Public Hearings On Downtown Property Developments

Public hearings will take place Monday (tonight) 7 p.m. before the regular meeting of the City Council in council chambers, 45 Lyon Terrace, regarding disposition of city-owned properties scheduled for redevelopment, including those beleaguered properties in Downtown North above Fairfield Avenue on Main Street.

1).Disposition of property located at 1136, 1144, 1148-50, 1154-56, and 1160-62 Main Street (“The Preservation Block”) and authorizing a Partial Tax Abatement in support of the Preservation Block’s Historic Renovation and Redevelopment as a Mixed-Use Residential, Retail and Commercial complex. (Item# 45-12)

2). Disposition of property located at 1163 and 1149 Main Street in the Downtown North Development Area. (Item# 71-12Ref. #151-11)

3). Disposition of Properties in the Jayson-Newfield Block in the Downtown North Redevelopment area and authorizing a Tax Incentive Agreement in support of the Jayson-Newfield Block’s Historic Renovation and Redevelopment as a mixed-use Residential, Retail and Commercial Complex. (Item #72-12)

Full council agenda here.

0
Share

26 comments

  1. I hope I can find time to stop down there tomorrow. Any downtown redevelopment is exciting. Maybe grab some Turkish food at the Star of Istanbul.

    On a side note: I was sorry I was out of the area to enjoy the gathering at the Bijou. Lennie, you are always generous.

    Lennie, are you going to write about the St. Ambrose and St. PETERS schools being rented by the board of education??? These non-exempt parcels should be purchased by the City at fair market value. St. Ambrose is prime location. The idea the City, our tax dollars are going to the Church is outrageous. If they are not using their funds in the millions paying out pedophilia claims they are spending millions fighting losing political battles I do not support. I just thought I’d put it out there. Better we rent space from Sal DiNardo properties so he can make money and pay back taxes and we can put the two church properties back on the tax rolls. Imagine, the GE site and St. Ambrose being developed simultaneously. JML, I am surprised you didn’t comment on this … Time will tell. Before you know it, the Church will be sitting on prime parcels in every corner of the City in every state. By their own words and actions.

    0
      1. It is a school, it will be state of the art. It will initiate other development on the site. It is prime location and will spur positive economic energy to the area. It borders Remington Woods, a huge parcel with the power to transform the entire area into Stratford. A new and exciting gateway into the park city.

        0
  2. Steve–seriously? This is a steal of a deal for the city. Where can you get two turnkey schools for $4,300.00 per month per school, net net? We gave a Fairfield Synagogue money for the transition of the Discovery School.

    We have not received any tax money for Steal Point in almost 16 years.

    Based on the time value of money, this is a hell and heavenly deal!

    0
    1. I am suggesting the Church sell the parcels to the City. We use them as a temporary school while the are put out to bid. That Boston Ave. site is prime property and the City is positioned perfectly to have a developer come and make it a tax-producing property. The Diocese in Bridgeport does not deserve taxpayer money. I remember during the Moran administration. I negotiated with the Catholic Dioceses under Egan to purchase the ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE CONVENT on Brooks St. The purpose was to create beautiful housing for temporary homeless families. They could care less and wanted top dollar. The hope was to close the rat-infested shelter on Pembroke Street AND to save the City hundreds of thousands of dollars from renting homeless housing space at the Dinan center. The shelter on Brooks Street was beautiful after the entire city, employees, electricians and carpenters redeveloped it. The Diocese contributed nothing. That was my dealings with the Church.

      0
      1. Steve, please stop harping on the Church. We already know about the molestation cases. As far as helping the poor in Bridgeport, no one has come close to the Catholic Church.

        0
        1. Bridgeporteur, I look forward to the day when the diocese sells off the parcel on Jewett Ave. Now there is a prime piece of North End real estate. I remember sitting in Egan’s office and Mary Moran kissed his ring. What a magnificent well-appointed room. The room of royalty. Egan could have kissed my arse then and as he rose in the ranks became more vomitus to me.

          0
  3. “JML, I am surprised you didn’t comment on this … Time will tell. Before you know it, The Church will be sitting on prime parcels in every corner of the City in every state.”

    Don’t know what you are reviewing and reflecting upon, but the two parochial schools mentioned are but the latest closings in a network of Catholic schools that are not getting enough parents to enroll their kids in those schools and pay the expense of a private education for the parochial school opportunity. And Diocesan-wide charity from the suburbs can no longer bridge the fiscal gap.

    The Diocese is not in the mode of purchasing prime real estate today from anything I am able to observe. They are more likely to be selling locations than buy if my understanding is correct. In one sense it is very smart to secure buildings that are reasonably current in maintenance and standards so a rush to build a school or to crowd existing classrooms may be avoided.

    Church-focused philanthropy is having difficulties in recent years it seems, but it is hard to fully comprehend since the Church is under no obligation to comprehensively share the fiscal details of its many operations in a given Diocese. The last report of any type made public covered only three of the many Diocesan entities or locations. Reports were for the year ending June 30, 2008. I think we are more likely to see Church properties sold in the next decade, than being purchased and occupying prime parcels across the land. Time will tell.

    0
    1. That’s my point. Let the City buy these parcels. John you and David Walker are full of enormous knowledge. If I were the Mayor, I would be honored to have you in top posts. The city would benefit greatly!

      0
      1. Steve, thanks for the accolades. However what we are facing tomorrow evening and in the foreseeable future at City Council meetings is “more of the same” public posturing. Ideas and concepts presented to the City Council without the depth of thinking, support and description to have judgments made that will encumber more taxpayer values.

        Mayor Finch is not recommending Walker, me or anyone else for positions on boards or commissions where we would read the material, think about it in depth, raise questions that expect answers, and look at the costs and benefits for the people of the City on multiple levels.

        So you and others need to come out to these meetings regularly, speak in the public session to those Council members who get there to listen, and encourage their weak efforts to get more info on the Agenda subjects.

        All of us need to be out at the Committee meetings where the matters get discussed and approved for the Consent Calendar with no further public discussion. If you listen to the questions and answers to these serious subjects, you may be forgiven if you judge the dialogue incomplete, and you may get very frustrated. The blinded watchdogs, put blinders on the public in terms of hearing genuine debate with background material available for viewing. The Bridgeport way, at the moment.

        Happy Father’s Day, Mayor Finch. It has been almost two weeks since you have been quoted on substantive issues raised in OIB and the CT Post. I just heard you were at the Barnum Wing Ding event yesterday, which is the signal children’s event of the Annual Festival. Curious to know whether the two undercover police officers were there as bodyguards, or what? Time will tell.

        0
  4. I hear St. Ambrose Church has a pipe organ they would like to sell alongside the pipedream known as Seaview Avenue Corridor. Maybe Paul Timpanelli can Hookah us up!

    0
  5. Up On Bridgeport, the Congress Plaza Project is 35 years old. The same plan was renewed fifteen years ago with Finch leading the way to purchase the entire Downtown North. There had to be a plan, see, to give the City eminent domain. Patrick Coyne was the Ganim Administration’s lead man. He had Finch as Councilman pushing it through the Council.
    The ruse was a courthouse that was to be built there. The City went wild evicting good businesses including the Jason Building and Davidsons. A grassroots preservation group sprang up and prevented the buildings’ demolition. They remain vacant but not seemingly an embarrassment to our leaders.

    0
  6. It would be nice if this were more than the usual Council hearing where a few members “listen” to public comments about a decision already made.

    0
    1. Steve,
      As a genuine City lover but also as an educated individual with a basic awareness of City history, why is it GOOD NEWS there were no comments on the three projects?
      As I report in another post today, I did stand to comment at the call of the third project to request more info be available to the public at such a hearing. For instance, in Fairfield as one example, such a hearing would have had a brief presentation by a member of the legislative committee who had performed the review. The public could then have asked questions, received a response, answer or clarification or could have made a statement. Why is the public not treated with respect in Bridgeport? Are Council members afraid of questions? Is the Mayor fearful of public opinion? Steve, you “heard what I wanted to hear” and it was the sound of silence! The City format encourages public ignorance, and then takes advantage of it. Surely you cannot be in favor of that! Time will tell.

      0
      1. JML … I wanted the land swap to take place. In this in particular, abatements and the like are of no interest because until we get things moving nothing is going to happen. I want those buildings redeveloped and rented out. We need life downtown. Kuchma and the Bijou Square project cannot be the only game in town. I totally support any abatements these projects have. Remember 30 years ago under Mayor Bucci, the Wright Financial Center? Well it almost didn’t happen because Caruso, a thorn in Bucci’s side, made an issue out of their abatement. When Bridgeport becomes a magnet for development we can lighten up on the sweetheart deals, until then bring on the cranes and let’s get the City moving again.

        0
  7. Just about EVERY building from Fairfield Avenue to Bulls Head on the south side of Main Street needs to be dropped. There are also buildings on the north side also. They are all asbestos loaded, structurally dangerous, and rat and pigeon infested old buildings. Then the mechanicals in the street need to be replaced (sewer, electrical, water and gas). And that’s just the start of effective and permanent remediation.

    0
  8. Bob, I always appreciate your wisdom and institutional memory and your comments on this blog but I don’t agree with your assessment on this one, that all these buildings have to come down. That is a passé paradigm, very archaic “urban renewal” mentality. Things have changed nationally on urban redevelopment where the embodied energy of older buildings is seen as a real value, a footprint exists that allows development, historic tax incentives are available along with numerous other subsidies to make these restorations economically feasible. The new influx of energy into downtowns is fueled by an appreciation of the quality, craftsmanship and history of older buildings that give a downtown a sense of place and its own character.
    It also occurs to me the mantra of environmental remediation, brownfields and asbestos abatement is all a scam. How many people and city officials have been arrested in kickback scams? The hazard is extremely overblown and has become a corrupt racket!

    0

Leave a Reply