Developer presents Greenway Commons plan

Published: February 11, 2008

By JAMES CRAVEN
New Britain Herald
February 11, 2008

SOUTHINGTON — The long-awaited Greenway Commons project took another step closer to becoming a reality for Southington’s downtown district at Monday’s Town Council meeting.  

Howard Schlesinger, a founding principal of Meridian Development Partners, a New York-based development firm, presented a plan to the town for raising the revenue needed to begin the project’s next phase.

The plan put before the council calls for the final development to consist of about 263 residential units and 22,500 square feet of retail development.

“We’re ready to move forward with other aspects of the project, like demolition,” Schlesinger said.

“Our intention at this point is to focus on demolishing the structures that are on the site, but retaining one structure.”

Schlesinger’s company owns the 14-acre site anchored by the abandoned Ideal Forge facility. The developer plans to demolish almost all of the abandoned buildings, revitalizing the property, and building a state-of-the-art mix of residences and businesses.

The cost to clean up the Greenway Commons site is still unknown, but is projected to be in the millions.

Schlesinger’s company plans to save the Pump House on the property, revitalizing it, and making the building into a museum to house the thousands of artifacts they have collected in the course of the project.

As part of his presentation, Schlesinger said his plan is to work toward setting up a special assessment district, tentatively called the Greenway District, to help pay for the demolition and cleanup.

The special district, which would be created by the Legislature with the town’s approval, would allow bonds to be issued to raise the needed capital, an attorney for Meridian told the council. The attorney assured the council that because of the nature of the bonds, there was no risk to the town or its credit rating. The bonds would allow Meridian to raise the money to clean up the site, and they would be paid back via the tax revenue raised when the project was finished. If the project were not finished, Meridian would be responsible for the bond repayment. 

“Where that benefits you folks is that his intent is to get the project done, otherwise he has to pay the bonds,” he said. “The town is not on the hook for the bonds in any way, shape or form.”

Schlesinger and his attorney said that creating a special district to help finance developments, especially those with potential pollution, or brownfield areas, has been done in Bridgeport, Stamford, Derby, and East Lyme with great success.

A brownfield is a property, like the Ideal Forge site, that may be affected by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant when it is re-used. Since its inception in 1995, the Environmental Protection Agencies Brownfields Program has worked to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to safely clean up potentially polluted areas.

Councilor Art Secondo said the proposed development would be a welcome addition to land use in Southington.

“This is an even more exciting project than we thought,” Secondo said.