An illustration of the just-approved complex.
ANSONIA – Construction is expected to get underway in March on an estimated $15 million sports training complex slated for Olson Drive.
That’s according to developer John Guedes, whose redevelopment plans received unanimous approval from the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission at its Nov. 28 meeting.
Guedes, who is president and CEO of Primrose Companies, plans to transform the property at 107 – 165 Olson Dr. across from the Naugatuck River into a hub for soccer and athletic training. His development calls for construction of two buildings. A 39,000-square foot building would house indoor soccer, along with an outdoor soccer field. Ole Soccer, a soccer business, is scheduled to lease the space.
A second, 49,000 square-foot building has been leased to a basketball training program and a separate firm that trains lacrosse and football players, Guedes said.
Guedes said the project will include 250 parking spaces. The city also added 137 lined parking spaces to Olson Drive just as the site plan application was submitted for review.
He also said he hired a sports lighting company to design the exterior lighting around the facility, which he said won’t have a negative impact on neighbors. Several commissioners expressed concerns back in August when Guedes first unveiled his proposal about lighting shining into homes or the new apartments built across the river on Main Street.
There is also a large number of residential houses behind the facility.
Once construction gets underway this spring, Guedes said he expects the facility to open in stages beginning in August.
By way of background, back in 2019, Guedes was the only developer to answer the city’s request for proposals seeking a private developer to build some sort of sports facility there.
At the same time, the Cassetti administration embarked on the complicated process of buying the Olson Drive land from the Ansonia Housing Authority, an entity under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Olson Drive had previously been home to hundreds of federally-subsidized housing units. Those units are now spread throughout Ansonia, instead of concentrating all the subsidized housing in one place.
The city sold the land to Guedes in August for $510,000, which was approved by the Ansonia Board of Aldermen: the same price the city paid to buy the land from the housing authority. A tax incentive was also approved along with the land sale that freezes the property’s current assessment of $2 million for three years, meaning the city will not collect more than about $75,000 in taxes per year for the first three years. After three years, the assessment will increase 5 percent a year for 14 years.
The city has not collected taxes on the property since 1962 due to it being government controlled.
Also, as part of the approved land deal, Ansonia residents will be given a 10 percent discount at any programs offered at the new complex. In addition, the property owner has to make the place available for some 10 Ansonia events a year, whether it be for concerts, gatherings or certain sporting events.
Mayor David Cassetti was glad to see the project was approved and said it will compliment Ansonia’s downtown where there are new restaurants, businesses, a police station, improved rail services and hundreds of new apartments under construction.
“It’s going to bring more foot traffic and traffic down to Main Street, which is very good for the city,” Cassetti said.
Guedes said the facility “will be a fantastic addition to the Ansonia downtown, and the Valley, in general, and will bring a lot of good people in and help the local business economy.”
A lawsuit filed that questioned the process by which the Cassetti administration acquired then unloaded the land was recently dismissed. Click here for a story.
Poorly Written Agenda
A member of the city’s planning and zoning commission pointed out on social media that the Nov. 28 approval of the Olson Drive project — a major redevelopment project for the area — wasn’t covered by the local press and seemed to be ignored by the general public.
However, the agenda for the meeting was misleading.
Meeting agendas are a way for the public to know what a local board or commission is going to talk about. The meeting agenda for the Nov. 28 meeting stated there was an extension granted for the project.
Under “items for discussion and possible action” the agenda listed — nothing.
Corporation Counsel John Marini said he had no issue with how Guedes’ proposal was listed on the meeting agenda.
“I believe this item was placed on the agenda in a manner consistent with past action items,” Marini told the Valley Indy Tuesday in an email. “The PZC has the discretion to act on an item listed on its regular meeting agenda.”
The state’s Freedom of Information Commission’s public information officer has repeatedly said that leaving vague, open-ended items on meeting agendas, such as “executive session, if needed” only serve to leave the public in the dark about the public’s business.
