When Joel Schiavone, SM '58, talks, people listen. People like Mayor John DeStefano, who "has great respect for the entertainment and residential areas that Schiavone has created," according to City Hall spokesperson Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo. Yale representatives listen too: Linda Lorimer, University secretary, said, "Joel Schiavone is a great example of a Yale alum who has helped revitalize New Haven.We want to have more like him."
So who is Joel Schiavone, and what is he talking about? Schiavone is the most influential real estate developer in the downtown district of New Haven, owning many retail and residential locations, including the Warner and Kelly Buildings. He's a lifelong resident of the city and a Yale graduate, though he says he never really felt at home in the elite, Old-Blue atmosphere. After Schiavone earned his M.B.A. at Harvard Business School, he ran a chain of nightclubs throughout the Northeast in the 1960s. After heading his father's scrap metal company, he entered the New Haven real estate market in 1979.
Recently, Schiavone's name has come up in the news due to his financial interest in the Shubert Theater as co-owner and in Connecticut Limo as manager. Schiavone said that the two companies' economic problems can be attributed to the general recession still being experienced in the Mid-Atlantic states. However, both the Shubert and Connecticut Limo "will always survive in some form.They will always be operated because they provide a viable service," Schiavone said.
Of equal importance to New Haven is the Chapel Street area. By 1985, Schiavone, in a joint venture with the First Constitution Bank, had purchased all the stores on Chapel Street between College and High Streets. In the span of eight years, the Schiavone Realty-First Constitution partnership transformed the abandoned area into the vibrant Chapel Street recognizable to current Yalies. Schiavone said that the revitalization of Chapel Street was "not a financial home run," but it is "a block that works."
However, the district is currently in danger of disintegration. In 1993, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over First Constitution Bank's share of the Chapel Street partnership when the bank filed for bankruptcy. The FDIC has gone to court to seek the right to foreclose on the Chapel Street properties and resell them on an individual basis. "It is our conviction that the only reason Chapel Street works well is because [the buildings] are managed by one entity," Schiavone said. If the court rules against Schiavone Realty, comprehensive maintenance and supervision of the district will cease. "Stores will move in which no one wants and that will be the end of it," Schiavone said. No verdict is expected from arbitration for another year.
Despite that uncertainty, Schiavone is still promoting his vision for New Haven. He has designed a "concept" and "philosophy" as a solution to New Haven's economic "mess." However, he emphasized that "New Haven's one competitive advantage"-and the only entity that has sufficient funding to implement his plan-is Yale University. In a speech last year at the New Haven Yale Club, Schiavone said, "The vision is to create a college town.Forget creating a commercial center with high-rise buildings, give up the dream to be a major retail center, realize that we can't ever become a tourist destination."
Schiavone hopes to achieve this Yale-based revitalization through off-campus housing. He proposes a city with more privately-owned apartment buildings with Yale students living in them. A view of his plan goes like this: create more downtown apartment buildings, and more Yalies can live off-campus; more students off-campus means that Yale could increase enrollment. New Haven would grow with the student population to create Schiavone's vision of a college town.
The Administration is enthusiastic about the idea of New Haven as a college town but disapproves of Schiavone's promotion of the off-campus exodus. "We are very encouraged by the vision of Mr. Schiavone, but I do not think that more off-campus housing needs to be part of the equation," Lorimer said.
Schiavone's vision for the city includes another college, in the form of a Connecticut Institute of Technology in the blighted Chapel Square Mall. "Engineering schools create jobs.$100 million spent on a first-class engineering school would be repaid hundreds of times," Schiavone said.
It is arguable that there is no one who has as Yale-centric a view for New Haven as Schiavone. "Encourage Yale," he said in his speech. "Stop lambasting them as non tax-payers, give them almost anything they want." As Lorimer said, "I think the right word is that we are seeking to be partners with New Haven."
Evan Farber and Grace Suh contributed to this article.
Copyright 1995, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article may be freely distributed electronically, provided it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice, but may not be reprinted without the express written permission of The Yale Herald, Inc. Write to herald@yale.edu for additional details.