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September 2, 2021

Developers investing in West Haven seaside properties eye shoreline revival

PHOTO | Michelle Tuccitto Sullo The former Chick’s Drive-In eatery in West Haven sits empty now, but its new owners are planning to redevelop it, possibly for another restaurant.
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A coastal community typically has a thriving waterfront, filled with bustling businesses and attracting visitors who want to come to enjoy the serene views.

For one stretch of West Haven’s coastline, a once busy area is now pockmarked by empty former restaurants and businesses and a row of boarded-up, fenced-off houses. Graffiti and “No Trespassing” signs mar the area.

Many factors have contributed to the decline — from a local business owner’s death to area flooding issues, financial woes and the pandemic.

Now, a couple of key recent real estate deals along Beach Street offer hope that the area is headed for a revival. A long-vacant restaurant and a former motel changed hands this summer, and the developers imagine the region returning to its heyday as a tourist attraction.

Mayor Nancy Rossi called the recent deals “the beginning of an economic resurgence.”

“My long-term hope is for this to be a bustling place like any other shoreline community, with stores and restaurants,” Rossi said.

Rossi envisions the area having not only eateries and hotels, but typical beachfront stores selling everything from suntan lotion to ocean-themed paintings to seashell crafts.

In July, The Amico Group LLC of North Haven bought the former Chick’s Drive-In, at 183 Beach St., for $1 million. The waterfront eatery for decades was known as the place to go for treats like hot dogs and lobster rolls, but it closed in 2015 after its owner, Joseph E. “Chick” Celentano, died.

Christopher Marone, an Amico Group principal, said a future restaurant may go in that location, but plans are still being finalized, as the new owners are still in discussions with city officials. Marone’s partners in Amico, Michael DelVecchio and Stefano Coletta, have both worked in the restaurant industry.

“We are very excited about what is happening down there,” Marone said in August. “It is definitely seeing a resurgence.”

Marone said the city and state’s plans for improvements to the Beach Street roadway, to prevent past flooding problems, were key in the trio’s buying decision.

“That is what brought our interest to the area,” Marone said. “No one wants to lose months of business if a hurricane comes.”

Superstorm Sandy in 2012 caused significant damage in the area, with a section of Beach Street and First Avenue underwater due to flooding.

When asked about the timeline for a future business opening at the former Chick’s site, Marone said it is too soon to say. Any project would be contingent on local land use and building department approvals, Marone noted.

“It is not something we are just sitting on,” Marone said. “Beach Street at one point was a historic landmark for the shoreline, and our hope is that it comes back. We are confident it will happen.”

Hotel proposal

In another positive sign, in August, the nearby long-vacant former Debonair Beach Motel site, at 295 Beach St., sold for $1 million to Sim Lev Holdings LLC of New Haven. The building has been empty for about seven years.

Sim Levenhartz, principal of Sim Lev Holdings, said he is interested in having a hotel at the site featuring luxury suites with multiple rooms, and he hopes to have the project completed by the summer of 2023.

Levenhartz said he is seeking input from city zoning officials and civil engineers before finalizing and formally pursuing his plans.

“We are very excited to get started right away on this project,” Levenhartz said.

As of late August, he hadn’t decided yet whether he will pursue remodeling the existing building or knocking it down and building anew.

“There are a lot of moving pieces, including [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], street, zoning, construction and the market,” Levenhartz said.

PHOTO | Gary Lewis
Sim Levenhartz, principal of Sim Lev Holdings LLC, the new owner of the former Debonair Beach Motel in West Haven, envisions a luxury hotel at the site.

The Debonair property was once a premier beach destination, according to Levenhartz, and his hope is to make it so once again.

“Beach Street has a lot of potential and it will be up to both the town and property owners like myself to bring back what was once a great place,” Levenhartz said. “My plan is to build a hotel that will be attractive for families, groups and couples for both short stays and extended stays. There are very few opportunities in Connecticut for people to stay in a nice hotel on the beach.”

Levenhartz said he has always loved the West Haven shoreline. With the former Chick’s site also slated for redevelopment, he said it will mean a real change for the area.

Flood prevention

Efforts to fix the area’s flood risk and help protect structures during storms are underway. The city has secured more than $8 million in state and federal funding to raise a stretch of Beach Street and First Avenue up to 5 feet.

The first $3.5 million phase of that project has begun, courtesy of a $2.94 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant and $560,000 from the city. In May 2020, Rossi and State Rep. Dorinda Borer (D-West Haven) announced an additional $5.2 million in state bonding funds had been secured to complete the project’s second and third phases.

“The area has had problems with flooding, which can be incapacitating to businesses,” Rossi said. “[This project is] to raise the road so it stops any flooding of businesses.”

Rossi said the road project is expected to be finished by the middle to end of 2023.

Any redevelopment at the recently-purchased properties could be done simultaneously, and the owners wouldn’t have to wait for the road elevation project to be finished, according to Rossi.

“There is a lot of interest in that whole strip,” Rossi said.

Lou Proto of The Proto Group of North Haven, a real estate firm, was involved in both the Chick’s and Debonair deals.

“I think there is going to be a turnaround,” Proto said, of the West Haven shoreline.

Proto saw a surge of interest in the West Haven properties before the deals closed.

While the planned road and flooding problem fixes are part of the reason for the uptick in interest, the economic improvement following what hopefully is the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic helped too, Proto said.

Other opportunities

The two recently-purchased properties aren’t the only ones that have been vacant along the city’s coast.

Bill Morgan, an agent with Coldwell Banker Commercial, currently has two waterfront listings, the vacant former Bait & Tackle shop at 267 Beach St., and a 0.34 acre lot at 279 Beach St.

“We’ve had inquiries, but nothing yet,” Morgan said. “With the planned road improvements, we will probably have even more activity.”

The vacant site of the former Bait & Tackle is among properties still for sale along the West Haven shore.

While this stretch has its share of vacancies, Rossi is quick to note it is close to the Sandy Point Beach & Bird Sanctuary, also on Beach Street, deemed by Globe Magazine as among the best beaches in New England.

Meanwhile, a row of boarded-up houses stand empty behind fencing along West Haven’s waterfront, along First Avenue and Water Streets, within blocks of the former Chick’s and Debonair.

The area is slated to be developed into The Haven, an approximately 265,000-square-foot outlet center with stores and restaurants expected to be a destination for the region.

Back in 2018, Simon Property Group and The Haven Group LLC indicated they had hopes of finishing the project in the summer of 2020.

Representatives for the developers did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the project’s status.

Simon owns shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, with properties across North America, Europe and Asia.

Rossi said of the delay, “The pandemic didn’t help.”

But Rossi, the West Haven mayor, said she remains confident The Haven project will happen, and she has been working with the developers to get it completed.

In July, Gov. Ned Lamont signed an act creating a special taxation district for the site where The Haven is slated to be built.

“I’m not sure on the timeline for The Haven, but we are going forward with the project,” Rossi said. “We want this to move quickly.”

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