CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said a public hearing on the proposal was scheduled for Jan. 28. The hearing is scheduled for Feb 25.
The man overseeing the redevelopment of Shelton’s downtown riverfront is asking the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve 68 more apartments to be built on Canal Street.
The apartments would be built at 223 Canal St., just north of the Avalon Shelton, a 250-apartment complex that was finished in 2013.
Plans call for the 68 one‑, two‑, and three-bedroom apartments to be housed in a single four-story building, called “River Breeze Commons Residential.” The total number of bedrooms would be capped at 127, plans filed with the city say.
The commission has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in the City Hall auditorium.
According to city land records, the 1.26-acre industrial property is currently owned by a limited liability company controlled by Philip Nizzardo Jr., an Orange resident and business associate of John Guedes.
The property was sold in December 2007 for $1,162,500.
Guedes is the head of Primrose Companies, which has for years been overseeing the redevelopment of the downtown Shelton riverfront from industrial sector to residential hub.
The transformation has included the conversion of the Birmingham Building just north of the Derby-Shelton Bridge into condominiums, as well as the construction of the 250-unit Avalon complex to the north of that.
Guedes said in an email Wednesday (Jan. 22) that the Avalon’s “lease-up” convinced him the time was right to build more apartments.
“This is the progression that I had envisioned,” Guedes said.
He said a handful of existing buildings on the property will be demolished to make room for a wider street if the project is approved.
Guedes said an unsuccessful effort to fill in a canal — the street’s namesake, and a relic of the area’s industrial past — across the street from the property made the demo a necessity.
The apartments would be in a three-story building set back about 15 feet from the road to allow for the street widening, Guedes said.
The target rent for the units will be $1,200 to $1,400, slightly less than the nearby Avalon, which Guedes said is 95 percent full.
“Their product is more upscale and not competition,” Guedes said.
Guedes ballparked the total cost of the project at $10 million.
