ANSONIA – Members of the planning & zoning commission voted Monday (Feb. 9) to approve plans for 105 apartments on East Main Street, allowing the third and final phase of the Bella Vista apartment development to move forward.

The approval is contingent on a review of old agreements by the city’s newly appointed corporation counsel. It also requires the developer, New York-based Shaw Growth Ventures, to get the Board of Aldermen’s approval for plans to use public parking lots to meet parking requirements.

The plans approved seek to convert the former Farrel Corp. Process Lab and attached warehouse at 501-527 E. Main St. into 105 apartments, with space for retail on the first floor. Those plans bounced back and forth for years over concerns mostly centered around parking.

The newest plans, submitted in September, include 25 on-site parking spaces with additional parking allowed along East Main Street and in a public lot at 65 Main St. 

Members of the planning & zoning commission have expressed concerns in recent meetings that there may be too much pressure on public parking lots from private developments.

The requirement to agree to a parking arrangement with the Aldermen is an attempt to get those concerns addressed. The Aldermen could, for example, charge a fee for the developer to use public spaces.

“This is a good reason for the city to sort of grapple with, ‘What are the options for parking?’” city planner David Elder said of the application.

The Bella Vista apartment development – which has already seen the conversion of two vacant industrial properties into 92 apartment units – has been in the works for years.

The first two phases of the development were completed in July 2022 and September 2023. 

The first phase converted the long-vacant Palmer building at 153 Main St. into a four-story apartment building with 44 apartments. 

The second phase converted the formerly vacant Ansonia Technology Park, or ATP building, at 497 E. Main St. and 165 Main St. (the former Wells Fargo Bank drive-up) into 48 apartments.

When the third and final phase is completed, the development will have added about 200 apartments to formerly vacant industrial properties downtown. 

When the development first kicked into gear under former Mayor David Cassetti’s administration, city officials hailed it as a feather in the cap for their efforts to breathe new life into abandoned downtown properties.

Newly elected Mayor Frank Tyszka has also said he supports adding more high-density and mixed-use developments in the downtown area. He said Friday (Feb. 13) he’s happy to see the apartments moving forward.

“It’s great. It was an eyesore, it was a blight issue. We wanted to get it fixed, and now we’re going to get it fixed, and it’s all good for the city,” Tyszka said.

The project could take about a year to finish once construction begins, according to submitted plans.

The apartments have been described as market rate. Rent at the other parts of the Bella Vista apartment complex currently range from $1,375 to $1,550, according to online apartment listings.

Editor’s note: This article was edited after publication to include a comment from Mayor Frank Tyszka.