The 227,000-square-foot Farrel property on East Main Street will be redeveloped into retail stores, office space and market-rate condos and apartments, city officials announced Thursday.
Mayor James Della Volpe hosted a press conference to introduce Moustapha Diakhate to Ansonia. Diakhate owns the Washington Management company, which just purchased two former Farrel properties in downtown Ansonia totaling just under 400,000 square feet.
The purchase price — $1.9 million.
In addition, city officials announced the Farrel Corp. — which employs about 100 people — will be staying in Ansonia.
The two properties straddle Ansonia’s Main Street. Diakhate announced preliminary plans for the East Main Street property below.
Plans for West Main Street were not announced Thursday. The new owner wants to concentrate first on the East Main Street property.
The Farrel Corp. was at one time an economic powerhouse in the lower Naugatuck Valley. As manufacturing declined in the U.S., the buildings at Farrel became underused. Today most of the buildings are eyesores.
The redevelopment of the East Main Street property will result in construction jobs and bolster the city’s tax rolls, officials said Thursday. In addition, Della Volpe said he hopes the redeveloped site helps trigger further economic action on Ansonia’s Main Street.
In a prepared statement, Della Volpe said he was “thrilled that Mr. Diakhate has recognized the incredible potential in downtown Ansonia, and through his vision and investment, he will enable our city to experience the type of sustainable redevelopment that is increasingly evident throughout the Valley.”
This story will be updated later.
