A New York investor who has invested heavily in Waterbury apartments in the past few years is seeking to transform a shuttered nursing home in the city’s east end into apartments.
Bright Sky Management Inc., headed by New City, New York-based real estate investor Yitzchok Kaufman, has applied to the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals to allow the conversion of the shuttered Meridian Manor nursing home, at 1132 Meriden Road, into apartments.
The 22,089-square-foot nursing home property was completed in 1972 and had hosted 94 beds. It sits on a 1.6-acre property surrounded by single-family homes on a busy artery. Meriden Road mixes retail and other commercial developments, along with houses and apartment complexes as it cuts through a long stretch of the city.
The former Meridian Manor, closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sits in an area that is currently zoned for single-family development. The property has been owned by R&C Realty Associates since 2012.
A hearing on Bright Sky’s proposal opened in January, drawing questions from board members and the public about the configuration, unit count, parking layout and aesthetics of the proposed redevelopment, City Planner Robert Nerney said. The hearing is scheduled to continue as part of a ZBA meeting Wednesday night, but the applicant has asked to postpone the hearing until a March 19 meeting to gather and share more information, Nerney said.
Kaufman has invested heavily in central Connecticut in the past few years, buying properties in Torrington and New Britain along with Waterbury, with the latter seeing the bulk of his purchases. Kaufman’s Waterbury acquisitions have included:
· A $2.75 million purchase of five apartment buildings on Judith Lane with 30 total units.
· A $3.75 million purchase of a 1969-vintage, 60-unit apartment building at 28 Scovill St.
· A $1.4 million purchase of a 16-unit apartment building at 1054 Bank St.
· A $2.9 million purchase of a 32-unit apartment complex at 1083 Bank St.
· A $2.9 million purchase of a 61-unit apartment building at 71 Plaza Ave.
