The building at 195 Main St. in Derby. The photo was taken in April 2019.
DERBY — Demolition of a dilapidated Main Street building near City Hall is expected to begin soon, according to Mayor Rich Dziekan.
Derby Shores, LLC are moving forward with plans to take down its four-story building at 195 Main St. A demolition permit was issued to the John J. Brennan Construction company on April 26, according to the mayor’s office.
“We’re ecstatic. Unfortunately, you know how the wheels of government move slow. We had to follow procedures, so it’s been a long time coming,” Dziekan said.
The building previously housed retail and offices on the bottom floor and apartments on the upper floors. It was badly damaged by a winter storm in 2013. The building hasn’t been occupied since 2015. Its chimney started to collapse in March 2019. Bricks fell off the building and onto the sidewalk below.
The owners put scaffolding set up to protect pedestrians below. The blue scaffolding on a highly visible building caused it to be dubbed the “Papa Smurf” building on social media.
The building’s condition set up a series of back and forths between the city and the owner going on for three years now. The city has, at various times, levied blight fines against the owner and threatened legal action. Most recently the Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen put the building back on the blight list.
“We are being told that the scaffolding will be removed on Monday, May 3, and that demo will begin on May 4, but there has already been heavy activity on site, (such as) installing jersey barriers. It is likely that the total project will take two to three weeks,” said Andrew Baklik, Mayor Dziekan’s chief of staff.
The mayor said he expected traffic on Main Street to be impacted since the building is so close to the road.
Michael J. Hillis is the attorney for Derby Shores, LLC, which is owned by retired Seymour Police Chief Michael Metzler and Phillip Hadden. Hillis confirmed the details provided by the city.
Hillis objected to describing the building as an eyesore, saying the owners invested $250,000 into the property with the hope of redeveloping it — a hope they still hold. Hillis said the scaffolding alone cost the owners $3,000 a month.
“It’s an eyesore until you have to pay for it,” Hillis said.
The winter storm of 2013 and a subsequent dispute with an insurance company sidetracked the redevelopment plans. Hillis said the owners investigated rehabbing the building, but the cost was too much and the process, because the building is so old, proved too complicated.
Hillis said the owners were ready to take the building down a year ago, but the electric company dragged its feet when it came to taking out the utility. He credited the Dziekan administration for working with the owners.
There are no concrete future plans for the property, Hillis said.
“Eventually we just want to have something nice for the city,” said Hillis, a Derby resident.
The owners are up to date on tax payments, city officials said.
Then, Around The Corner
The City of Derby just sold 9 Minerva St., the former Bella’s Pizza, for $80,000. It was damaged in a fire in 2013 and has sat vacant since then. The city foreclosed on the property in 2019 for back taxes. It is on the Minerva Street side of 195 Main St.
City officials said they don’t know, at this point, what the new owner’s plans are.
Meanwhile, the city is in the process of selling another foreclosed property at 67 – 71 Minerva St., which is within walking distance of 195 Main St. and 9 Minerva St. The winning bid on the property was Cedar Village Development out of Shelton. Baklik said the company wants to redevelop the property into at least 74 market-rate rental units. The city is selling a small parking lot across from the property on Caroline Street to the development company as well. A sale price is still being negotiated.
“We’re anxiously waiting to see what comes through the development process,” Baklik said.
The Minerva Street properties were both put out to bid to find buyers.
These projects are happening as the city waits for approved redevelopment projects to get off the ground in the city’s redevelopment zone on the south side on Main Street along the Housatonic River.
In February 2020, the city’s planning and zoning commission approved plans for 203 apartments and 8,000 square feet of retail space on Factory Street. Work has not started.
In January, Derby approved an application for 70 apartments for the former Lifetouch property on Main Street. The old Lifetouch building was removed, but work on the new apartments has not started.
The city is also negotiating to purchase or acquire a scrap yard next to the approved projects.
At the other end of Derby’s downtown redevelopment zone, the state has begun a $3.6 million rehabilitation of the Derby-Shelton bridge.
Finally, the Route 34/Main Street widening project is supposed to start later this year.
Utility companies have been out in downtown Derby digging up the roads in connection to the anticipated start of that long-awaited project.
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