Many of us, including myself, ran for local government for the first time in 2005 on the basis to jump start downtown redevelopment.
When we first came into office, we met weekly with the old developer to try to determine where the project was, and where it was actually going.
After 2 years of these weekly meetings, we came to the conclusion the old developer had no intention of working in Derby, and he was waiting for a financial windfall from the State. The Board of Aldermen made the wise decision to cut ties, and after first asking for 25 million, the developer settled for 1.75 million, which is much less than was owed to him per the contract.
Although the old developer still owns property in the zone, he will be treated as any other property owner, and the financial responsibility to obtain those properties falls on the new developer. The private properties will not be purchased until there is a buildable plan in place.
The Redevelopment Agency (who holds a public forum at EVERY meeting) then spent 2 years engaged in a nationwide search for a new downtown developer.
We publicly entertained many different proposals and researched many different ideas, including a community college setting, but we realized that colleges fall into a PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) Program, and Derby wouldn’t realize the full benefit of a tax base.
This idea is still being pushed by those who do not know any better. During the course of our research, we were told time and time again that the “mom and pop” downtown we all initially desired was unfortunately a thing of the past.
The premise of a good development is that a major retail attraction will draw people into other areas of Derby, which in turn will fill up retail space throughout the City. We entered into a contract with our new developer, Eclipse Development, long before this election season, and we have stuck with the timelines set out in that agreement.
The Valley Council of Governments and our State DOT are close to beginning construction on our new Main Street, and according to their engineers, their project will in no way affect the start of ours.
We forsee our new development as a retail and restaurant village center, with the character of the new buildings honoring the character of our past history.
The writer is a Republican running for re-election in Derby’s Third Ward. He is also chairman of the Derby Redevelopment Agency.
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Joe, someone asked me the other day “Why did you waste 2 years with the old developer?”. I told them that we all wanted that project to work, and to look like the plans they designed, but as those 2 years evolved, we realized that project could never financially be built. We all (including myself) were hooked by those pretty pictures. To this day I still question how a company could design a project that, if given the proper approvals, they could not build.
Let me start off by saying I appreciate all the hard work Mayor Staffieri and the current board has done and you’re doing a good job, but I believe a community college or a University of Phoenix would create a financial windfall for this city. It may not expand the tax base as much as you would like but think of the commerce it would bring. All students need a place to have a cup of coffee and lunch in between classes. They need a place to buy supplies, clothes, and other impulse buys. Think of the ease of getting to us, we have a train station right there, we could attract students from a 20 mile radius and who knows some may even want to live here after their schooling. When you have the hundreds to thousands of students coming into the city everyday it is guaranteed money and because of this capital you CAN have a “mom and pop” downtown with facade’s that reflect the history of Derby instead of big box stores and chain restaurants that I would never personally eat at. At some point we need to start thinking about building a community again and not just the easy money makers and tax base expansion that we’re looking at right now. Keep up the good work guys, just something to think about!
I agree with Mr. Mascola and was also going to jump on the community college bandwagon…what a great idea. It’s too bad that the author believes this is an idea promoted by “people who don’t know any better.” I work at an educational institution and although we are a non-profit organization, we pay tens of thousands of dollars to the city for our leased equipment and vehicles. The coffee shops, the pizza places, and the mall all benefit from a non-profit organization located in their community. Mail and parcel stores and services, auto repair shops, convenience stores all reap the benefits of having a non-profit in town. I would suggest that thinking outside of the box is what this town desperately needs.
While we are on the subject of redevelopment, many of the current administration got involved to “jump start downtown redevelopment.” It took 2-years (104 weekly meetings) to reach the conclusion that the old developer had no intention of working in Derby. You were mesmerized by the pretty pictures? I have no doubt in my mind that if I told my boss that it took me two years to realize we were in a bad deal and it was going to cost us 1.75 million dollars to get out of the deal and my reason for taking so long to come to this conclusion was that I was hooked by the pretty pictures, I would be fired.
It then took two more years to conduct a nationwide search? My goodness, are there no timelines in any of these projects? The Eclipse timeline is being adhered to…let me guess, 2-years?
With all due respect for those who commit their time and energy to these types of projects, if redevelopment is one of the hot issues and you truly want to jump start redevelopment, shouldn’t there be some shorter timelines? One of the reasons the current administration needs to keep defending projects being politically motivated is because of these two year timelines. How about adhering to 6-month or 1-year timelines so projects wouldn’t be criticized as being an election year issue?
Years ago (before I became involved), I thought a Stew Leonards would be great downtown. I soon realized you cannot force someone to build something where you want it built. So lets say, throughout a nationwide search, there is no college looking to expand, and due to site restrictions, especially expand in Derby….then what? I can assure you, that idea has been looked at.
During the initial time we met with the new developer, it took a while to get up to speed on the status of the project being the City Hall computers were wiped clean and alot of the documents were shredded. In those 2 years, we knocked down the buildings and also secured a special taxing district for the site via a special act of the Connecticut legislature, and there is not much I can say if you don’t think that takes plenty of time, and yes plenty of meetings. To say a volunteer from the BOA or RDA should be “fired” for spending their own time learning about an important City project is pretty irresponsible and highly political.
When one conducts a nationwide search for a new developer, one needs to have a well written, thorough RFP as wall as ample time to respond to such and weed through and meet with any prospective candidates. Once again, time and meetings.
I am proud of the decisions the BOA (Dems and repubs) and the bipartisan Redevelopment Agency (dems, repubs and ind) made to date. We took a once stalled, go nowhere project, repackaged it, put it back out there, secured a developer and are now on our way. I dont think, without taking away the fundamental setup of local government, we could have done all of this any more quickly.
If the criticism of the other side is we should have made our decisions faster, I can live with that.
You are trying to put words in my mouth. I used myself as an example and never suggested firing a volunteer. I stated that I would be fired if I took that long to make decisions based on pretty pictures. I am glad you are proud, but suggest you should be just a little bit embarrassed as well for getting caught up with the pretty pictures.
I don’t think Mr. Gerckens was saying anyone should be fired but was using it as an allegory in comparison to the private vs. public sector way of dealing with situations. While we’re on the subject of something “political”, I am so saddened, disheartened and down right disgusted by the way this town wants to politicize issues such as downtown redevelopment. This is not a political issue, its a Derby issue, we all live here and should have one vision of what this town can be. In regards to “timelines”, please throw them out the window! I don’t care how long this takes, the point is to get it right this time. I’d rather have it take a little longer or have a surprisingly quicker resolution than to make poor decisions that will come back to haunt us years down the line.
Has anyone really thought of how these restaurants will fare when there is virtually no traffic that comes through Main St except to get from 84 to 95? Without a hotel, or some reason for people to spend time here these places will not make it. It’s why the Sterling Opera House should be priority #1 by investing in it on a city level and in conjunction with the Valley Arts Council create a Birmingham Arts Council which could be an extension of the Valley Council of Governments responsible for a renaissance of an artistic revival in the valley. At least it would bring people in, and they could have dinner and a show. Just putting big name restaurants for the sake of it is not economically viable, in the long term, if there is nothing here to sustain them like there is on the Bridgeport Ave. corridor. Again I appreciate all the hard work you all do, but I think its time to start asking the harder questions and not thinking 10 years down the road but a broader spectrum of where this city can be for the next 50 years.
Thank you. I learned a lot from your article. I think the agency has been doing a great job and I look forward to our new downtown.
Art, I will never be embarrassed for trying my best and spending the time in an attempt to salvage the old project.
Does Joe Bomba even Live In Derby?
Mr. Conti,
I could be wrong, but aldermen cannot be elected to a city they do not live in. Do you live in Derby?