SARAH GORDON / THE DAY The Bulkeley House on Bank Street in New London has been closed since 2017.
Developer hopes to open restaurant site next year
June 02, 2025
By JOHN PENNEY
Day Staff Writer
New London – The historic Bulkeley House at 109-111 Bank St. was sold this mont for $795,000 to a Maine-based developer that hopes to reopen the spot as a restaurant next year.
High Tide Capital, which in the last few years has purchased several New Lonon parcels and buildings, including the former Day building, a vacant church and a shuttered bank, closed on the property on May 28, according to city records. A warranty deed shows High Tide doing business as 109 Bank Street LLC, bought the structure from Amy Mase, of Seaside Bank Street LLC.
The red-shingled building, tucked between a brew pub and the Hygenic Art building, has sat vacant for eight years amid a flurry of lawsuits, bankruptcy filings, unpaid taxes and a foreclosure battle. Before that the 235-year-old structure was home for years to a bustling downtown restaurant.
Dash Davidson, a principal at High Tide, said Thursday his company had been eyeing the Bulkeley house for the last several years, even as attempts by other firms to buy the property failed.
He said talks accelerated late last year but were still complicated by the property’s legal status.
“We did a lot of technical investigations to make sure it could be conveyed properly, and we had a clean title,” Davidson said. “It was not an easy process, and we weren’t entirely confident it would go through,”
In 2011, the Moreland Corp. sold the restaurant to Albert Farrah, who headed up the two companies – Thames Restaurant Group LLC and Riverview Realty Associates LLC – that ran the business and oversaw the property before both firms declared bankruptcy in 2017.
Moreland, run by Luciano Mase – Amy Mase’s father – had previously sued Farrah for allegedly not making monthly payments as promised. Luciano Mase in 2012 was sentenced to a year in prison for tax evasion.
Mase could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
US Properties Realtor Conie Howard, who represented the Bulkeley House buyer and seller, said all the outstanding legal issues, including the bankruptcy proceedings, were resolved ahead of this month’s closing.
“It was a complicated transaction, just trying to keep everything together,” Howard said. “But it’s a beautiful building with an outdoor patio and will be a great addition to downtown.”
While there are no firm plans for the next iteration of the property, which replaced an earlier home burned during Benedict Arnold’s 1781 attack on the city, Davidson said he envisions food and beverage service on the ground floor.
“We’re thinking about a daytime, family friendly place, possibly with live music events,” he said. “We really want to get this going for next spring or summer.”
High Tide Capital in recent years has compiled a hefty portfolio of New London properties the company either remodeled or was in the process of renovating. The firm last year completed the Riverbank, a multi-million-dollar project that includes 32 mixed income apartments, a rooftop deck and three retail locations at 137, 133 and 123 Bank St. Tox Brewery, an existing city business, expanded and reopened at 123 Bank St. in November.
The firm in 2022 opened the Manwaring Building at 225 state St. to house Connecticut College students after investing millions in its historic rehabilitation. In 2023, the firm purchased The Day’s headquarters at 47 Eugene O’Neill drive for $1.87 million and later paid $1.75 million for the Citizens Bank building next door with plans to redevelop both buildings.
High Tide is also seeking to build apartments at a vacant Green Street church and a former sailmaking business on Union Street. More apartments are planned above the former Frontier Communications building on State Street, which is also the location of The Day’s new headquarters. The Day leases a portion of the building from High Tide.