A regional educational organization has purchased a former factory-turned-office building at the corner of James Street and Humphrey Street to use as its central-office headquarters. That property transaction was recorded on the city’s land records database on April 30. The deal’s warrant y deed states that Area Cooperative Educational Services Corporation (ACES) paid $14.6 million to James Street LLC to buy the four-story, 12-unit office building at 370 James St. The city last appraised that property for tax purposes as worth $12,090,700. The seller of the building is a holding company controlled by David Beckerman, who runs a New Haven-based real estate company called the Acorn Group. The 370 James St. building was long home to Beckerman’s licensed sports apparel business, Starter; before that, it was home to the National Box Folding Company. A recent real estate listing for 370 James St. identifies the 185,000 square-foot building’s tenants as including the Connecticut Department of Social Services, Teach for America, United Way, American Job Center / Workforce Alliance, Bilco Co., and Concentra, among others. The property’s new owner, meanwhile, is ACES, a Regional Educational Service Center (RESC) for the 27 school districts in south-central Connecticut. In New Haven, ACES runs the Educational Center for the Arts (ECA), an arts high school on Audubon Street. In an email comment provided to the Independent, ACES Executive Director Thomas Danehy said that, in November 2023, ACES moved its central-office headquarters from 350 State St. in North Haven to rental space in 370 James St. in New Haven. More than two years later, ACES now owns the building its headquarters are located in. Danehy wrote that, for the past 50-plus years, ACES has been “an active member of the greater New Haven community as it provides educational services, programming, and school choice to county residents.” He wrote that ACES has had “schools, offices, and work centers for many years in numerous separate buildings in Hamden and North Haven.” Over the past decade, he said, ACES has renovated school buildings at 130 Leeder Hill Dr. in Hamden and at 88 Bassett Rd. in North Haven.  “All of those older buildings had added to our capital repair obligations,” Danehy continued. “I had made a goal with the ACES Board to consolidate ACES’ real estate footprint not only to mitigate capital repairs for spaces that were no longer appropriate, but also to create spaces that were designed specifically for students with special needs, being respectful of their needs as well as the employees who engage in the hard work of educating them. Consequently, we have sold a few of these properties and moved our central office headquarters to 370 James Street, New Haven. It is good to now be located in New Haven as we have partnered with New Haven Public Schools for many years.” He concluded by stating that most of the tenants at 370 James “are in the nonprofit arena” and do work that is “similar to ACES’ mission and vision.” Asked if ACES plans on changing up any of the tenants at 370 James, Danehy wrote, “We don’t plan on ending any of the present leases. The building is presently mostly occupied.” Asked if ACES plans on taking 370 James St. off the tax rolls, he added, “No, we can’t take it off the tax rolls, only the portion of the building that ACES uses. Most of the space will remain taxable to the City.” The post ACES Buys Fair Haven Office Building For $14.6M appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less