Bijou Square, Phil Kuchma’s downtown redevelopment on Fairfield Avenue, includes restaurants, housing, office space and renovation of one of the oldest movie houses in the country, The Bijou Theatre. From Mayor Bill Finch:
Developer Philip Kuchma’s Bijou Square development on Fairfield Avenue recently was awarded the prestigious J. Timothy Anderson ‘Timmy’ Award for Best Historic Rehab Involving New Construction by the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA). On Friday, Oct. 12, Mayor Bill Finch will join Kuchma and his staff, in celebrating the receipt of this prestigious national award, and the opening of Kuchma Corp.’s new offices at 166 Elm Street.
The 2012 ‘Timmy’ award winners and finalists represent 14 different communities in 10 different states–Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia–as well as the District of Columbia.
The Bijou Square development was among the 5 winners chosen; there are 10 other finalists nationwide. The finalists were selected by a multi-disciplinary panel of judges with expertise in architecture, real estate development, construction, public policy and historic preservation.
About the ‘Timmy’ Awards:
The 2012 J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation are co-sponsored by the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
NH&RA created the “Timmy Awards” in 2005 in memory of Boston Architect and Preservation Advocate J. Timothy Anderson. Anderson was a singular figure in the historic rehabilitation business, whose legacy includes numerous Boston area projects, as well as a seminal study that helped preserve South Beach in Miami.
About the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association:
For more than 40 years National Housing & Rehabilitation Association has been providing an ongoing forum for professionals in affordable housing and historic rehabilitation to exchange information and build new business relationships.
*** Big ups for Phil for all his hard work and never-give-up attitude! Bpt is very lucky to have him and his undying devotion for this city. Wish we had more citizens and urban development dreamers like him! *** CONGRATULATIONS ***
Phil Kuchma is truly one of Bridgeport’s biggest assets. Kudos to him!
I’m a huge fan of Phil. Congratulations. This is well deserved. Bijou Square has been the heart of downtown redevelopment. Continued success!!!
This is all well and good but Phil has to work on his relationships with his tenants. He locked out the owner of Épernay for being one month late on his rent and now the jewel of the crown, Épernay, is closed. A lot of disenchantment up and down the strip.
Not sure what happened to Épernay. I have been there a number of times. Imagine, a French restaurant that for some reason the last few times I have gone, did not have French onion soup. Sad but true. Their bar was nice. The food was good. The portions were small and prices were high. I did not know they were closed. Maybe those were just a few reasons. I will still go out of my way to support downtown business. Tiago’s and the new Turkish restaurant next door to City Lights are excellent choices. You cannot blame Phil. He not only has put his energy into redevelopment but he is always supporting all of the venues that go into his development. I have seen him at all of them! He deserves all of the kudos. He is a visionary.
Bridgeporteur, you betray your business ignorance.
Kuchma put his lifeblood and money into that development when everybody else was bailing. It was no easy task and unlike many in this town, he’s a tough bastard who didn’t bail out.
Épernay is not the Holy Grail and has problems with its own business.
Like a smart guy, Kuchma knows you have to stay on top of cash flow.
Too many who blog about what business should do don’t have the business savvy to understand this.
Time will tell, Denis OMalley. Having no rent is not staying on top of cash flow. Why don’t you talk to people up and down the strip to be more informed yourself?
Many of us in this town have not “bailed out” by the way and I hope this guy succeeds.
A lot of people have faith in Phil and maybe he has to stop being such a “tough bastard.” Let’s get going on Downtown North and all the vacant city-owned pieces downtown. There is more to Downtown than that little stretch of Fairfield Avenue and more people than Phil have to be given an opportunity.
I have been disappointed to hear some business and residential tenants unhappy with Phil as well. But as far as the business tenants, they have to also put their heart and soul into seeing their own businesses succeed. This includes consistency in operating hours and at least somewhat reasonable prices. Épernay is not the only business that had that problem (although not everything at Épernay was unreasonably priced).
Also, does anyone know if Phil has broken ground on another building on Elm Street? It looks as if there is some work going on down there.
I didn’t know Épernay closed, but somehow I’m not surprised. Their food was mediocre and the prices were far too expensive for quality/portion of the meal. How can anyone who’s ever been a landlord/property owner blame Kuchma for terminating a lease for non-payment of rent? I may be wrong, but I’d be willing to bet they were behind for more than a month since their clientele was dwindling for quite some time.
The rents are far too high for an area that does not draw enough critical mass, but yet we get the hype of how great it is and Épernay is featured in all the City PR? The place was a class act, the chef is top shelf and the staff was competent and personable, the ambiance was exquisite, and the food and drink were great. LCD in BPT is OK with some folks. Another vacant space. This is cause for concern. We as residents have got to “use it or lose it.” The bad publicity from the recent uptick in homicides in the Park City and the political circus do not help.