Another multi-million dollar apartment project is in the works for Shelton.
A commercial real estate developer plans to put a $30-million, 248-unit apartment complex on a 13-acre site off of Bridgeport Avenue behind Planet Fitness and Bertucci’s.
Dominick Thomas, a prominent Valley lawyer, showed preliminary plans for the “upscale” project to the Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night.
Thomas said a deal is in the works for the property between his client, Talbot Partners LLC, and the current owners, “entities related to the Francini family.”
Bill Griffin, an official from Talbot Partners, said during Wednesday’s meeting that the development will bring 300 construction jobs as it’s being built, as well as 40 permanent jobs once completed.
The 248 apartments would be split among 11 buildings, three of them four stories tall and eight that are three floors.
The development would also feature a pool, gazebo, movie room, and other amenities. Griffin estimated rents for the apartments — studios, one- and two-bedrooms — at between $1,500 and $2,500 per month.
Access to the complex would be off Bridgeport Avenue, by widening and extending the entrance to Planet Fitness.
The proposal is not yet a formal application. Wednesday’s discussion was listed on the commission’s agenda as an “informal discussion.”
‘Shelton’s A Very Popular Place’
Thomas estimated Thursday that Talbot Partners would be filing an application for the property “within the next 30 to 90 days.”
“I thought the exchange was very good last night,” he said.
The project, if built, would be one of several residential developments in the works in Shelton. “Shelton’s a very popular place to stay,” Thomas noted during the meeting.
Avalon Bay Communities Inc. is currently building a 250-unit apartment complex on Canal Street, next to the Birmingham, a former factory converted into residential units.
South of those properties, the developer overseeing the redevelopment of Canal Street has proposed renovating the Spongex building into a 42-unit apartment complex.
Those projects are downtown: The one Thomas is proposing is closer to the office buildings along Bridgeport Avenue.
Thomas refers to the area as “the box” — roughly bounded by Trap Falls Road, Huntington Street, Commerce Drive, and Bridgeport Avenue — and said it is a “perfect fit” for apartments because of its proximity to high-class office space and retail services.
Young office workers who might have been able to buy a house in years past are finding it more difficult to buy homes because mortgage lenders tightened regulations after the housing crash in 2008, he said.
Thomas said the proposal will be appealing to those workers.
‘Premium Product’
“The young executives, they can be making a very good salary, (but) they can’t afford homes anymore,” Thomas told PZC commissioners. “They can’t afford the down payments anymore, and that’s a serious issue.”
He predicted the properties would also be popular with “snowbirds” who have spent their whole lives in the area and now live part-time in warmer weather in winter.
“What residential that has been put into this area or was existing in this area has relatively flourished,” he said.
The impact on the school system would be “negligible,” Thomas predicted, saying his client would prepare a “very elaborate marketing study” that will show the development will generate as much in tax revenue as a Class A office building, without nearly as much traffic.
Griffin said plans for the buildings haven’t been finalized yet but that they would probably be stone or brick on the bottom floors and Hardieplank, a wood-looking, weather-resistant siding product, on upper floors.
“We’re going to put the best into it that we can and keep it for a long time,” he said.
Thomas said the company has a track record of success. “This is a company that knows what they’re doing and is prepared to put a premium product in.”
Griffin said that some work has occurred on the site over the years means there will be less construction traffic.
“There won’t be trucks coming in and out of here with materials to bring in, (then) to bring back out again,” he said. “Everything will be used on the site that’s on the site.”
