Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini addressed the Ansonia Board of Aldermen during a meeting held on Zoom Tuesday.
ANSONIA — Taking a cue from redevelopment efforts in Hamden, Waterbury and Shelton, Ansonia government wants to create a redevelopment corporation “to allow the city to tackle projects far larger in scope than attempted in the past.”
The quote comes from Ansonia corporation counsel John Marini, who made the comments during an Ansonia Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday.
Marini said a development corporation could make it easier to get money and leverage resources to tackle large, problem properties in the city, such as the former Ansonia Copper & Brass complex in downtown Ansonia.
The 54-acre property has long been an eyesore. Attracting private investment in properties like it isn’t easy given the risks, such as contaminated soil dating back decades.
Ansonia has been getting substantial but incremental grants from the feds and the state that go toward demolishing buildings and conducting environmental studies, but millions of more dollars are needed.
Example — another $8 million to $10 million is needed just to demolish the remaining structures on the Ansonia Copper and Brass property.
“(Ansonia Copper and Brass is) a huge opportunity, but one that is going to take far more resources than the city has on hand, or that any city our size will have on hand,” Marini said.
The Shelton Economic Development Corporation was formed in 1983. It is, essentially, a small, nonprofit professional economic development commission (which are traditionally volunteer run in places such as Derby, Ansonia and Seymour).
Shelton’s entity has been lauded for its efforts to revitalize downtown Shelton in the wake of factory closings and a massive fire in 1975. The city and its entity consistently receive grant money for economic development projects.
When its long-time director retired in 2015, here are some of the projects the corporation listed in Shelton as accomplishments:
- Canal Street reconstruction and utility upgrades and undergrounding of overhead utilities.
- Reclamation of the former BF Goodrich site which has been dedicated as permanent Open Space by the City of Shelton and State of Connecticut.
- Development of the Housatonic Riverwalk Program in downtown
- Development of the Shelton Farm and Public Market
- Implementation of the Veterans Memorial program
- Development and implementation of highly successful Brownfields program in downtown
- Creation of the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development Economic Development District
- Volunteer work that led to the creation of the Valley Community Foundation
- Planning and implementation of the Shelton Community Center building program
Ansonia previously had an Economic Development Corporation. It was formed back in 2002. One of its last meetings was in 2012, when it was trying to get a long-stagnant development project on Main Street off the ground.
What’s different now?
“A big difference is the timing,” Marini said in a message to The Valley Indy. “Large scale projects like Ansonia Copper and Brass are ready to move, but we believe they can be best accomplished with the use of a development corporation.”
In addition, Marini said the city hopes to enlist Derby and Seymour as partners in a development corporation. The idea is to team together to get more done, since each community has similar “problem” properties.
“It’s our hope to frame this corporation as a regional development corporation capable of assisting with priority projects across the Valley,” Marini said.
Marini said there’s even a tentative name for the corporation: “Revitalization and Development of Area-wide Resources,” or “Valley RADAR.”
Marini said Ansonia is currently exploring the “legal framework” to create such an entity.
When reached for comment Thursday, Andrew Baklik, Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan’s chief of staff, said Derby is very much interested.
“We have talked about it for quite some time. A major part of the reason for Shelton’s Economic Development success is the fact that they have an economic development corp,” Baklik said.
Alderman Tarek Raslan, the former chairman of the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee, a former mayoral candidate, and a current real estate investor, said the idea is worth exploring.
“I do think this could work well in theory, the details of the structure matter,” Raslan said in an email. “Too often economic development involves poaching businesses from neighbors, this helps the region think bigger.”
Marini and Ansonia Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley previously spoke about the idea during a July appearance on “Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast.” That portion of the interview is embedded below:
Marini said more details will follow in the coming months and the concept moves forward.
