Contributed
A conceptual rendering of what the structures could look like.
DERBY — A developer formally submitted plans this week to Derby City Hall and the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission to build 215 market rate apartments and about 8,500 square feet of commercial space at 23 Factory St. within the Derby Redevelopment Zone.
“We’re so proud, and we’re so happy to be moving forward,” said Karl Nilsen, a Derby resident who represented the development company, Downtown Derby LLC, at Tuesday night’s planning and zoning meeting.
Nilsen told The Valley Indy the rental apartments will be geared toward millennials, a general term to describe people born between 1981 and 1996, according to The Pew Research Center. The apartments will be a stone’s throw from the Route 8 north and south ramps off Main Street, and a short walk from the Derby train station and the city’s walking trail.
The project includes two lots comprising about 2.8 acres at 23 Factory St. (currently Barretta’s Landscaping and Garden) across from a parking lot known locally as “Hallock’s Landing.”
According to a letter from Christopher J. Smith, the lawyer representing Downtown Derby, LLC, the project will include:
- 192 one-bedroom apartments
- 14 two-bedroom apartments
- four two-bedroom townhouse dwellings
- Five studio apartments
Those apartments will be within two buildings, which will be supported by 282 parking spaces. The retail space will be on the first floor of the buildings.
In addition, Nilsen said the complex will have attractive modern apartment amenities such as gyms, a swimming pool, a dog washing station — even virtual golf.
Downtown Derby LLC includes Connecticut builders Jim and Steve Lepore, who are partnering with property owners Jena-Bonazzoli-Barretta and Christopher M. Barretta Sr., according to a previous press release.
No less than three public hearing connected to the development application have been tentatively scheduled for the Dec. 17 meeting of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission.
The public hearings include:
- an application to change the current zoning from “center design development district” to “planned development district”
- a ‘master plan’ of development for the ‘planned development district’
- a site plan application for the project
In addition, a public hearing has been scheduled for a zone-text change by the city itself to cleanup language in the zoning area (click here for a previous story).
The details of the project will be reviewed by the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission.
Tuesday’s application is a major step forward for part of the 14-acre redevelopment zone stretching from the Derby-Shelton bridge along the Housatonic River to the former Lifetouch property on Main Street.
While other developers have offered “conceptual” plans, and the city paid $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit with another downtown developer — Tuesday was the first time in at least a decade someone submitted actual plans for the city to review.
Nilsen credited Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration for working with the developer to get the project to this point. Nilsen has been a constant presence at Derby planning meetings for several years.
Carmen DiCenso, the city’s economic development liaison (and a Derby resident for 68 years), said the application is important for Derby.
“When they (the developers) first came to us a few years ago, that they could be the first domino. Once they start, I think it could blow everything open,” DiCenso said. “The developers know what they’re doing, and they brought a great project to us.”
The apartments will be off Main Street/Route 34, a road that the state has been talking about widening for a long time.
The apartment construction will start regardless of what happens with the road, Nilsen said.
DiCenso noted city officials just had a meeting about the Route 34/Main Street widening.
“We were told that the bids for construction are going out in April,” DiCenso said. “That means within a month or two of that they should start.”
