Ansonia officials will soon begin negotiations with Woodbridge real estate developer Jerry Nocerino for the city to sell two downtown buildings that could be redeveloped into a mixed-use complex with retail space and nearly 100 apartments.
In March the city asked interested developers for proposals to buy the two properties — two eyesores totaling about 100,000 square feet.
They received two, one from Nocerino and another from Moustapha Diakhate, the owner of the nearby former Farrel Corp. buildings straddling the north end of Main Street.
But Diakhate’s bid was deemed “ineligible” because it was not sealed and did not include a required $10,000 deposit.
After discussing the proposals for about 20 minutes behind closed doors — allowed when government is talking real estate deals — the Aldermen voted Tuesday unanimously to authorize Mayor David Cassetti’s staff to negotiate with Nocerino to sell the buildings to him.
According to Nocerino’s proposal, submitted in the name of Copper City Development, a limited liability corporation in which he is a partner with Shelton accountant Charles Smith, the early plan is to rehab the two buildings into 95 apartments with about 12,000 square feet of ground floor retail and a restaurant.
A budget included in their proposal details nearly $9 million of work they’d invest in the redevelopment.
An annual operating budget also included in the bid package says they estimate renting the apartments for $1,000 a month.
Nocerino has plenty of development experience in the Valley — he owns several buildings on the north end of Main Street, where a new bar and grill is taking shape, the Ansonia Commons retail complex at the intersection of Main and Bridge streets, as well as the site of the former Valley Bowl in Derby, at which several new businesses have recently opened.
A deal has not been struck — if the negotiations between the city and Nocerino bear fruit with a contract to sell the buildings, Aldermen would need to approve it.
The properties — 497 E. Main St. and 153 Main St., known respectively as the Ansonia Technology Park and the Palmer Building — have sat mostly vacant for years, though the first two floors of the Palmer Building house Ansonia’s Senior Center and some medical offices.
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The land has a total appraised value of roughly $3.5 million, but Cassetti said last month he’d be open to selling it for nominal value if the deal included a “clawback” provision allowing the city to take possession if the development doesn’t move forward by a certain date.
That is precisely what happened the last time the city struck a deal to sell the buildings — in 2008, with New Jersey-based Duke Realty, which walked away from the deal in 2012.
In the time since, the city tried three times tried to sell the buildings, according to Corporation Counsel John Marini.
But no bids for the properties were received.
The shabby condition of the properties has attracted criticism from Valley Indy readers who note that the city has done little to make them look better, at the same time as it has implemented a beefed-up blight law.
In response to those criticisms, city officials have said they want to sell the buildings and get them back on the tax rolls.
It’s unclear what will happen with the Senior Center if the city strikes a deal with Nocerino.
Officials have for years been discussing the possibility of consolidating the Senior Center with Derby. Or it could be included in the redevelopment plans. Or perhaps the city will build a new one somewhere.
“That will be part of the negotiations,” said Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director, after Tuesday’s meeting.
