A building owner wants to convert office space in the heart of downtown Derby into 14 rental apartments.
The owner is Angelo Giordano, an Orange resident who owns the building at 59 – 65 Elizabeth St. through a limited liability company called Derby Dan. The rear half of the building has its own address, 58 Minerva St.
Giordano/Derby Dan has an application pending in front of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission to create 14 apartments on the building’s upper floors. The plan calls for three two-bedroom apartments, six one-bedroom apartments and five efficiency apartments.
The building is two floors on the Elizabeth Street side — and four floors on the Minerva Street side.
The office space on the ground floor on the Elizabeth Street side will remain as commercial. Everything else will become apartments.
A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for the Oct. 16 P&Z meeting.
The P&Z actually approved the apartments back in June. However, abutting property owners were not notified about the application.
Because of the lack of notification, one of the neighbors — Anita Dugatto, a dentist who owns the building at 69-71 Elizabeth St. — has an appeal pending at Superior Court in Milford seeking to overturn the P&Z’s approval.
In the meantime, Giordano filed a new application with the commission. The new application slightly reduces parking and changes the design of an exit to the property.
Dugatto told the Valley Indy Sept. 27 she plans to attend October’s public hearing on the latest version of the application. Dugatto opposes the application because she said downtown Derby needs office and commercial space — not more apartments.
“I don’t care if they are high-end apartments or low-end apartments,” she said. “It’s not conducive to downtown. We need commercial down there.”
Dugatto pointed out the Derby Aldermen recently dedicated money to purchase blighted properties with the underlining goal to reduce residential density. Her neighbor’s plan does just the opposite by increasing density, Dugatto said.
Dominick Thomas, the lawyer representing Giordano, said apartments are a permitted use at the location.
Thomas said his client has repeatedly tried to lure commercial tenants to the building but has been unsuccessful.
“When I grew up in Derby, there was retail on the bottom floor and retail on the second floor all over the place, including downtown,” he said. “My client has desperately tried to rent office space. He’s keeping the retail on the first floor on Elizabeth Street. But there is no demand for office space.”
Thomas said the units will be market-rate apartments. He pointed out the Minerva Street side of building is surrounded by residential uses.
“You’re not going to get the doctor’s offices like you used to,” Thomas said. “Times have changed. They tend to locate around hospitals. If you’re trying to attract an internist, there’s a parking issue. People don’t want to use the parking garage and then walk to an office. Bringing in quality apartments will result in more people living downtown.”
