New Haven residents say alarm has been sounding at former Comcast building for weeks

630 Chapel St. in New Haven, where an alarm has reportedly been sounding every few minutes for weeks. 630 Chapel St. in New Haven, where an alarm has reportedly been sounding every few minutes for weeks. Photo: Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media / Photo: Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media / Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close New Haven residents say alarm has been sounding at former Comcast building for weeks 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — Neighbors are finding the noise, well, rather alarming.

The noise is in fact an alarm going off every few minutes at the former Comcast building at the corner of Chapel and Olive streets.

It’s reportedly been sounding for weeks.

It’s not immediately clear how and when it might be shut off.

The New Haven Register received a tip about the alarm Thursday.

“It’s been doing it 24/7 for almost three weeks,” said Richard Bailey, a resident of nearby Warren Street.

He said the alarm began to sound after there was a power outage in the area. It was going off Thursday morning, seeming to come from the Olive Street side of the property.

Every few minutes, the tone would begin to ring out, sounding and rising in pitch for just over 10 seconds, then falling silent until the cycle repeated itself. It was audible, albeit muffled by traffic, from the Chapel Street side of the property.

Bailey said he had contacted a number of city and state officials, including the office of Mayor Toni Harp and the New Haven Police Department, about the matter without it being remedied.

Some had responded to his inquires, but others had not, which was particularly irritating, he said.

Contacted Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said Looney’s office received an email and had been in contact Thursday with the New Haven Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement.

“We expect the building alarm to be off in the next two hours or so,” Kevin Coughlin said in an email.

Ward 8 Alder Brenda Harris said Thursday she had not heard about the alarm, but would see what she can do about getting it turned off.

New Haven Police Sgt. Shayna Kendall said she would look into the matter; a police cruiser was parked by the property just before 10 a.m.

Laurence Grotheer, spokesman for Harp, initially said he would check to see whether the office had been notified of the alarm.

Later Thursday, Grotheer said that, according to the city’s Small Business Development office, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners LLC, which is listed as the property owner in city records as the owner, sold the property on Nov. 7 to a local affiliate of Hines.

“In an e-mail time-stamped 3:07 this afternoon, a spokesperson from Hines said the intermittent alarm was only brought to their attention this morning,” Grotheer said in an email “As of 3:07 Hines is working with its security provider to have the alarm turned off as soon as possible.”

But the alarm was continuing to sound Thursday evening.

Frank Caico, vice president of development with Spinnaker Real Estate, also noted that the building had been sold to Hines. He said he had learned of the issue Thursday, but was assisting in the effort to get the alarm shut off, which had seemingly been made more complicated than usual by the recent power outage.

He said he appreciated the concerns of residents.

“We’re trying to work with Hines, the new owner, to troubleshoot it and get it shut off,” said Caico.

Bailey said New Haven police had told him they had contacted Spinnaker Real Estate about the alarm, as well.

He noted that there are a number of residences near the building, including his own, and expressed his displeasure that the noise had not been dealt with.

“It’s ridiculous, actually,” said Bailey. “It’s a very loud and intrusive alarm.”

Tips can be sent to all Hearst Connecticut Media newspapers, including the New Haven Register, at tips@ctnews.com.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com