The City Council Monday night approved a new developer for the old Black Rock Bank & Trust building. Advance story from Keila Torres, CT Post:
City officials are hoping the third time is the charm for efforts to bring new life to the Black Rock Bank & Trust.
After two failed requests for proposals for the purchase and redevelopment of the Fairfield Avenue property, Mayor Bill Finch is asking the City Council for permission to negotiate a land disposition agreement with a newly formed private limited liability company.
Silver Spring Properties, a partnership between realty professionals Douglas Adams, of Fairfield, and Al Mirin, of New Canaan, inquired about the property last winter after seeing the for-sale sign on the front of the former arts building at 2836 Fairfield Ave.
A subsequent tour of the property, at the corner of Fairfield Avenue and Brewster Street, cemented the partnership’s interest in making the property part of the Fairfield Avenue restaurant corridor.
“We think it’s a great building on a great corner,” Mirin said Monday. “The plan is to bring a retailer in to liven that corner up.”
The letter of intent the council is being asked to approve sets a $220,000 purchase price for the property, which has been vacant since the city forced the Black Rock Arts Center out in 2009.
The city’s first proposal request, issued that same year, had set a $750,000 minimum bid for the property, which is assessed at $817,850. Only one party, Fairfield & Brewster of Westport, expressed interest at the time but that partnership withdrew its offer to purchase the building for $775,000 — $25,000 more than the city’s minimum bid — after learning it was the only bidder.
Last year, the city issued a new RFP but decided not to accept either of the two mixed-use proposals submitted.
Adams’ and Mirin’s positive reputations coupled with the partnership’s ability to get the resources to stabilize the building quickly were the motivating factors for the city’s acceptance of their proposal, according to Ed Lavernoich, the city’s deputy economic development director. Adams is vice president of development for Norwalk-based Stanley M. Silegson Properties. Mirin is a broker with Cushman and Wakefield.
Silver Spring’s plans include a restaurant on the ground floor of the building, which Mirin noted will require extensive repairs and a new roof.
“Oh, it needs a ton of work,” Mirin said. “Nothing will be as it is when we get done with it. The only thing that will be the same are the walls and the vaults because they are too heavy to take out.”
The building, which has been deteriorating for nearly a decade, has water damage, or a “lake of sorts,” in the basement and several of the interior walls on the western side are in danger of collapsing, Lavernoich said.
Silver Spring is expected to spend between $500,000 and $750,000 on renovations.
Let’s see, the City purchased the property for $640,000 or thereabouts from a not-for-profit about 10 years ago along with more than 40 parking spots? How does the City recognize the capital loss if they only receive $220,000 for it today?
I understand the developers will be investing multiples of the purchase price in renovations, but what is the likely Grand List value? How does it work? Does it get reduced to $220,000 or is it the purchase price plus the full value of the renewal work? Is there any tax relief part of this development package? A major part of the value is the access to approximately 30 parking spaces. The past two budget years have shown the City is expecting to book about $1.1 Million from property sales. 2011 showed less than $100,000 of such sales. This sale will double the success, but it is also a sign City properties may have far less value than they are being carried on City books.
To have new tenants is great, and hopefully they are taxpayers as well. I see it now: you can sit at your table in the old Bank and Trust, with your wine glass in hand and tapas on the table, and look out at the Subway facade across the street. Or with a slight turn to the left, to see the Ganim signs above what used to be Matty’s Corner, Since the storm damage it has slipped into merely ‘orner.’ Wonder if the DTC is looking for a streetscape or facade improvement!
Taking a little more than a third of what the city paid for the building might be a part of the deal. After all the improvements, the building will be assessed at a much higher figure. The structure needs a lot of work. The roof leaks, the west walls are nearly crumbling, water in the basement, etc. That’s going to require a lot of capital. I’d rather the building was no longer owned by the city and headed back to the tax rolls.
Who would want to open next door to that crappy bar, and all its lowlifes.
They say that bar has Roaches.
LOL, Fluckarella!
*** It’s a start, maybe? *** URBAN DEVELOPMENT ***
This is a piece of good news. That building has been lurking on the corner since Joe Celli and his band of Kool-Aid swilling followers were unceremoniously booted out. Good riddance to that asshole.
The neighborhood is slowly but surely going upscale. What with Port Coffeehouse, Ash Creek Saloon, Pironi’s opening soon and now this place (rumor has it that Bar Taco will be on the ground floor), Black Rock is improving, without much help from City Hall, other than taking the money and handing over the keys.
I don’t care if they give it away as long as they get something vibrant in there.
I agree with Bridgeport Rising. Black Rock has become a destination for restaurants and bars and if the developers are willing to invest in improvements I think it is a great idea. I know Mayor Finch had been trying to get that parcel back on the tax rolls during his last election and I must agree I supported that 100 percent. I support the arts but that was not necessary in that building and I agree, Joe Celli was only looking out for his own interests. Interested in the arts? Go downtown to Bijou Square or City Lights Gallery. I think this is great news and I am very happy to see it happen!
Not to throw a wet blanket on the Black Rock Bank party but I am already thinking four years from now Finch will be churning out press releases announcing the city has executed the LDA for the sale of BR Bank Building. (We will have to come up with a new name to make it seem like a new deal.)
Finch announces ground breaking on BR Bank Building.
Finch announces Bank of America to open branch at BR Bank building.
City agrees to 100-year lease of parking lot to developers so they can install drive-up windows and ATM machines for new tenant.
City amends plans to allow for drive-up ATM machines since Bank of America has ceased its ATM functions after consumer anger over $100 monthly ATM charges.
Developers ask for an additional year extension on BR Bank Building project.
OK, thought the deal was done. Permission requested to make a deal, but the details are or aren’t shared before the signing? Just asking?
Private dollars put at risk are good for development. And hopefully the business model is not too visionary so tenant businesses draw people, revenue and profit for everyone. That means taxes get paid and a genuine bump in Grand List value.
However, when there is success, there is also a need for more parking and I have wondered how this deal could have been structured so the future rights to put a deck over the current street-level parking might be retained by the City, without having to purchase ground again at some future date. Developers with whom I spoke within the past two years were attracted by the parking spaces more than the building, probably a reason for the value placed on the entire property at this moment.
Who gets to view the entire agreement before it is signed, if anyone? Bill Finch has allowed taxpayer future debts to increase over $180 Million in the past four years, to present and administer unbalanced budgets, and to fill those budgets with line items that were not intended to be spent as presented. He has eliminated the internal audit process in the City for four years. He has not shared the message from the external audit firm Management Letter. The City Council declares itself the “check and balance” for City matters, especially fiscal issues, because there is no other municipal body to pay attention. Why is everyone so trusting and uncurious in light of the above?
Its one f’n building. Why is it such a complicated process?
Put up or shut up!
Even if between the purchase price and construction they will spend $750K, homes on the Rock go for more than that. What’s the big deal?
Developers are again demanding conditions from the city no other city would put up with.
And what ever happened to the economic boom caused by another railroad station in Fairfield?
Must be more bust than boom!
There is no big deal. This is a good thing. Allegations that it was wasted money to acquire it compounded by the fire-sale price of 1/3d of the acquisition expense have no merit. There neither seems to be a Calamarian connection with the original seller nor the proposed buyer.
If the new guy wants to put one mil into it, the neighborhood will benefit even if the Calamarians give the guy a tax break.
It’s a good thing.
Who is the proposed buyer?
What do you know about the proposed buyers to say there is no link?
Have you checked to see if they contributed to Finch’s campaign?
To the DTC?
To Branneley’s and McCarthy’s campaign?
Trust but verify. You have done no independent verification.
The city would be well served if they gave the property away. Any building that sits for a year or more is scrap. Once you stop heating a building it goes to hell. You will have to deal with water damage, vermin, mold and decay. Never mind the asbestos and lead in an old building. The city talks about its properties as assets (*Assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset), but the only asset a city has is property tax. Everything else is a liability and should be disposed of. The city will do well as long as it does not give away the property tax.
“Mayor Bill Finch is asking the City Council for permission to negotiate a land disposition agreement with a newly formed private limited liability company.”
No one even knows the terms at this point because there are none and it will not be made public until after it is a done deal and it will not need any further public review or approvals.
Trust but verify.
Hey Bill, what about downtown? The Mechanics and Farmers Bank, CitiTrust, the block between Golden Hill Street and Fairfield Ave? Mostly city owned … these were taken over during the Ganim eminent domain project in the 1990s and have been lying fallow ever since. Finch is a Ganim wannabe and will continue to be so until the Feds get him also.
Bob,
Mechanics and Farmers Bank is now privately owned. The two buildings on that block were sold for $1 million a couple of years ago. All of the asbestos has been removed and a tenant should be announced shortly. In 2006/7, the City Trust was completely renovated into 117 apartments and commercial space for well over $33 million in mostly private financing. The building is fully occupied except for normal turnover. The New Haven brewery/tavern, Cask Republic is scheduled to open in the bank atrium of City Trust next spring. Amici Miei is doing great. Come down and have dinner! In 2007 the Arcade was restored to its 1930 splendor with an additional 22 market-rate apartments–all leased. Bulls Head Market is scheduled to open a grocery store/deli in spring 2012 on the Main Street side of the Arcade. The City has a Request for Proposal on the street for six blocks of the downtown, most of what was purchased by Ganim for the Court House complex that never happened. You can find the RFP at www .bidsync.com. Proposals are due mid-October.
“With a newly formed private limited liability company.”
Translation, they have no assets. They have nothing to lose. I am not saying this is a good or bad deal but please let’s not get caught up in the hype.
Good News! Bad News!!
What’s the Dealy-o?
This could end up being another Cluster Finch deal! The developers should be required to post a performance bond.
Potentially it could be a Black Rock Bank and Trust land banking deal. If I have this deal I’d get possession and go into a 4-Corner Development Stall and wait for Metro Train Station to be fully developed. Does the $1 million rehab include tenant improvements of fit-up, fixtures and equipment? Or is the $1 million figure just to bring it to code etc.?
The reason for a performance bond is it would require certain benchmarks to be met within a set timeframe or penalties would kick in.
It would be nice if the city saw fit to allow the building to be purchased and renovated. It’s an eyesore as it is, what with the Fairfield Avenue entrance become a haven for trash and a pissing post for stray drunks. And that sign proclaiming “Black Rock Art Center,” an homage to Joe “snake oil, anyone?” Celli. Speaking of the old curmudgeon I saw him the other day. He mustered up a scowl, as if his eyes could inflict any kind of damage. Learn to accept you were outed, Joe. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.