The developer overseeing the revitalization of Shelton’s downtown riverfront is proposing a land swap with the city in order to redevelop two old industrial properties.
John Guedes, the CEO of the Primrose Companies, detailed his proposal to an Aldermanic subcommittee Jan. 8, saying it could improve traffic flow along the always congested Howe Avenue.
The city hasn’t taken action, but Board of Aldermen President John Anglace said Guedes’ proposal — which may eventually see Center Street extended to Canal Street in order to improve traffic conditions flowing through downtown to the Derby-Shelton bridge — makes sense.
Basically, Guedes’ says:
* He is in contract to buy the Spongex building — the L‑shaped brick building parallel to the Derby-Shelton bridge — and turn it into apartments.
- To the immediate south of that property is a city-owned 1‑acre lot known as the Rolfite site. A chemical company once owned the land, but the city has received nearly $1 million to clean up environmental contamination there over the past several years.
- Guedes wants the city to give him the Rolfite property so he can build an 18,000-square-foot commercial building on it with stores and office space.
- In exchange, he will build a road between the two properties connecting to the bridge and then deed the road over to the city.
- He says the land swap will benefit the city by making traffic flow downtown better along Howe Avenue and provide for a safer intersection as traffic turns onto the bridge.
“It seems like a pretty attractive proposition,” Anglace said. “It accomplishes what Planning and Zoning has wanted to do for years.”
Click play on the video above to watch part of Guedes’ presentation Tuesday.
The proposal is also detailed in a letter Guedes sent to Mayor Mark Lauretti in October and embedded below. Article continues after the document.
Shelton Land Swap Proposal by ValleyIndyDotOrg
Guedes told Aldermen that if the city wants to do the deal, he would plan to have construction started on both buildings by the end of 2013.
Plans Guedes showed informally to a subcommittee of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission last year show an overview of the proposal are embedded below.
If the city is successful in a tax foreclosure on the old Chromium Process Company property, the road Guedes plans on building would hook up with Center Street, which would be extended east past its current ending point in front of the Chromium Process property.
Click here to read more about the Chromium Process foreclosure.
Riverside Commercial Plans by ValleyIndyDotOrg
Mayor Mark Lauretti said the city could redirect the road even without the Chromium Process land.
“If there was a fly in the ointment that delayed things, you could create a Center Street loop around the Chromium Process property and come back out onto Canal,” he said.
Hours after the meeting, officials were reminded of the importance of trying to find new uses for such old industrial properties when a two-story abandoned factory about 1,500 feet up the road went up in flames.
“Old industrial fires are not new in downtown Shelton,” Lauretti said after a meeting of the Board of Aldermen this month. “We’ve been dealing with them for 30 years unfortunately, and the BF Goodrich Fire back in ’75 that made national history.”
Cleaning them up and attracting developers to them has and will continue to be a priority, he said.
“Anybody investing is looking for value. We’re fortunate in Shelton that people are seeing good value here,” Lauretti said. “Now we’re in a position to capitalize on some of these properties. They’re starting to be cleaned up and they’re now more developable than they’ve ever been.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission in November changed the zoning of the Spongex land to incorporate it into the city’s Riverfront Development District, which they see as a “logical extension,” according to meeting minutes.
