In its perpetual quest to modernize downtown Shelton, the city is looking to buy the vacant Chromium Process Co. building on Canal Street.
The iconic former factory sits in a prime spot in terms of downtown redevelopment plans. It’s between The Birmingham condominium building and Shelton’s Riverwalk park — behind the Dunkin’ Donuts at the end of Center Street.
Shelton development officials want to demolish the building to make way for new uses. Chromium Process Co. is currently in bankruptcy.
The site could become a parking lot to accommodate new and planned housing downtown. Or the land could be used to rework the roadways of Center Street, Canal Street East and Canal Street West.
“We’re advocating that it’s a very high priority, and very much connected to the plans for downtown,” said James Ryan, the executive director of the Shelton Economic Development Corporation.
Ryan discussed preliminary plans for the site at the Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday, as part of a presentation about a market study for Shelton’s downtown.
The market study, completed by Milone & MacBroom Inc., a Cheshire-based consulting firm, is a road map for the city as it continues to redevelop downtown.
The study “evaluates current reuse plans in light of current market conditions,” as well as outlines trends in housing, work and the economy.
Chromium Process Co.
The city’s interest in purchasing the property is preliminary, Ryan said.
However, it’s an option being reviewed as Shelton continues trying to bring new developments to sites along Canal Street.
Downtown cleanup and development has been happening on all sides of Chromium Process Co.
To the south, the former BF Goodrich site was transformed into the Shelton Riverwalk and Veterans Memorial.
The Derby-Shelton Rotary is currently building a pavilion at the site.
To the north, 103 condominium units were built in a former factory, now called The Birmingham.
Another 250 rental units are under construction by Avalon next to The Birmingham.
And all around, brownfield sites are undergoing environmental cleanup.
Meanwhile, Chromium Process Co. stopped production in about 2008 or 2009, when the then-Department of Environmental Protection revoked discharge permits for the business, according to Stephanie Tice, whose family owns the business.
Chromium Process Co. is now in bankruptcy.
Tice and her brother, Ward, have switched gears, opening a new company, Chromalloy Process LLC in an office building on Howe Avenue.
Chromalloy is a middleman, linking Chromium Process’s former customers with chromium plating companies that can perform the work, Ward Tice said.
The new company employs five people, including the Tice siblings.
Stephanie Tice said the future of the Chromium Process Co. building is in the hands of the bankruptcy trustee, an attorney in New Haven.
“We haven’t talked to the city yet about anything,” Stephanie Tice said.
The Shelton Economic Development Corporation is working on Environmental Protection Agency reports about the Chromium Process Co. property. It’s part of the review process for potentially buying the building, Ryan said.
No price has been publicly named for the building yet. The building and land at 113 Canal St. is appraised at $402,000, according to a property card for the 0.6 acre lot.
Stephanie Tice said the future plans for the building don’t bother her as much as the loss of her family business, which at one point employed hundreds of people.
“It’s heartbreaking that the business is gone,” Tice said. “That’s the thing that really hurts me… I think we did a lot of good for the community. I think that’s the biggest heartbreak. All these jobs are gone.”
Future Planning
The plans for Chromium Process Co. reflect a broader shift away from industrial use and toward residential uses downtown. Demographic and trend studies listed in the market study report indicate a continued need for more housing in downtown Shelton.
Milone and MacBroom Inc. estimate the need for another 336 to 632 housing units downtown — taking into account projected population growth for Shelton and a trend of people migrating from expensive lower Fairfield County towns to the Valley and New Haven County.
“If product is available in downtown Shelton and properly marketed, it should be able to capture a significant number of households from this migration out of Fairfield county,” the study states.
The study focuses on the Canal Street area.
Hypothetical Plan
One suggestion in the market study involves building a four-story residential building at the now empty lot of the former Samarius and Axton Cross sites on Canal Street. In that scenario, the Derby Silver Building on Bridge Street, where Spongex is currently located, would be turned into a mix of residential and office space.
In a drawing highlighting the redevelopment option, Chromium Process Co. becomes a parking lot, the Shelton Riverwalk is extended, and pedestrian walkways in the neighborhood become more defined.
Other suggestions in the market study include:
- Closing the east-bound ramp from Canal Street to Bridge Street to provide better pedestrian opportunities.
- Extending Center Street across West Canal Street, so people don’t have to make several turns to get to the parallel East Canal Street.
The plan is not an official proposal. The market study is more of a list of possibilities for the downtown, backed up by lots of data supporting certain types of development over others.
Ryan’s office plans to post the 76-page market study on the SEDC website to gather community feedback on the contents and proposals.
Article continues after copy of the report.
The market study is an updated version of a 2006 report. The city continues to check in on market conditions and changes in the economy, and adjust its downtown plans as needed, Ryan said.
Having plans like this one help make Shelton a shovel-ready destination for new development, he said.
“Other cities wait for something to happen,” Ryan told the Planning and Zoning Commission. “You plan it.”
The Data
The report is filled with data that Milone & MacBroom Inc. uses to back up its recommendations.
Some excerpts:
- Shelton’s population grew by 11.7 percent between 1990 and 2010, according to U.S. Census data. Towns in Shelton’s “Primary Market Area” grew by 6.7 percent during that same time.
- Shelton’s population is expected to grow by another 6.3 percent from 2010 to 2030.
- About 22,000 people commute into Shelton each day for work. They mostly come from Bridgeport, Stratford, Milford, and other Valley towns.
