From Brian Lockhart, CT Post:
With the bulk of the Remington Arms plant’s crumbling buildings now demolished, city officials are soliciting developer proposals for the prominent, municipally-owned East Side location.
Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration issued its public request in mid-September, with a non-mandatory site tour scheduled for Oct. 21 and a Nov. 19 submission deadline.
Thomas Gill, Bridgeport’s economic development director, believes the effort will also expedite the environmental cleanup, which is the responsibility of one former property owner, Corteva, and its subsidiary, Sporting Goods Properties.
“Selection of a developer could actually accelerate and help the remediation plan and help … Corteva with their remediation,” Gill explained. “Certain materials can be left on site depending on what you’re building. It can be buried, capped, as opposed to just going in there and removing it. … It just makes good business sense to have a possibility of a development plan there they can also look at.”
…”We’re not looking for housing. … It’s not being cleaned to that standard,” Gill said. “With the hospital being so close, any type of manufacturing related to health care would be ideal.” Bridgeport Hospital is just a few minutes’ drive away.
Full story here
Summary from city projects page:
The City of Bridgeport, through its Office of Planning and Economic Development (OPED), is seeking proposals from qualified developers for the acquisition and redevelopment of 812 and 889 Barnum Avenue, the site of the former Remington Arms Munitions Factory.
The requirements of this bid are outlined in greater detail under Bid Information Section.
The selected awardee must meet all municipal, State and Federal practices and requirements.
First constructed in 1867, the Remington Arms Complex was an iconic landmark of industrial Bridgeport. Lining Barnum Avenue like a canyon of brick, its factories armed the United States military (and forces abroad) for more than a century until they were sold in 1986. After years languishing, the buildings were eventually acquired by the City of Bridgeport and demolished. Now, the two parcels that made up the factory complex, as well as the restored Shot Tower, are ready to be redeveloped.
To facilitate a range of different proposals for this area, the City is including up to three different development sites within this RFP. Respondents will have the option to present their proposal(s) to acquire and develop any single site or any combination of sites. If proposing to acquire and develop more than one site, the respondent must explain the phasing of the project.
The sites are listed as follows:
Site 1 – 812 Barnum Avenue
Site 2 – 889 Barnum Avenue
Site 3 – Remington Shot Tower
812 and 889 Barnum Avenue are directly across the street from one another. The Shot Tower is situated at the northwestern corner of the 889 Barnum Avenue site
The City seeks redevelopment proposals that align with the City’s zoning regulations (Zone Bridgeport) and that support the goals of the City’s Plan of Conservation and Development, (Plan Bridgeport).
The City seeks dynamic, commercial, recreational, and/or clean industrial redevelopment that will:
- provide high-quality jobs and economic development opportunities;
- maximize the site’s historic and economic value;
- enhance and embrace the East Side neighborhood.
Respondents with a track record of success, and a commitment to investing in Bridgeport, are encouraged to respond.
The city finally has an opportunity to use land owned by the city, that will be remediated at no cost to the city, solely for the benefit of city residents.
Build a new state of the art city operations complex.
City Hall, Police, Fire, every city agency and service at one location. With adequate parking. A new fire and police and emergency services training center that will benefit the city and it’s residents for decades to come, not to mention the stabilizing effect it will have on the area.
The city can then sell the 2 existing City Halls and other properties to cover some of the cost of the new complex.
“…Manufacturing related to healthcare…” is an excellent idea for the site. Another idea could be the BATTERY FACTORY THAT WAS PROMISED BY GANIM AND LAMONT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ELECTION SCANDA L DURING THE LAST ELECTION. It would be a bad idea to put tax-less development on that land — especially development that would deplete the downtown of facilities that provide a sense of security and city presence downtown, where city facilities belong for obvious reasons…
Downtown should be a retail, restaurant and entertainment hub for the city.
The locations vacated by city agencies would be sold and added to the tax rolls.
We have far too many city agencies scattered about the city that do not have adequate parking. At this time about the worst thing for people trying to do business with the city is finding a parking space.
Of course the downtown should be a hospitality and retail hub. City presence downtown, with related professional-building presence, serves those purposes. Housing — beyond a modicum — crowds out those activities. Industrial land in Bridgeport has been displaced by an inappropriate focus on housing and recreational facilities (the latter of which can only exist with tax-payer funding). Remaining industrial/commercial land must be used for tax-base-enhancement purposes. City services serve the economic development of the downtown by remaining there (providing employees to use restaurants/entertainment and providing police/security presence) — where they are in every other downtown in the country (where municipalities actually have a “downtown”).
Keep the City Halls, Police HQ, and other city services downtown — where they have always been and always should, per every logical perspective. Put industrial/commercial development where it was previously located, per logical purposes…
The Remington site,City hall,The Morton center etc.. the only thing being built or renovated into will be housing units..Remember when Finch announced a new railroad station on the Remington site years ago? Lol.. only problem was the state knew nothing about it nor did they have any plans in the future to build it… the only “ developments” in Bpt will be housing..count on it..
Your right, Harvey. That speaks to Bridgeport being on the wrong track and needing a new mayor, just as the state needs a new governor (per its housing crisis and economic development stagnation) that simply can’t be solved by packing Bridgeport, et al.)…
Yes; and we need to develop more parking capacity/shuttle services that serve the downtown…
Mmmmm lets continue to do things the way that they have always been done. Because that is what everyone else is doing.
Why change mayors or governors because these are the people that the voters continue to support. So Jeff let me get this straight, things should stay the same, but the people running the things that stay the same should change. Mmmmmm
Joe: Some things should stay the same, e.g., relative locations for development, even as the development replaces the old, with the new… There are natural, logical reasons for this…You see it in booming cities all over the world — New York hasn’t moved its city hall or police HQ…
Jeff, Joe, are you smoking cocaine. I would have said crack, but that’s racist. 🙂
Jeff, those manufacturing days are long gone. Not sure why you injected “Manufacturing related to healthcare” Perhaps a coded side thing. I would say solar panels, but Beijing lock that shit up. 🤣EV batteries too.
Harvey’s on point, it’s going to be some form of housing. The question is, is it going to have a vision to Enache the Port/East Side, perhaps with future train station. Or the type of shit with like Port has engaged in by eliminating parking requirement and then have a 74-unit complex on tight plot of and with no parking. ‘that’s the game the Port finds itself in. SMH.
Every project cost twice, shit triple more than other cities and town’s projects, lines get buried in other cities and towns while the Port has to give up land, businesses, private property along the entire line. 🙂
300 million for a paved parking lot and platform and office hup, for a train station, LOL
Don’t even want to compare Nowark’s burnt-out bridge replacement to Congress St bridge, time and money🤣