07/14/08 Real Estate - City Planner William Warner: Richman can't can't let bad tenants chase away good tenants. It comes down to property management.

Middletown's Wharfside Commons Gets Mixed Report Card

Hartford Courant

MIDDLETOWN - Wharfside Commons was this city's most anticipated housing development when it opened a year ago on Ferry Street in the North End, the poorest street in the poorest section of Middletown.

Now, Wharfside's 96 apartments are all rented, and the tenants, most of whom are working and earning $25,000 to $40,000 annually, have boosted employment and income along the blocks between the northern end of the city's wide, bustling Main Street and Route 9.

But the one-year report card is mixed, clouded by a recent assault and a nonfatal shooting involving people living or stayi.ng at Wharfside. Those incidents, and an impression that the complex had relaxed its tenant-screening policy, raised concerns about management and triggered an ultimatum from Mayor Sebastian Giuliano....

... But the complex has had its critics from the start. Giuliano and the downtown business establishment believe the complex is too big and too dense, and they believe the city — through grants, a property tax break and a donation of land — gave too sweet a deal to the developer, the wealthy Richman Group of Greenwich. Richman owns and operates thousands of apartments across the country, including eight developments in Connecticut and New York...

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