by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent
The existing three-story office building and adjacent surface lot.
A Queens-based developer has purchased a three-story office building and adjacent surface parking lot on Blake Street where 144 new apartments have long been planned, but not yet built.
That property transaction was recorded on the city’s land records database on Wednesday.
The warranty deed states that Noble New Haven LLC paid $2.9 million to 446A Blake LLC to buy 446A Blake St. That 1.89-acre property last sold for $1,548,750 in 2018, and the city last appraised it for tax purposes as worth $2,675,800.
The city’s land records database also shows that, on the same day as the sale, Noble New Haven LLC received a $2.5 million mortgage loan from Golden Bridge R2 LLC for this property.
The property’s new owner is a holding company controlled by Konstandios Vorillas of Long Island City, N.Y. Vorillas helms a real estate development firm called First Elite Management, which recently built 46 condos in Long Island City.
The seller of 446A Blake St. is a holding company controlled in part by Tom Gelman of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wednesday’s sale comes roughly three years after the City Plan Commission granted Gelman’s company site plan approval to construct two new five-story buildings and convert existing office space to create a total of 144 apartments and 85 on-site parking spaces at 446A Blake St. Back in January 2023, the then-owner’s attorney estimated that the residential development would be complete by the fall of 2025.
In an email statement sent to the Independent on Thursday, Gelman told the Independent that his company acquired 446A Blake — known as the Wintergreen Office Building — roughly eight years ago from a foreclosing bank.
“After making significant investments, filling vacancies and addressing years of deferred maintenance – COVID hit, tenants defaulted and the work-from-home shift forced us to pivot or risk losing the building entirely,” Gelman wrote.
“That challenge became an opportunity: we saw a chance to repurpose the building and its large lot to add much-needed housing to New Haven’s market, and we pursued approvals to do exactly that. Then the business environment shifted again. Rising interest rates caused banks to pull back on new construction financing, and despite our best efforts, we were unable to secure the capital needed to break ground.”
Thus his company’s decision to sell the property — alongside the city-approved development plan — to “someone who could take it across the finish line.”
“We believe the project is in good hands and genuinely look forward to seeing those apartments come to life,” Gelman concluded. “We remain strong believers in New Haven’s potential and are actively looking for new opportunities to invest in its housing market.”
The 446A Blake St. property sits just on the other side of the West River from another long-delayed development site, where Ocean Management is constructing 129 new apartments at the site of the former 500 Blake Street Cafe.