for construction improvements and to bring the traditionally low rents at the complexes to the market rates charged for similar units in town. Rents had previously ranged from $1,200 to $3,600.

Vecchiolla could not be reached for comment yesterday, but a couple of tenants served with eviction notices are putting up a fight because they like where they live.

"I've been here 12 years as a renter," Putnam Green tenant Paul Sylvester said. "It's been a great place to live, so I think that's why a lot of people are hanging in with it."

A couple of the tenants said they would be willing to purchase their units, but not at the price Antares was offering them. The law requires Antares to initially offer the units to tenants at a price lower than to the public, but these tenants said the firm gave them higher price quotes.

Early last year, Antares told tenants they could buy their units at a 10 percent discount. At the time, the expected market price was advertised as $600,000 to $2 million. During the course of the year, the firm began lowering the prices but, according to a couple of tenants involved in the lawsuit, the price offered to tenants remained more than what Antares marketed to the public.

"We want things done within the statute of the law," tenant Cathy Jacobson said. "If things were done properly, we don't have a case."

Jacobson referred to an advertisement in the Oct. 20 issue of Greenwich Time in which Antares advertised one-bedroom units as starting at $405,000, two-bedroom units from $515,000 and three-bedroom units from $660,000. She said she would be willing to buy her unit at 20 percent off those advertised prices.

"If it was done properly, we might consider it," Jacobson said. "We might consider it, but as things are done now, absolutely not. We have a case."

Antares' Stamford lawyer, Rich Castiglioni, said the firm is only obligated to offer the discounted price during the first few months after tenants are informed of the planned condominium conversion.

"Once the exclusionary offering period expires, Antares is free to market the units as they see fit," Castiglioni said, adding tenants cannot return to the firm and tell them they want to purchase the units at lower prices. "They have no statutory protection to continue to purchase on their whim at discounted prices."

The tenants in their lawsuit also claim Antares did not follow state statute when informing them of the condominium conversion, and as a result it may be unclear when the exclusionary period expired.

Castiglioni replied: "Antares has followed the letter of the law."

7 lawsuits target developer for fire in South End
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Zach Lowe, Staff Writer
January 7, 2008

STAMFORD - A developer planning an 82-acre project in the South End is the subject of seven lawsuits for failing to have a working sprinkler system in part of the Yale & Towne complex that burned to the ground in a six-alarm fire last year, court records show.

The April 3 fire, the biggest in city history, destroyed eight businesses and caused tens of millions in damage to the complex in Building 15 at 735 Canal St.

The lawsuits name several other defendants, including the city and the owner of the piano shop where the blaze started. The suits do not mention specific amounts, only that the plaintiffs are seeking more than $15,000 in damages in each suit - the maximum amount they are required to disclose. They likely seek many times that amount, experts said. The developer, Antares of Greenwich, knew the sprinkler system was broken when it purchased the property from Heyman Properties in 2005, according to Antares officials and city fire inspectors.

Its failure to repair the system showed "reckless disregard for the safety of others" and violated state fire codes, one lawsuit said.

Peter Fay, an attorney representing Antares, said he could not comment on pending litigation. Antares officials have said they planned to fix the sprinkler system last summer. The blaze nixed the plans. Antares said the prospect of paying millions in legal fees and payouts to victims would not derail its plan to redevelop the South End.

The project is "on track and moving forward," said John Freeman, general counsel and senior vice president for Antares. Antares expects to make its final plans public this year, Freeman said.

The sprinkler system broke in the mid-1990s, when Heyman owned the property. Heyman is named in two lawsuits, one filed by an insurance company and a second class-action suit filed on behalf of nearly 100 antiques dealers who rented space in the Stamford Antiques Center, records show. Heyman's attorneys filed papers claiming clients who leased space signed agreements saying Heyman could not be held liable for any fire in a rented property.

Water in sprinkler system pipes froze in the mid-1990s when Heyman shut down heat to the building, which was vacant at the time.

When the ice melted, the pipes cracked open and rusted, fire officials concluded in their investigation. Huge holes opened, water pressure fell and the system became so useless that Heyman shut it down, according to records of city fire inspections. Heyman did not repair the system when tenants late moved in. Antares never did, either. But company officials said they would have last summer if they had had the chance. They were waiting for warm weather because they needed to turn off the heat to make the repairs.

The broken section of the system was over Haller Piano, a small repair shop where Paul Haller kept flammable polishes and other chemicals, court records show. The fire started on a work bench in Haller's shop. Officials are not sure exactly what ignited the chemicals. Six of the seven suits name Haller as a defendant, claiming he did not store the chemicals properly. Haller, who owns another shop in Darien, has never commented on the blaze and did not return a call seeking comment.

His attorney denied the allegations in court papers.

The city is named in four lawsuits because it did not inspect the site each year as required by state law. City records show the last formal fire inspection was in 2002. Chief Fire Marshal Barry Callahan said last year that Stamford's nine marshals could not keep up with the rising number of buildings requiring annual inspections. Marshals inspected 99 percent of the required 3,600 structures in 2001 but only 80 percent of the 6,000 required buildings in 2005-06, records show.

"It's just a physical impossibility" to hit all the required buildings, Callahan has said.

City marshals did brief "walk-throughs" in every new business in the complex before each one opened, but those are not formal investigations, records show. Full investigations rarely involve checking sprinklers, city officials said. Property owners typically hire private experts for sprinkler checks.

"I think we're named mostly because we're perceived as having deep pockets and not because we have any real liability," said Thomas Cassone, the city's top attorney. "That's not the kind of thing that inspires us to settle lawsuits."

Copyright © 2008, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

International News Photo (New York). Detroit, Michigan. "Police officers removing sit-down strikers from the Yale and Towne Manufacturing plant."

CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1937 Mar.? - in the LC-USF34- 007905-ZB

Facing eviction, artists look to stay in South End
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Doug Dalena, Staff Writer
Published December 26 2006

STAMFORD -- The artists, antiques dealers and other tenants who colonized the former Yale & Towne factory complex have to be out by the end of June, said the developer who plans to build condominiums and large retail stores there.

The plan has raised concerns that the city will lose artistic talent that draws people to the South End. But the developer, Antares Investment Partners, may step in as a landlord to help the artists relocate in the South End.

Antares may find and lease space outside the Yale & Towne complex, then outfit it and sublease studio space to the artists, said Shelley Denning, president of the Loft Artists Association, and Antares Chief Operating Officer Bruce Macleod.

Both said no plan has been agreed on, but Antares and the artists will look at commercial space in the South End next month.

"We think that it's a good use to keep in the South End," Macleod said. "They're kind of a cottage industry."

It is not clear whether Antares will be able to provide space at rents the artists can pay, Macleod said.

"We don't know what we can rent for; we don't know who's going to bear the cost to subdivide the space," he said.

The artists group has about 60 members, Denning said. About 25 artists rent studio space from Antares in the Henry Street factory building, which the Greenwich development company plans to gut and turn into loft condominiums.

At one time, 35 or 40 artists rented space in the six-story building, she said, but many already moved out. About 20 have said they would rent space if Antares finds it, Denning said, even if it means paying more in rent than the roughly $7 to $12 per square foot they pay Antares now.

Others plan to take cheaper space in Norwalk or Bridgeport or already have, she said.

The goal is to find space that the artists can rent for about $15 per square foot, Denning and Macleod said.

The 20-acre Yale & Towne property is part of a massive development proposal that includes demolishing nearly all of the former factory buildings and building condominiums, apartments, hotels and stores on that site and another 48 acres near the west branch of Stamford Harbor.

Antares shelved plans to build housing on the 14-acre Yacht Haven marina site south of the hurricane barrier after city officials panned the idea. It is not clear whether the developer plans to enhance marina operations.

Antares plans to demolish all but two of the buildings on the Yale & Towne site, bordered by Pacific, Market, Canal and Henry streets. The remaining two, one on Market Street that contains a police substation and a six-story factory building on Henry Street, would remain.

In a letter dated Dec. 14, Antares managing member James Cabrera told tenants they will receive eviction notices soon, but everyone will have to be out by June 30.

Antares plans to put 175 loft condominiums in the Henry Street building, which it will renovate -- or, if that's too expensive, demolish -- in the summer, Cabrera's letter said.

If the artists and antiques dealers scatter, they aren't likely to come back, said Mary Louise Long, a painter who moved her studio to the Henry Street building from Rhode Island eight years ago. Long can do some work at her North Stamford home but worries that she will have a tough time finding studio space large enough for her 6-by-10-foot canvases.

Sticking together is important for exposure, she said.

"As a group, you can get more people who are art-minded, curators and gallery owners to come through the building," she said. "You have to beat the bushes to get people to come into your studio if you're in an isolated location."

The artists have known that they would have to leave the Yale & Towne site, and even considered moving as a group to Norwalk, but most prefer to stay in the South End as it grows, Denning said.

"The more people that are down there, the better it is for us, because we're seen," she said.

But finding other space in the South End has been difficult, because some property owners hope Antares will buy their land, too.

"Empty buildings are staying empty because they're waiting for Antares to offer them the highest possible price," said Dana Scinto, an artist and member of the group who rents space in the building.

Macleod said Antares is willing to break even or provide subsidies to keep the artists in the city.

The future of other tenants of the Yale & Towne site, including several antiques dealers and other businesses, is less clear. Antares has not been working on a similar deal with them, Macleod said.

The artists' association and Mayor Dannel Malloy asked Antares to try to keep the artists in the South End.

"They're asking us to be the landlord to 20 tenants," Macleod said. "Well, that wasn't exactly what we had in mind."

Antares is looking for one site with 15,000 or 20,000 square feet that could be subdivided into studios of 400 to 800 square feet each, but completing a deal depends on the artists, Macleod said.

"We're not going to be in a position to act on 15,000 or 20,000 square feet unless they're willing to commit," he said. "They've got to be prepared to act as well."

Fire marshal: Someone ignited blaze
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Devon Lash, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/19/2008 02:42:42 AM EST

STAMFORD - A person started the fire that destroyed an empty Cedar Street warehouse and other South End buildings Sunday, though it is unclear whether the act was deliberate or accidental, a fire marshal said.

The building showed signs that "people had found ways inside," Assistant Fire Marshal Charles Spaulding said. It could have been a person or persons who did not intend to start the blaze or who had an ulterior motive, he said. Spaulding ruled that the building had no working power source, and weather or other natural event did not cause the fire. The case still is under investigation, he said. Neighbors said the warehouse was not secured, and they could see the side windows were not boarded up. The plastic perimeter fence had been down for years, neighbors said.

"People go back there all the time," said John Wooten, who lives on Stone Street. "We would call the cops, keep the streetlights on. Someone was going to get hurt in there."

Despite their efforts to report violations to police, the health department and housing court in Norwalk, people have continued going in and out of the building, Wooten said. His wife, Pat, said Sunday's fire was a realization of "our worst nightmare."

By calling the city, she said neighbors learned that one of the building's owners is Joseph Capalbo. Neighbors called Capalbo but never heard back from him, Pat Wooten said.

Capalbo did not return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.

Another owner, James Tooher, a principal of Cedar Street Associates LLC, wrote in an e-mail, "We purchased a blighted, unsecured, contaminated property. We have had it cleaned and it has been adequately secured during our ownership with the ultimate intention of improving the site and the neighborhood."
The fire, which began at about 1:45 p.m. Sunday, destroyed the empty warehouse and a multi-family home at 43 Cedar St. It also damaged another home at 49 Cedar St. and destroyed two garages and at least seven vehicles.

About 22 people were displaced, an American Red Cross representative has said. No one was injured, Spaulding said. The warehouse and the two-story house at 43 Cedar St. will be razed next week after the city obtains demolition permits, Spaulding said.

The Advocate has asked for records of any violations and complaints filed with the health department or police.

Next fire incident in CT? Check previous one out...
City Works To Secure Mill After Pipes Stolen
DAY
By Claire Bessette
Published on 9/16/2007

Norwich — City officials are working with the owner of a large vacant mill on Franklin Street to improve security at the site after vandals recently removed copper piping from the building's sprinkler system.

The piping has been repaired, but city officials remain concerned, with a recent rash of copper thefts in the region and the mill's location in a densely populated downtown neighborhood. The mill occupies the block between Franklin and Chestnut streets and is across Willow Street from the Artspace apartment complex.

Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said the sprinkler system does work in the building. City officials allowed the owners to turn off the water in the vacant mill, because if thieves cut the pipes, water would run uncontrolled in the building. The system now is set up so that it can be charged with water when needed for fire suppression, Scandariato said.

Scandariato and city blight control officer Edward Martin have been working with the building owner to clean the exterior to remove brush and debris and to secure the building against trespassers. This week, Scandariato asked Norwich Public Utilities to install two 4,000-watt spotlights on the mill to improve lighting for police patrolling the area.

Owner Maurice Mozinia, of New York City, expressed frustration Friday with the problem of copper thefts and intruders. Mozinia has made several trips to Norwich to check on the building and pledged to seal every opening.

Mozinia said he did not believe the recent copper pipe theft was caused by vagrants. The pipe was large, 5 inches in diameter, and colored black. He believes someone had to know that the material was copper.

“We didn't even know it was copper,” he added.

Mozinia said he has read recent news stories involving copper thefts throughout southeastern Connecticut and believes state and local governments could reduce the problem by ordering scrap metal yards to stop buying from “walk-ins.” Scrap yards also could keep better records to help police investigating thefts, he said.

The price of copper has increased five-fold in the past six years, and thefts of copper from commercial buildings and homes also have increased.

This past summer, vandals broke into three transformers at the abandoned Capehart Mill in Greeneville and released about 600 gallons of PCB-laced oil that saturated the ground and flowed through the drainage system into the Shetucket River. The state Department of Environmental Protection hired a cleanup firm to remove the transformers and several truck loads of saturated soil, but oil continues to leak into the river.

Earlier this week, New London police arrested two men for allegedly removing copper downspouts from the Regional Multicultural Magnet School. The same two men had been arrested previously for allegedly stealing copper from the former Norwich Hospital in Preston.

In another case, the former director of facilities at Mystic Seaport was arrested by Stonington police for allegedly ordering more than $45,000 worth of copper wire for the museum and then selling it to scrap yards and keeping the money.

Mozinia said if scrap yards were mandated to require identification before accepting the material, “watch how fast the thefts would go down.”

Scrap yard hit by fire
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Natasha Lee
Published May 22 2007

STAMFORD - The fire marshal is investigating a hazardous waste fire that erupted at a South End scrap yard yesterday afternoon, sending flames 25 feet high.

Twenty-eight Stamford Fire & Rescue firefighters were called to Rubino Brothers Inc. at 560 Canal St. just after 2 p.m., when two 55-gallon hazardous fluid containers began burning, Assistant Fire Chief John McCabe said.

The flames spread to two scrapped cars and bellowing smoke could be seen from downtown, he said. No one was injured. Stamford police blocked off Canal Street from Henry Street to Jefferson Street. Business at the auto and waste recycling yard was not disrupted as several employees continued working while a half-dozen others watched firefighters from the sidewalk.

The fire was extinguished within 20 minutes using foam, McCabe said.

Firefighters remained on site for several hours. The U.S. Coast Guard was called to ensure fluids didn't drain into Long Island Sound.

Suit planned over Yale & Towne fire (see stories below)
Stamford ADVOCATE
By Zach Lowe, Staff Writer
Published October 15 2006

STAMFORD -- Nearly 100 antiques dealers plan to sue the city for failing to inspect a faulty sprinkler system at a building at the old Yale & Towne site before it burned down in April, according to a notice attorneys sent to city officials.

The suit would be the second to arise out of the six-alarm fire that destroyed eight businesses and caused millions of dollars in damage at the South End property on April 3. Attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit in July against the property owners after investigations showed they did nothing to repair a faulty sprinkler system inside the buildings at 735 Canal St., court records show.

The new notice of a lawsuit, sent late last month, blames Stamford's fire and building inspectors for failing to check the building or force the owners to fix fire code violations, according to a copy of the notice.

The notice is not a lawsuit, said the Stamford attorney who filed it, Mario DiNatale. Attorneys must tell any municipality of plans to sue within six months of the event that caused the damage, DiNatale said. The firm will continue to investigate the cause of the blaze before filing any lawsuit, DiNatale said.

The fire started in a small piano shop before spreading to several other businesses, including the 17,000-square-foot Stamford Antiques Center. More than 100 dealers rented space in the center, which was located inside Building 15 on the Yale & Towne property, attorneys have said.

The building is owned by Antares Investment Partners of Greenwich.

The fire grew out of control before firefighters arrived because the sprinkler system in the area was broken, according to the results of an investigation the city's fire marshals conducted after the blaze.

"We basically lost our business," said Jerry Pivak, co-owner of Graybeard Antiques in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Pivak stored about 200 items worth about $80,000 at the antique center. The items, none of which could be salvaged, amounted to 90 percent of his collection, Pivak said.

"We miss the business," he said. "It's gone, and I don't know if we can ever get it back again."

The notice blames the city for allowing Antares to rent out the property "knowing there were serious defects and flaws in the sprinkler system."

Barry Callahan, the city's chief fire marshal, admitted in April the city's nine marshals cannot inspect all 6,000 or so businesses in the city each year as required by state law. The last formal inspection of the Yale & Towne site was in 2002, city records show.

Callahan said he could not comment on the notice because he had not seen it. He has said the marshals have struggled to make all their inspections as the number of businesses in the city has jumped from about 3,600 in 2001 to more than 6,000 last year.

Marshals inspected about 99 percent of businesses in 2000-01 but only about 80 percent in 2005-06, Callahan has said.

"It's just a physical impossibility," Callahan said in April. "The ultimate responsibility for monitoring the building lies with the owner."

The notice also names the city's acting chief building inspector, Joseph Tarzia, and the city's zoning inspector. Tarzia said the Building Department is responsible for construction sites, not fire code violations at finished buildings and businesses.

The first lawsuit, filed in July by the New York firm Bainton McCarthy, targets the owners, not the city. The suit claims Antares didn't bother fixing the sprinklers because they planned to tear down the buildings. Antares has filed plans to build apartment complexes and businesses on the Yale & Towne site.

Antares knew the sprinkler system was broken a year ago when they bought the site from Heyman Properties of Westport, company officials have said.

But the system broke in the mid-1990s under Heyman's watch and was never repaired, the city's investigation found. Problems started when Heyman shut down the heat to parts of the building no one was renting, the investigation showed.

Water froze inside the sprinkler system's pipes. When the ice melted, the pipes cracked open and rusted, fire officials have said. Heyman did not repair the sprinkler system in the late 1990s when new tenants moved in. They shut the system down around that time, records show.

Heyman has not been named in any lawsuit.

Bruce Macleod, chief operating officer for Antares, has said officials planned to repair the sprinkler system this spring and summer. They had to wait for warm weather because the heat in the building would have to be turned off during repairs, Macleod has said.

The fire destroyed the buildings before repairs started, officials have said.

Yale & Towne shops sue Antares
By ANNA GUSTAFSON, Hour Staff Writer
Sunday, July 30, 2006

STAMFORD — Attorneys representing about 100 Stamford Antique Center dealers filed a class-action lawsuit against Antares Investment Partners of Greenwich, owners of Yale & Towne, which was ravaged in an April 3 fire.

The suit, filed on July 21, states that had Antares Investment Partners of Greenwich fixed the faulty sprinkler system, dealers would not have suffered millions of dollars of damages lost in the fire.

Attorneys for Bainton McCarthy LLC of New York filed the suit against Antares Yale & Towne SPE, LLC; Antares Manager Group, LLC; James P. Cabrera; Paul A. Haller of Haller Piano; Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital L.P.; and Greenwich Capital Financial Products, Inc., to recover the millions of dollars lost.

The complaint alleges that the businesses were destroyed in the fire as a result of "the willful failure of the defendants to repair flagrant fire code violations."

Because Antares intended to demolish the Yale & Towne buildings, the complaint states the development company "had no motive to make the legally and morally required repairs to the fire suppression system that they knew were required."

Instead, attorneys said, Antares continued to collect tenants' rent while their development project worked its way through various governmental approvals, thereby "exposing the lives and livelihoods of the tenants to the horrific risk of fire that came to pass last April."

Upon purchasing the Yale & Towne property in October 2005, the plaintiffs said Antares was aware of multiple fire code and other safety deficiencies, including a broken and disconnected sprinkler system. Once the six-alarm fire began in Haller Piano, it spread quickly. A Stamford fire marshal report concluded that the fire may not have spread to the businesses near the piano shop had there been a working sprinkler system.

According to the report issued several weeks ago, the fire spread quickly due to flammable liquids within Haller Piano; the lack of an operating sprinkler system; and because the building was old and partially made of wood. Antares spokesperson Ben Branch told the fire department that due to broken pipes, the previous property owner had shut off the sprinkler system for building 15. System repairs were scheduled for spring 2006, he said.

Defendants did not return calls for comment.

While no lives were lost in the fire, antique dealer Christina Benisch said years of hard work were lost.

"People lost years and years and years of their life's work," Benisch said in a previous interview. "People lost up to $400,000 worth of stuff."

Ridgely Whitmore Brown, a lawyer for Bainton McCarthy, said the owners were lucky no one died.

"It is a miracle that no one was seriously injured or killed and that miracle occurred very much in spite of the defendants' conduct," he said.
Brown said they will be ready for the trial on the issue of liability by year end, although a judge must first approve the suit.