The man at the center of efforts to redevelop Shelton’s Canal Street announced plans to turn the Spongex building into rental apartments and erect a new commercial building next to it.
John Guedes, president and CEO of Primrose Companies, told a subcommittee of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission Friday morning that he has an agreement in place with the owner of the Spongex building to renovate it into a 42-unit apartment building.
The agreement he referred to — with Rudy Pizzoferrato, who owns the Spongex building — is only a verbal one at this point, Guedes said after the meeting.
The planned apartments would be marketed toward older tenants, Guedes said, and would run from about $1,100 to $1,500 per month.
“It’s not meant to compete with Avalon,” Guedes said, referring to a 250-unit apartment complex being built north of the Birmingham building.
Guedes also wants to build a new commercial building to the south of the Spongex building, on property that is currently city-owned.
An idea Guedes floated to the subcommittee Friday: his company will build a road around the proposed apartment building which would help to ease traffic issues downtown and provide safer access to the bridge to Derby.
Guedes would then deed the road over to the city and work with officials to figure out an arrangement to build the commercial building — about 14,000 square feet mixed between office and retail space — and parking lot.
“It will have to be in some form of partnership with the city,” Guedes said at the meeting. “There’s a lot of issues here.”
Conceptual plans for both buildings provided by Guedes are posted at the end of this story.
He said there is already interest from potential tenants for the commercial building he plans. The two-story structure would have retail on the first floor — he envisions a restaurant with outdoor seating — and professional offices on the second floor.
The plans fall in line with proposals outlined in a market study of downtown recently completed. The city is looking to acquire the Chromium Process Co. building to possibly create more parking for future development along Canal Street.
‘Just What The Doctor Ordered’
Mayor Mark Lauretti was enthusiastic about the plans Friday.
“It’s just what the doctor ordered,” Lauretti said. “It’s what we’ve been working towards for years in terms of economic development for downtown.”
He said the construction of the bypass road around the Spongex building is something he’s “been pushing for years” to help alleviate traffic issues downtown and provide safer access to Bridge Street.
Guedes was before the downtown subcommittee Friday morning because the land in question is currently zoned as industrial. He suggested applying for the creation of a new “Planned Development District” might be the way to go but has not yet submitted any formal application.
It’s an important step, he said, because financing for the project would be difficult to get if the land were still zoned as industrial.
Guedes said during the meeting that he’d probably be filing an application within the next eight weeks.
Commission Chair Ruth Parkins said Friday afternoon said she couldn’t comment on the specifics of the plan — meetings like Friday’s are to allow commissioners and staff a “preliminary, introductory” look at proposals, she said.
“It gets the dialogue started, which is very, very important,” she said.
Parkins said it’s “very promising” to see private investors wanting to invest downtown, though she noted that many details have to be worked out.
“I’m just delighted to see the progress happening downtown,” she said. “It’s very, very exciting. The merchants that are down there now need the people.”
Parkins said instead of making another “Planned Development District,” as Guedes suggested, the commission may bring forward plans to create a downtown village district of some sort within the city’s zoning code.
Staff with the city’s Planning and Zoning Department are working on ironing out the details, Parkins said, adding that the commission may bring something forward sometime this year.
