The old Housatonic Wire Co. property has been on the market for years with no interest.
SEYMOUR – The former Housatonic Wire Co. property on River Street could soon be home to a new storage unit facility.
That’s the word from the property owner Alex Budzinski, as well as First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis.
A site plan for Brink Self Storage, a proposed four-story, 99,000 square-foot facility, was recently accepted by both the Inland Wetlands and Planning and Zoning commissions.
Public hearings have been scheduled for 7 p.m. March 28 for Inlands Wetlands and 7 p.m. April 14 for PZC at Town Hall.
Budzinski said a Florida-based investment company, Willow Partners Redevelopment, is interested in buying the 4.5 acre site at 109 River St.
The property is currently zoned commercial/light industrial, which according to the town’s Economic Development Consultant Sheila O’Malley, is an allowable use.
Budzinski said he hasn’t received much interest in the site, which has been on the market for 16 years.
“The closest we came to a restaurant was Wendy’s a few years back, but Wendy’s corporate shot it down because it wasn’t on a corner lot,” Budzinski said. “There has been no other interest in a restaurant or plaza at that location. We’ve contacted breweries with no luck. I’ve had nothing but storage interest in the property over the past five years.”
Wendy’s did eventually build in town, just up the road on Bank Street.
Because the site contains contaminated soil, which Budzinski said he inherited when he and his late father bought the property back in 1977, many soil tests done revealed it wasn’t “serious enough” to require a mandatory clean-up.
However, Budzinski is currently in the process of remediating the site.
“The reason we are cleaning it up is the buyer wants the contaminants removed before he builds,” Budzinski said. “We would have as well in 1977 when we bought the property but there wasn’t anything called Brownfields back then.”
Budzinski said he is working with the state under its “Voluntary Remediation Program” which would monitor clean-up efforts.
“Going with the state Voluntary Program reassures the buyer it was cleaned properly to state standards,” Budzinski said. “Without going into a program anyone can say it’s clean.”
The town had received a $500,000 grant from the state Dept. of Economic and Community Development to aid in the clean-up effort. However, following a devastating fire in Sept. 2010 that consumed the former factory, and the site getting “tied up in litigation,” for several years, Budzinski and O’Malley said the DECD pulled back the grant for lack of activity with the site.
Fast forward to today, and Budzinski said he is thankful to Drugonis for helping spark new interest on the property.
“We now have a new Selectwoman who is proactive in getting these stagnant properties in town moving,” Budzinski said. “Annmarie invited me to a meeting last spring to discuss my property. Her solution was to take advantage of investment tax credits which I wasn’t aware of. That got me in touch with this developer from Florida. Self storage units were specifically listed as one of the uses for this credit as well as rehabilitation of underutilized industrial properties and to expand our tax base. It was a home run. I thank Annmarie and this administration for getting this going.”
Drugonis said while a self storage facility isn’t necessarily her first choice for that property it’s still something that will ultimately contribute to the town’s tax base.
“It’s privately owned property, and the owner has the right to do what he wants,” Drugonis said. “I always envisioned that area for a nice restaurant, especially with the river in the background. But, we have to grow the grand list. Storage units aren’t what I envisioned there, but it is an allowable use. I’m glad (Budzinski) is doing something with his land.”
Budzinski said it’s not every day an investor comes around, willing to invest some big bucks.
“The reality is simple,” he said. “This is Seymour. It is not Shelton or Oxford. Investors want a return on investment. It takes guts for someone to invest $13 million in our town. He will be one of the top taxpayers on the grand list. When was the last time, if ever, someone spent that kind of money in the center of town? For the past 16 years I’ve had five Realtors as well as myself trying to sell my property.”
Budzinski and his late father John started Housatonic Wire in 1978. The company made steel wire for paperclips and notebook bindings. Housatonic Wire closed in 2008 when Budzinski sold the operation to Taconic Wire in North Branford. The brick building sat vacant until the fire in Sept. 2010 consumed most of it. The fire was ruled accidental after contractors working inside were using blow torches to cut up metal pipes.
Budzinski began demolition shortly after the fire, but a series of delays and red tape with insurance claims halted remediation efforts until 2014, when the former burned out eyesore was finally leveled.
Budzinski was also cleared of allegations by former First Selectman Kurt Miller of taking a cut to pay himself from a $200,000 state loan he received from the state DECD for clean-up efforts. A review by DECD found the money was properly spent.
