A rendering showing a possible mixed use development on Derby’s Factory Street.
A downtown Derby property owner unveiled preliminary plans to put hundreds of new apartments in a mixed-use development on Factory Street.
The development would happen on property owned by the Barretta family — the former Housatonic Lumber at 23 Factory St., along with the landscaping and garden supply company currently using the location.
Part of the complex is being torn down as part of the Route 34 widening project.
The plans are not yet a formal application before the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The Barretta family is exploring the development in partnership with Lepore & Sons LLC, a New Hartford-based design and construction company.
Karl Nilsen, a land use consultant, showed initial plans for the redevelopment to a subcommittee of the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday.
The property is part of a redevelopment zone on the south Side of Main Street that has been beset by stops and starts for years.
But Nilsen said the long-planned — and long-delayed — expansion of Main Street/Route 34 will bring new opportunities.
“We’d really like to get this up and operating by the time the state finishes Route 34,” Nilsen said. “So we’re looking at having the first apartment building at that time … we’re looking to do roughly 300 units.”
Part of the Barretta property is being taken down by the state for the road project. The former Calvert Lock building will be demolished, too. Buildings fronting Main Street — the former Oliwa Tile, a liquor store and other storefronts — are supposed to be destroyed, too, but the demo date remained a bit of a bureaucratic mystery last week.
Meanwhile, renderings shown at the meeting showed a four-story mixed-use development with commercial space on the ground floor and apartments above.
The partnership is also in negotiations with Housatonic Community College regarding a possible 20,000-square-foot manufacturing center on the property. That type of use has previously been mentioned for the redevelopment zone, at the site of the former Lifetouch property. But that deal fell through, according to Derby officials last week.
“We don’t really know where that (negotiation) is going to go,” Nilsen said.
The developers are also talking to the owners of a scrapyard adjoining the property.
“We’re trying to figure what would work out there,” Nilsen said.
Members of the subcommittee seemed receptive to development. Derby’s been trying to redevelop the area for a generation or two.
“When can you start?” joked Richard Stankye.
The developers said after the meeting that it’s too soon to talk about timelines.
Their lawyer, Chris Smith, told the subcommittee he’s been in talks with the commission’s lawyer about a possible zone change or special overlay for the property.
Smith said the property’s current zoning — in the “Center Design Development District” — wouldn’t allow the density they’re envisioning for the development.
Perhaps the development district’s regulations could be changed to encourage more development, he said.
Another concern as the developers are looking to recruit investors, he said — what might eventually end up built across Factory Street, on properties currently owned by the state and city?
“If a club ends up being across the street, that could end up having an adverse effect,” Smith said.
In the long run, the developers could also be interested in acquiring the properties themselves for redevelopment.
Plans showing possible development on properties in downtown Derby.
Smith said he’d talk to the commission’s lawyer and staff to develop an application.
City officials are enthusiastic about the plans.
In a prepared statement, Mayor Richard Dziekan said he “couldn’t be happier that we are starting to see some action on the south side of Main Street.”
Dziekan made the stalled downtown redevelopment a major plank of his campaign to unseat two-term Mayor Anita Dugatto last year.
“The people of Derby have waited a very long time for this,” Dziekan said. “My administration is committed to being business and development friendly and we will continue to do whatever we can to accommodate everyone involved in development within the borders of our small city.”
The mayor said he hopes the Factory Street project starts a “domino effect” for the rest fo the redevelopment zone.
Carmen DiCenso, a part-time economic development liaison working for the city, said officials have been having discussions with the developers since December.
“We’re very excited about it,” DiCenso said. “We’re looking forward to them starting.”
