The real estate agent working with the Farrel Corp. said Wednesday he is in talks with an out-of-state developer interested in converting some of the longtime manufacturing company’s buildings downtown to condominium housing.
“I wouldn’t say it is upscale or downscale, but market rate,” said Alan M. Fischer, principal of Fischer Real Estate Inc., based in Orange, who has been marketing the Farrel properties for the privately-held company.
Fischer disclosed the progress on the eve of a meeting of the Ansonia Business Council at 7:30 am. Thursday in Ansonia City Hall.
He has been invited by the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce to discuss the proposed sale and adaptive reuse of the excess Farrel properties along East Main Street.
The Farrel properties are large, with 212,000 square feet available and zoned for industrial use. But the plan is to market for other uses. One of the buildings, the former pattern shop on East Main Street, is already sold and being redeveloped into a self-storage facility. That deal closed last August.
“We have focused on it being anything we want it to be. It would have to be some form of residential use, multi-story,” Fischer said.
Fischer said he could not divulge the name of the real estate developer, but said they are from outside Connecticut and interested in developing housing downtown, which downtown redevelopment experts say would be a key to enhanced commercial development as well.
“Ansonia always was a strong blue collar town and they’re targeting that. They’re looking at condo units, no apartments,” Fischer said.
The Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce looks forward to seeing the artist’s renderings of the project, because mixed-used development is to be the focus of a downtown revival, said Bill Purcell, president of the chamber.
“Based on the work we’ve done with Main Street Center, it makes a lot of sense to create residential communities in inner cities. It helps retail services and restaurants,” Purcell said.
Farrel has long had an extensive network of buildings at the foot of downtown, where the company established itself as an international leader in the research, engineering and manufacturing of processing equipment for the rubber and plastics industries.
Moving out of Ansonia entirely was on the company’s agenda last year. The company recently aborted a plan to relocate to Shelton. However, and it is possible the company would be interested in selling the buildings in Ansonia and leasing back the ones they need to operate, Fischer said.
“They would entertain that, maybe lean in that direction,” he said.
Farrel was founded in 1848 as a foundry by Almon Farrel. The company produced bayonets and cannon barrels during the Civil War. In 1963, the company, then known as Farrel-Birmingham, changed direction and began manufacturing process equipment for plastic parts and it has been in that business ever since. It has been through a number of ownership changes and is currently owned by the German firm L. Possehl Co.
The Ansonia headquarters at 25 Main Street is the base of a worldwide Farrel enterprise.
Generations of Ansonia residents worked at Farrel, which now employs roughly 100 people, although an exact number of workers was not available.
The empty buildings are being marketed but the economic recession has greatly slowed the pace of all real estate development, though so there is no timetable on how soon the Farrel properties can result in Planning and Zoning applications.
City boards would have to approve any projects proposed there.
“It’s hard to say given the economic climate we’re in. There were more developers looking for projects until the economy collapsed. But the underpinnings are all here,” Fischer said.
