The Derby Redevelopment Agency Tuesday formally accepted the Eclipse Development Group’s conceptual plan for the Derby redevelopment zone.
Eclipse generally envisions 180,000 square feet of retail space in the redevelopment zone, which stretches along the Housatonic River from the Derby-Shelton bridge to the former Lifetouch property near the Route 8 south entrance ramp.
“Conceptual means the idea of the restaurant and retail mix. Exact square footage, exact look of the buildings and layout will all be determined later. Conceptual means they can’t come back to us later with a plan for 250 apartments and a steel factory,” said Ken Hughes, a Derby Alderman and a member of the Redevelopment Agency.
Eclipse Development Group Chief Executive Officer Douglas Gray presented a conceptual plan to the Redevelopment Agency Sept. 20 that included an unspecified number of retail shops, restaurants and single-deck parking — but no residential housing or office space.
Derby officials on the Redevelopment Agency then had 120 days from Sept. 20 to comment on that plan, according to Derby Corporation Counsel Joseph Coppola.
Coppola said Derby’s Tuesday endorsement of the conceptual plan is important because Eclipse Development’s new financial backers want to make sure the conceptual plan they’re looking at is a plan the city likes.
In addition, Eclipse Development is scheduled to attend — and talk to interested tenants at — the International Council of Shopping Centers’ New York National Conference. The conference is the largest of its kind on the east coast and brings together developers and retail giants looking for space to lease. The conference is Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 in Manhattan.
“(Gray) is going to take (the conceptual plan) and finish whatever he needs to do with his tenants,” Coppola said. “And he is going to take it to his financial source and say ‘This is it.’”
Coppola was preparing to write Eclipse a letter Wednesday telling the company Derby has accepted the developer’s concept for downtown.
Next up — the city and Eclipse have to hammer out a “land disposition agreement,” Coppola said.
The land in the redevelopment zone include some properties owned by Derby — and then a bunch owned by private interests.
The “land disposition agreement” will spell out how Eclipse plans to acquire all the properties in the redevelopment zone.
“What we have to negotiate with their lawyers is when and how they are going to purchase the (private) properties,” Coppola said. “Once they purchase the properties, when will they start demolishing and constructing?”
In addition, the land disposition agreement will include time lines pertaining to when construction will start.
There is no deadline on when a “land disposition agreement” between the two parties will be finalized, Coppola said.
However, Coppola said the developer is hoping to have it done by the spring.
“As soon as we sign the agreement, he has to complete the project within two years,” Coppola said.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Derby and Eclipse had been in a one-year due diligence agreement.
Derby agreed not to talk to other developers while Eclipse explored whether they wanted to commit to the redevelopment zone, Coppola said.
The Sept. 20 redevelopment meeting had been Eclipse’s chance to drop out of the project. However, Gray said in September that Eclipse wants to do the project and that it had generated interest among tenants, although no leases had been signed.
At the Sept. 20 meeting, Gray also said Eclipse had an option to buy the former Lifetouch property on Main Street.
However, on Nov. 3, Frederick P. Petrella, the president and managing director of Connecticut Realty Group in New Haven, said Lifetouch did not renew its option with Eclipse and that the company was entertaining other offers.
Eclipse officials told the Valley Indy Nov. 3 they still hoped to close a deal with Lifetouch.
Neither Eclipse officials nor anyone from the public attended Tuesday’s meeting, which started at 6:30 p.m. The Derby Town Clerk’s Office received the agenda at 2:48 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14 and a copy of the agenda was sent to the Electronic Valley at 3:34 p.m.