Mayor Bill Finch and other officials cut the ribbon on Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of Landmark, 30 new apartments Downtown inside the site of the renovated former Mechanics & Farmers building that will also be home of the design firm Fletcher Thompson that is relocating back to the city after moving to Shelton in 2002.
City officials say Fletcher’s return will bring 60 jobs to the city. The firm’s architects and engineers designed the new loft-style apartments overlooking McLevy Green across the street at State and Main.
Forstone Capital was awarded $3.3 million in support from the state through the Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily Properties (CHAMP) initiative administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).
For more information on Landmark, go to www.landmarkbpt.com.
This was a very exciting day for Bridgeport. For those of us who had been inside the facility, it was surreal. The apartments/shops are very nicely appointed. I have friends looking to open a shop there. I look forward to the other proposed developments by the Forstone group.
JML–We did end up at the concerts later in the evening.
Kudos to all involved.
Moe, Curly and Larry look like geniuses next to these three stooges. Looking forward to 2015.
Steven Auerbach, hey, where are you in this picture?
🙂 I was watching. Enjoying and wondering where the OIB crowd who insist they love the City but never supporting anything going on. The concerts, ribbon cuttings, the restaurants, etc. It is sad. For me it was a great day and glad I was there. For everyone who will never get to see an apartment there, I understand they are listed on Craigslist. The views however, you have to see first-hand. Great day for Bridgeport, not so great for anyone trying to unseat the Mayor.
We continue to see our full-time Mayor with shovel or scissors in his hands, two tools he has experience using should he need to apply for a new job in the future. Of course the real use of shovels falls to others on the projects in the City as the Mayor is not doing the heavy lifting that would be removing tax burdens from those in the City. And the big scissors are not cutting budgeted dollars as is necessary to reduce property taxes for residents and businesses. Why not? It’s our secrecy environment in the City.
Interesting to note the name of our former Finance Director Dawn Norton showing up in the CT Post yesterday. She now works in New Canaan where there is a Finance Board and active financial personnel within their Public School administration. Apparently lots of questions there, too. And they expect answers. She suggested using leasing as an alternative to Capital purchases and that evidently set off fireworks from all sides. Later she was quoted as saying, “I think that a lot of the actual cost is hidden in the lease,” Norton said, noting that leases sometimes have a higher cost to the town.”
So we see several things at once:
1. Dawn Norton is worthy of quotation, though not necessarily when she was in Bridgeport, on anything substantive. She hid from questions from the public.
2. She was very aware of how avoiding preparing and distributing a monthly report or a year-end June report was not the only way to keep municipal activities hidden.
3. Subjects like equipment leasing as alternative to capital purchases are worthy of public notice and therefore media attention, she acknowledges as part of a Finance Director’s work.
4. And that is just a little historical background to asking why the details of how a new project (like Landmark Apartments) will produce revenues for the City and when those revenues will show up to the taxpaying public. Will there be any color left in Finch’s photos when full mil rate observance occurs?
And these pictures also remind me to ask whether President Tom McCarthy’s photo time is being charged to:
A. The clock at his Labor Relations position
B. Lunch time as in ‘out to lunch’ or Vacation time, very flexible
C. Good times research, so he can continue to present the “smile-making news” of Bridgeport at City Council meeting that are longer than the public business on the Agenda on many evenings.
D. Or no problem; not at all; nothing to concern yourself about. Tom’s time, as #2 in the City, is too valuable to worry about.
If Tom were to admit he did not know these details as #2 in the City, how would that sound to you?
Time will tell.
Is anyone curious as to why successful developers such as R.D. Scinto do not invest in Bridgeport? He (Robert Scinto) told me why (rather bluntly) during a business lunch back in 1995. I never forgot what he said. Nineteen years ago but I believe his points are still valid. Maybe Lennie will help me write a posting.
I thought it was because then council members refused to give him tax abatements on the Wright Financial Center. I also thought it was because he was trying to pay off the Mayor and council people with lavish gifts but they still had their hands out. I thought that was why Robert Scinto turned his back on Bridgeport. He actually confided in Tom White in 1995 because he had a need to dump shit on Bridgeport? Do tell. Did he mention he was not paying taxes and compensation for union members hired as independent contractors? Why are we even discussing Scinto? He turned his back on Bridgeport. We now have new developers and yes I can see why they wouldn’t want to do business in Bridgeport. Just read the blog and listen to the mentality. Who would want to do business when you have everybody throwing shit at you no matter what you do? If the state offers grants and abatements and benefits to a developer, better it happen in Bridgeport, no?
You know Steve, you throw more shit on this blog than anyone else. You are constantly kissing up to whomever. Do you ever get tired of being a genuine ass-kisser? I don’t know why Scinto bypassed Bridgeport but it was disastrous for us who live in Bridgeport, it ranks right up there with the death of F. Francis D’Addario. The people who are calling themselves developers for the most part are scam artists.
Yes Andy, they are scam artists. Scinto went to jail for questionable activity and finally Andy, is it a sign of senility? You always referring to me as a suck-up? Why can’t you accept I am a Democrat and you are a Republican? It is 2014 and you mention F. Francis D’Addario? You have developers here now and you do not support them. Andy, you pretty much do not support anything in the City. You whine like a crybaby. Let me ask you Andy, how many times did you vote for Joe Ganim? Don’t call me an ass-kisser. I do many things, kissing ass as in sycophant is something I have pretty much never done. I always commend a job well done. Bass Pro is happening and downtown is getting exciting and you can talk about the good old days with Jasper McLevy. I appreciate your posts and get a bang out of your attacks but try to refrain from referring to me as a sycophant when I am getting excited about something that puts a fresh face on a downtrodden city. If I ever ran into anyone other than JML at any event whether it was an Art Gallery, Restaurant, symphony, concert or ribbon-cutting etc. you could attack. You are just bitter and just cannot stand that Bill Finch is succeeding on many fronts and your vain attempt to insult me does not diminish his accomplishments or make any other candidate shine. Any candidate will have to explain how they can move this city forward better than Finch and so far it is going to be pretty darn tough. It has nothing to do with a $200,000 war chest.
Steve, I am not senile, but close. You are a grade A suck-up, pure and simple. Name one developer I badmouthed on this blog, just one. You are referring to Scinto as a SCAM artist are you fucking nuts. Take a look at Route 8 and Corporate Drive and tell me how bad Scinto is.
You get all warm and fuzzy over the development of the old Mechanics and Farmers bank and thanks go out to those developers. Here you are saying let’s get rid of a long-standing well-known restaurant for these same developers. Many years ago that was done to the Ocean Sea Grille and they were driven from the building for a developer or development. Guess what, the building where they were located is still standing. BTW how is development going on Main St to Congress Street? Steve, why not list the Finch accomplishments?
Andy, first I am patron of Ralph & Richies, I am certain if you have ever gone there they were on Wall St. Second, I did not suggest Ralph & Richies get thrown out. That is Forstone’s business, not mine. They have plans for the building and maybe the sweetheart deal the restaurant had does not fit in with the future plans, I do not know, Forstone does not consult me. You are caught in a time Warp. Scinto left his mark on the City over 25 years ago. He has chosen Shelton as his priority and on this blank canvas he created beautiful structures. He is one developer and we are the largest city in Connecticut with great bones and location. We will get development when development starts. Our future is in the hands of young movers and shakers, Andy. You still listen to Doris Day, pine for the days of Bridgeport in the late ’40s. You are a negative individual and you will SUCK UP TO ANYONE WHO WILL GIVE YOU THE TIME OF DAY. You left the town committee and now you have no voice and no political capital. You constantly criticize me on my optimism, I am criticizing you for being a negative cancer-like entity for the City. You do not support candidates, you run against candidates. Your dislike for the Mayor is because he shit on you and your goal is to see him fail at all costs. You offer no alternatives, you like to hold court and surround yourself with other malignant personalities who offer no future to any aspect of the City of Bridgeport. Your constant provoking of ME just makes me feel obligated to support our Mayor to drown out your constant broken-record rants on how the City administration sucks, developers suck, Bass Pro sucks, the downtown restaurants suck, the downtown resurgence sucks and you talk like Bridgeport is cancer and Hartford and New Haven are getting it right. While you were on the Town Committee the City was in the worst shape and you supported the garbage that had the City on its knees. You do not and will not give Mayor Finch a chance. You imagine Mary-Jane Foster or John Fabrizi will come out of the woodwork at the last minute and try to unseat Finch and maybe they can or will. However Finch is the Mayor and there are positive things going on and I will not allow you to call me a suck-up because I am supportive. I am not the beneficiary of anything. How great is that!
At least when Joe Ganim was running for office he was at every Common Council meeting with his entourage for years. Everyone else will pop out of the closet at the last minute, waiting for Finch to have a major scandal. What a waste of energy. Aren’t you tired of your constant crying? Welcome to the 21st century. I look forward to the new, young visionary developers and politicians. Bridgeport was meant for great things and I always believed its future was in the hands of the new up-and-coming yuppies moving here without the tainted knowledge of Bridgeport’s dark past.
Honestly Andy, picking a fight on thinking I’d like Ralph & Richies thrown out? Really? I was concerned about the Marina Village replacement housing going there. Now since not a person on this blog agrees with me I will totally support it and hope Downtown benefits with the 80 new units of townhouse public housing and I’ll realize I stood alone when I fought it and G-d forbid there is one episode there it is over. No up-and-coming politician will be able to use that argument against Finch because they never said a word.
So Andy, relax, put on Doris Day and Perry Como and dream of the good old days and pine for yesterday because it is clear the future is too painful for you.
You know Steve, you really are a clueless asshole. You think every time you eat downtown we have to have an announcement, like I ate at such-and-such restaurant and it was wonderful. You really are full of yourself. Steve, no matter what, you are a card-carrying jerk who actually does more harm than good with your Mary Poppins blogs.
Just so you know, I have eaten at many of my favorite restaurants downtown including R & R at their present location. My favorite is the Metric but I don’t come on the blog like a little girl saying how wonderful it is and guess what, I pay for the meals with my own money. Go back and read some of the blogs on taxes and the B & A and you will learn what a dolt your idol BF is.
Andy, you do come on this blog like little girl and forever crying, your incessant whining is like “Hock mir nicht kein tscheynik.” Your attempt to fling feces on all good things Bridgeport. Really, the Bridgeport Metric? Let’s make a bet you have never been there. I’ll ask Pierre the owner. Andy, you never celebrate anything downtown. Sorry you do not like my dining at downtown and talking about it. I’ll bet the restaurants also hate that I talk about it. Andy honestly, you are an idiot, maybe you need to let Pat do the talking for you. After all she has the balls in the family. Your male energy, not so much. So Mary Poppins will continue to sing the praises of downtown and I’ll let a cockroach continue to feed on the excrement you enjoy so well. Como mierda y muere.
Woo, you know Spanish curse words, good for you. Is Spanish a language you took when you made an aborted attempt to get a college degree? Steve, I don’t make a point of pestering an owner when I eat at their restaurant. I am sure they like your sucking up! Looking for a free meal? BTW Steve, I have $10,000 I will put up that I have eaten at that location more than once. Put up or shut up, big mouth. Gee, of all people to call me a little girl you’re a lot closer to your female side than I am. Steve, I don’t care where you eat but do you have to post it and the boring details? Have you noticed most if not all of your posts elicit negative response and no positive responses? Have you figured it out yet? No one likes an ass-kisser who refuses to recognize the truth. I will be waiting for your response to my wager offer.
Andy, you have drained me and I want to apologize for sharing anything about Bridgeport. I didn’t realize it was so offensive. I bid you adieu. I wish you well. Whomever you support for Mayor I can only assure you I will be on the opposite team. If I had $10,000 to bet I certainly would. I just cannot see you patronizing the only one of two black-owned restaurants in Bridgeport and neither could anyone else.
My my, what a racist bastard you are. You are the only white person to eat at a black restaurant. We will be on opposite sides because you will be too busy taking your head out of Finch’s ass. Maybe if you had a real job you could afford the bet I proposed.
Steve,
1) No on the Scinto comments.
2) Money from the State comes with strings.
Better that money go to Hartford, New Haven, etc, etc, etc?
Steve, you are heaping praise on Forstone but these are the same property owners who twice went to court trying to evict Ralph & Richie’s from their Main St. location.
You clai you are against the relocation of Marina to Main St because it will force R & R out of town but your now-favorite developer has tried to do it twice already.
You need to relax. Sit back and THINK before you blog. Otherwise you keep posting this meaningless gibberish.
Maybe their plan for Ralph & Richies building doesn’t include Ralph and Richie. Maybe when the Marina Village replacement housing goes in across the street, R and R will be glad they left. I am pleased with Forstone’s commitment to downtown. Ralph & Richies is a great restaurant. They need to turn that parking lot behind them into a five-story lot to support new development. Forstone’s legal battle with Ralph & Richies is not of interest to me at all. None of my business. Bob, you do not seem to ever support any type of development and your negativity sucks the life out of a room.
It must kill you Steelepointe appears to be moving forward. Be honest Bobbie, you enjoy my overly optimistic, pro-Bridgeport, pro-Finch diatribes. It gives you something to say. A little more positive comments couldn’t hurt. I want you to say something positive about Bill Finch. 🙂 Do you really want the City to stay in the dark while other areas are getting developed?
Steve, you’re a bona fide fool and obviously don’t understand why Bridgeport is where it is economically.
If you’ve ever read any of my comments you’d see the development of downtown Bridgeport hinges on first, hiring those who understand how to entice, secondly, seeing what other similar sized urban cities have done and how.
I have made major recommendations based upon my experience both with the demise of downtown and dealing with the inept, greedy, and self-important who have run this city for the past 40 years. That’s why I moved my business out of Bridgeport in 1988 after 45 years on Main Street.
What do you have? No experience in any matter of economic morass, demise, or rehabilitation. All you have is pie in the sky and a sincere belief a government can help business.
GOVERNMENTS CAN’T RUN BUSINESSES. THEY DON’T KNOW HOW.
Bob, let’s call it like it is. You WERE of the group of white flight that left the City and hope it is never gentrified. This is how you try to rationalize your moving and constant attempt to give your condescending rants on how smart it was for you to leave. Well to the chagrin of many, Bridgeport is finally moving forward and it kills you. It kills you that young people are finding a value in living downtown. I wonder where your voice was 40 years ago. Who supported projects downtown? What mayor is responsible? You are going to criticize Forstone for buying these properties downtown? You must be a bore to any friends you may have had who still live in the City. Honestly Bob, people are tired of your negative shit behind an alias name and Bob Walsh, like Chris Caruso, was there ever a project in this city you support? Anyone who believes in the future of this city will steer clear of you. You are a smart man with the sense of a hillbilly who would do anything to be a thorn in the side of developers which is why your political capital is bankrupt. You are like a cancer and never have a positive thing to say about about anything. You relish spending every waking hour finding fault with city leadership. One day you may wish you were on the right side and part of Bridgeport’s rebirth. So for Bob and Bobbie Walsh, keep complaining and stay miserable. Stay away from the positives happening in the City and Bob, if you are so proud you left the City, then why are you so focused on what happens here? I’ll tell you why, your happiest memories in life happened in Bridgeport. It’s in your bones. You love this city and feel guilty you abandoned it. Its failure is your only rationalization. Bridgeport will not fail. We are on the verge of great things. I expect many exciting announcements happening before the next election. I certainly will not wake up any day hoping for a failure in the City. You two on the other hand live for that.
You’re still a fool. My business held on despite the fact there was no reason to go to downtown Bridgeport. You really don’t know Bridgeport’s recent history, do you. Remember Samuel Tedesco? It was under his aegis the Trumbull Shopping Mall was built by John Fruge. That began the retail flight out of Bridgeport. Tedesco’s family made substantial profits from the sale of properties they bought cheap and where the Route 8/25 goes from I-95 to Waterbury and Monroe.
If any “leader” in Bridgeport saw what happened in New Rochelle NY where the turnaround was a 180-degree result, you and I wouldn’t be having this discussion.
I believe two things would have started a turnaround in Bridgeport, but the Democratic Party stopped them. One was the failure to elect Chris Caruso and the other was Mary Moran’s attempt to put the city into bankruptcy to force the renegotiation of city union contracts and to realign the management under the control of the state.
Pro Bass, M&F apartments are a symbol of a bandaid on a broken leg. But you are too naive to see that because you just don’t understand.
Bob, just so I understand you. It was Samuel Tedesco you are blaming for selling properly to Fruge to develop the Trumbull Mall? And the City made a huge mistake by not electing Chris Caruso? I can only agree, MORAN’s bankruptcy bid would have leveled the playing field. Caruso is not a visionary. He certainly served the city well and deserves the patronage job he has under Malloy. I cannot even imagine what would he happening on Steelepointe or downtown and neither could anyone else. You Bob, are foolish to think otherwise.
And don’t forget, when People’s Bank was the landlord, Playhouse on the Green was a thriving community theatre. Forstone takes over and boom they are gone. Raise the rent and if they can’t pay, shut ’em down.
Bob Walsh, Playhouse on the Green was never a thriving theater.if you had ever patronized that you’d know. Replacing the Polka Dot theater in a tiny venue was a huge mistake.
With development partners like this, who needs enemies?
You call what I blog negativity. I prefer calling it the truth. And when it comes to Bridgeport’s economic development efforts, the truth hurts.
We interrupt this blogging for an important news update. This just in.
Dateline Bridgeport CT
Investigative reporters for Only In Bridgeport are reporting, contrary to popular belief THERE IS NO DEVELOPMENT HAPPENING AT STEELPOINTE. REPEAT THERE IS NO DEVELOPMENT HAPPENING AT STEELPOINTE. There will be no Bass Pro Shops for the 2014 Holiday Shopping season. There are no new leases to announce, which were supposed to be announced nine months ago.
We will issue updates to this story if any ever occur.
We now return you to our regular scheduled blog Auerbach’s World, where fiction meets fantasy.
Bob Walsh, that was an excellent post and I appreciated it. I needed that good laugh!
I am on my way to Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk. Steaks on sale. 🙂
As I shop I’ll wonder why Bridgeport on the waterfront wouldn’t be an amazing location for this destination market. Right off 95 a huge draw, on the water, in the center of a whole new development. That’s what I’d be going after.
Exactly when does Tom McCarthy find time to do his actual job that we pay him for??? He seems to be at every news briefing, photo-op, luncheon, breakfast, unveiling, etc. He is making six figures and he must spend an hour or two a day ACTUALLY doing his job. This is one big reason city employees should not be on the CC.
Steve, it’s getting late, time for you to tuck in your Bill Finch and Adam Wood dolls.
Andy, you confuse me. But okay. I will tuck in my Bill Finch and Adam Wood dolls and maybe you can take out your Barbies and they can have a party. I’m not judging you. My Adam Wood and Bill Finch dolls are hanging out with my GI Joes and Major Matt Mason and they are kicking the ass of your Ken doll because he is anatomically incorrect. He wants his balls back, just like you.
Steve,
Have you asked yourself why you are such a lonely voice on this blog when you support almost anything and everything of Finch origin?
It’s because you are a “party guy.” Everything comes wrapped up and you cannot see what is within. You are excited by the drum roll, the crash of the cymbals, the voice of the emcee directing you to see what he wants you to see.
Naturally the paper wrapping, ribbons, and bows are attractive. They need to be to be part of a public-relations effort. But Steve, when you open the package, what do you see? Is it everything you expected, or do you have to be patient for years more? Is it more or less than you were led to expect? Truthfully, please.
And when it comes to gifts or presents, the question is “At what and whose expense?” and that is where you tune out. You say it bores you, or somesuch. Money is the lifeblood of politics, they say. It is also the major resource of governance structures and services. If the money story is not a OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE and TRANSPARENT as the “presents” you delight in, do you see there might be a problem? And if presents keep coming (supposedly without problems, but certainly with secrecy), is there an opportunity for a skeptic to wonder whether a wee bit of corruption has entered the scene? What if there is no gift in the package, but there is a job, some money, some recognition to a few instead? Is that what you call patronage, or is it a seedbed for corrupt practice? Time will tell.
JML, trust me when I tell you I have no problem being a lone voice on this blog. I am content and a bit bored, to be honest. Listening to the redundant negative crap does make me realize it is a waste voicing my stand. I will let the cancer spread until it is done. I haven’t the energy or desire to be a cheerleader on this blog. I’ll observe until you all bore each other to tears. I generally respect others’ opinions. But when you know you are in the wrong place, you leave. Sayonara.
Boredom is not a good reason to leave. And mentioning ‘leaving’ connected with ‘sayonara’ makes me hope you are not considering Samurai seppuku.
When you go to the restaurant, or whatever retail haunt you favor, someone is paying for the pleasure, the service, or the product. Government is expensive. The buyer (taxpayer) needs to be treated with respect, at least those who pay in full and on time should be. In this City they are not represented in any reasonable fashion by the office of the Chief Executive or by most of the City Council representatives who are only too ready to “follow the leader,” in this case an unhealthy activity for the community at large.
And if you are feeling a bit lonely and left out, you may consider the wake my postings have left. Most items I write have fewer than 12-20 responses. Does that mean I am wasting my time? Some may think so, but then I get calls off-line informing me of “news,” of stories about money worth looking into, and comments from people I have never met who thank me for the effort.
I see myself as a educator or storyteller. And I can see small changes. In the not-too-distant future there will be more changes, not just in groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting but in elimination of waste and focus on priorities. And the taxpayers will respond. In the meantime stay away from the cutlery drawer, please. Time will tell.
🙂