McLevy Green is becoming the centerpiece to Downtown, bordered by Broad, State, Main and Bank complemented by restaurants, new housing and summer concerts. Come summer’s end new apartments and a German beer hall Harlan Haus will open, followed by an expected comedy club occupying the former Playhouse on the Green as part of an $18 million renovation of structures at State and Main.
CT Post reporter Keila Torres Ocasio has more:
“We’re on the doorstep to getting the project complete,” said Brett Wilderman, principal at Darien-based Forstone Capital, which later this year will finish the roughly $18 million renovation of the structures at 155-189 State St. and 899 Main St. “We’re very close.”
Forstone will begin accepting applications for the 32 apartments–a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units–next month. Wilderman said he hopes tenants can begin occupying the units, 25 of which are affordable apartments with restricted income guidelines, in late August.
Full story here.
are there any sketches of what the beer hall is going to look like and will they be serving food? I think this has a chance to really help downtown explode. Yes, comedy clubs are hit or miss, but it could work there.
now if the restoration of the Majestic truly gets of the ground, watch out Bpt. might truly have it going on.
how about trying to get pepe’s to open a place downtown??? HUMMM, a thought
Hoo-ray! More subsidized low-income housing for Bridgeport!! (Can’t we share the bounty and let Fairfield have the next 100 units coming down the pike?)
Fairfield probably has it, too, and wants it as well.
This is because this sort of housing is developed using (in all likelihood) the federal program known as “Low Income Housing Tax Cedits.” It is not a subsidy, at least not in the sense of direct payments of rents a la Section 8. The LIHTCs, administered by the IRS (not HUD, incidentally), have for decades been the best impetus to creative development of affordable multi-family rental housing in the United States, LIHTCs are awarded competitively in each state, and the competition is keen, I worry that the Exact Captial housing plans will falter if Exact fails to win LIHTCs from Connecticut. The tax credits are provided to limited investment partners in the companies that develop housing. It is a program highly oriented to the market for investment and the market for housing, Congress decreed in the 1986 tax bill that the USA would forgo income tax revenue from investors who profit from creatively produced affordable mukit-family housing. So it’s a matter of forgoing tax revenue that would not have existed but for the tax credit (similar on a national level to property investment abatement on a local level.) And LIBCs have worked, repeatedly, in locations all over the United States. Amazingly creative housing and mixed-income and mixed-use developments are the result. I live in Forstone’s other mixed-income development downtown. Who’s a tenant in an “affordable” unit versus a tenant In a “market rate” unit? No one knows, as they are indistinguishable from each other.
Every Aspect of the Forstone project is going to make a huge impact on Downtown.I agree with Coach T. Housing downtowntown is the only way they will thrive and new blood moving into the city is a very good thing. A 450 million Project for the Poli/Majestic theaters with 2 – 19 story residential towers is just what the city needs. I suppose we could wait another 50 years with drip drip drip development. Meanwhile, Shelton and Milford, Derby and Stamford continue to boom. Everywhere you look. Bridgeport continues its drip drip drip and wonder why our taxes go up up up . It is time people started fighting for economic development all over the city. It is the only way our taxes will stabilize and begin to come down. Even if the theater proposals aren’t ideal, If they happen, everything else will fall into place. Drip drip drip — Will this opportunity ever come again. I do no anticipate being around in 50 years to see if it does. Do you?