A North Haven real estate firm has purchased the vacant former H.B. Ives Co. manufacturing site in New Haven, with plans to develop it for a range of uses — such as biotechnology, manufacturing, warehousing, e-commerce, last-mile fulfillment and a data center.
Mayor Justin Elicker announced the purchase of the property, located at 50 Ives Place, on Thursday morning.
According to the city Assessor’s office, Ives IP Associates LLC of 110 Republic Drive, North Haven, purchased the 4-plus acre site on June 2. The seller was Harrow Products LLC. The property, a brownfields site, is appraised at $646,200. The warranty deed indicates the property was sold for “$10 and other good and valuable consideration.” However, city officials indicated the sale price was $750,000.
Elm City Industrial Properties Inc. is listed as principal of Ives IP Associates with the Secretary of the State’s office.
H.B. Ives Co., which manufactured home products such as chain locks for door security, closed more than a decade ago.
According to Elicker, the buyer has been working with the city’s Office of Economic Development to develop the property and create jobs.
This “closing is an important step toward returning a dormant piece of industrial land back to productive use and the city tax rolls,” Elicker said in an announcement.
The deal includes a primary 4.4-acre vacant lot where H.B. Ives’ manufacturing facility once stood, and a half-acre parking lot on East Street, according to the city.
H.B. Ives occupied that location from 1965 through 2009. Its building was later demolished, and the property was used as a staging area during the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge construction project.
Steve Fontana, the city’s deputy director of economic development, said New Haven remains an “attractive place to live, work, visit and invest,” even during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Fontana said he is pleased to work with the developer to bring a fallow property back to productive use.
“We look forward to working with the Elm City [Industrial] team to redevelop the site in a way that maximizes job creation, property tax revenues, and neighborhood revitalization,” Fontana said in the announcement.
According to Fontana, required brownfields environmental investigation and remediation has been done, in compliance with the Connecticut Transfer Act. The only remediation the new owner needs to do is cap the lot with paving or a building, and conduct ongoing groundwater monitoring, Fontana said.
Michael Piscitelli, the city’s Economic Development Administrator, said he is pleased with the strategic direction of the project, with light industrial settings that create jobs.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
