How is zoning like condemnation? When
the answer is "higher density=$$"
Is New London following Stamford? Please note that hard by "Curley's"
in Stamford is to be the site of a new RITZ-CARLTON...Eminent Domain story in
pictures below:
Former
U.S. Supreme Court Justice O'Connor understood
the significance for homeowners and Nurse Kelo. The beginning
and the end of this Eminent Domain saga in New
London is Nurse Kelo's home invasion by the Redevelopment Agency.
TRANSPORTATION latest key in
public-private
partnerships in Connecticut cities and towns...
A
DIFFERENT SIDE OF
REDEVELOPMENT...OR IS IT, IN THE END? "UTOPIA
THE MOVIE STUDIO,
ETC." PROPOSAL NOW
HAS ITS OWN PAGE, ALONG WITH CURRENT NEWS
CONTENTS:
Rep. Hyslop (from our files)
Hyslop Dons NL Mayor's
Hat With A Sense Of Pride
DAY
By Kathleen Edgecomb
Published on 12/2/2008
New London - Wade A. Hyslop Jr.'s first order of business
after being elected the 121st mayor of the city Monday night was to
replace the blue-and-white novelty license plate the mayor gets to put
on his car.
”Blue and white is Waterford,'' said Hyslop as he held up the
new plate that read “City of New London Mayor” - this one sporting New
London High School green and gold.
”Whaler pride!'' Hyslop shouted.
Hyslop replaces Kevin J. Cavanagh, who served one year as mayor, which
is largely a ceremonial position. Councilor John J. Maynard was
selected as deputy mayor. Hyslop, a 14-year veteran of the state
legislature, retired from state
politics in 2004 and then decided he had more to give. So he ran for
City Council in 2007, and won.
Although he is not the first black mayor of the city - Leo Jackson
achieved that honor in 1979 - Hyslop says it is important to him to be
recognized by his peers and to be mayor of his hometown while Barack
Obama is president.
In 1968, Robert Kennedy said that in 40 years the United States could
have a Negro president, Hyslop reminded the audience.
”We have arrived,'' he said to a cheering gallery that filled the
council benches and rows of folding chairs brought out for the
occasion. “It's important for people out there to know that there are
people here who can represent everybody.'' When people see others
who
look like themselves in positions of power, it gives them hope, he
added.
”We've seen many people who have gotten involved in the past
presidential election,” Hyslop said. “We want to keep them involved.''
After introducing
family and friends, Hyslop ordered the meeting to
reconvene on Wednesday instead of tonight so that people can attend New
London's state playoff football game against Montville.
”There are a lot of people who would like to support our team,'' said
Hyslop, who is a 1963 NLHS graduate.
”New London has arrived,'' he told the crowd. “We're not turning a
corner, we're on a straightaway.”
Those attending Monday's ceremony included Hyslop's six sisters,
assorted nieces and nephews, members of Trinity Missionary Baptist
Church, where he is pastor, and political friends from near and far who
have stayed in touch, including Attorney General Richard Blumenthal,
and Democratic state Reps. Linda Orange of Colchester and Ernest Hewett
of New London, as well as Sen. Andrea Stillman of Waterford. Seven
former New London mayors were also in attendance.
Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, who served in the legislature
with Hyslop, administered the oath of office.
”There's no one better to be a spiritual leader and a government
leader,'' she said. “I know you will bring integrity and humility to
the office.''
Hyslop counts former mayors Jackson, Jane Glover and Eunice Waller
among those who have mentored him through his political career.
Glover, who ran all seven of Hyslop's state campaigns, first came to
know Hyslop when he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the city's Board
of Education. Glover had wanted the appointment.
”I said, 'Who is this Rev. Hyslop?' '' Glover recalled. “I wanted to go
to his house and tell him off.”
But Glover didn't do that and, in time, the two became friends.
Together they founded the Kente Cultural Center in New London, where
Glover is executive director.
”We laughed about it later,'' she said. “He's always been friendly. He
never even knew I was mad until I told him.''
And that, said Glover, is what has made Hyslop an effective politician.
”He's not bullheaded or anything like that. It's not 'my way or the
highway,' '' she said.
When Hyslop left the 39th District seat, he was deputy speaker of the
House. But his rise to the leadership position took a rather
untraditional route.
His political career began as a city selectman - a position that had no
power and no duties. He was then appointed to the Board of Education
and elected to a full-term. He was tapped almost immediately in 1990 to
run for state representative.
His campaign was a grassroots one that took on the Democratic Town
Committee and relied on people who had little or no political
experience. He challenged Margaret Mary Curtin, now a fellow councilor,
who was the Town Committee's candidate, to a primary. There were
door-to-door bilingual voter registration drives and a focus on
low-income housing complexes that had traditionally been ignored by
politicians. Hyslop won overwhelmingly in the primary, and the
election. Voters sent him back to Hartford six more times.
”I've always tried to be a role model,'' he said. “I always tell people
you don't know who's watching you at any given time. You should always
do the best you can do.”
He said he enjoyed working in Hartford and hopes he can use his
experience at the local level.
”I hope I'll be able to provide some insight in how we can best focus
on the needs of New London,'' he said. “I'd like to lend my experience
to the city, and I hope to be somewhat useful in my quest to help.''
Consultant
for NL transportation study favors keeping hub downtown: Fort Trumbull
plan is seen as too costly, too far away
DAY
By Karin Crompton
Published on 10/18/2008
HERE'S WHY: The five reasons
TranSystems lists for keeping the transportation center downtown
instead of moving it to the Fort Trumbull peninsula...
1 Support among stakeholders, which include the “transportation
operators” almost all of whom said they prefer to stay downtown.
2 Only the cruise ships would benefit from a move to Fort Trumbull, but
the move is unnecessary “and it appears to be costly and infeasible.”
3 Many transportation operators would face constraints at the Fort
Trumbull site: limited access under the railroad for buses and trucks;
limited space for parking without affecting other development; it would
be “difficult if not impossible” to move the ferry facilities to Fort
Trumbull.
4 The existing site offers capacity and opportunities for improvement.
5 There is support for opportunities for enhanced development around
the existing site. FULL STORY AND REPORT
HERE.
Kelo Foundation Removed
DAY
Published on 9/10/2008
Joe Balavender of Salem, Conn., co-owner of Salecon, LLC., based in
Salem, operates an excavator Wednesday to remove the foundation of the
former home of Susette Kelo, located at the corner of East Street and
Trumbull Street in New London. Kelo's home, the subject of a Supreme
Court case on the use of eminent domain, was moved to Franklin
Street.
Fort Trumbull draws interest of dozens
DAY
By Karin Crompton
Published on 11/22/2008
New London - Despite an economic slump that has forced many developers
into hibernation, the prospect of developing portions of the Fort
Trumbull peninsula has garnered a good amount of interest, according to
the New London Development Corp.
At a meeting of the corporation's executive committee Friday morning,
Executive Director John Brooks said the office has sent out about 40
applications to developers who inquired about a Request for Proposals
issued in October.
”We are cautiously optimistic about getting some positive, solid
response,” Brooks said.
The NLDC restarted its search to find one or more developers for key
parts of the peninsula in late October when it issued the Request for
Qualifications for the first time in nine years.
At this point, developers only express interest and send in their
qualifications, then would submit formal proposals - including
preliminary site plans - after the NLDC sifts through the responses and
chooses companies to take the next step.
Because the deadline to respond is Jan. 5, Brooks said he doesn't
expect to receive any formal responses before Christmas. Brooks said
the interest expressed might have included some duplication because
consultants as well as developers called the NLDC offices.
The RFQ includes plans for a hotel and conference center, office and/or
research facilities, and residential and mixed use.
The application also includes a 1-acre site downtown on Eugene O'Neill
Drive that is currently a parking lot. That space is available for 60
residential units in one or more buildings, with parking.
The NLDC was previously working on those elements of the Fort Trumbull
redevelopment plan with developer Corcoran Jennison, which lost its
preferred developer status in May after failing to meet a deadline to
secure financing for the residential component. Corcoran Jennison
blamed the faltering economy for its difficulties.
While Corcoran Jennison was named a master developer, this time the
request is split into six separate projects and developers can submit
proposals for all of them or any portion. Brooks has said previously
that the approach, potentially dividing the project into smaller pieces
among different developers, might work better in the current economic
climate.
Corcoran Jennison is currently working on an $18 million renovation of
a building once used by the former Naval Undersea Warfare Center,
turning it into a 90,000-square-foot office building.
Also at Friday morning's meeting, Brooks told the committee that
demolition on two sites, parcels 4A and 5C, have been completed. Parcel
4A, located across from Fort Trumbull State Park, is slated for
mixed-use development while 5C is located on nearby Howard Street and
is marked for office/research space.
Brooks said the city is interested in property at 216 Howard St.,
previously owned by William Von Winkle, for a potential police
department substation. The city's interest is currently in the
“examination stage,” Brooks said.
The building would cost about $125,000 to renovate, said mayor Kevin
Cavanagh.
The Howard Street parcel, which had a commercial building on it, was
not one of the properties taken by eminent domain.
Von Winkle, one of the plaintiffs in the Kelo v. City of New London
court case over the use of eminent domain, turned over four residential
properties to the NLDC by eminent domain. He also sold the Howard
Street parcel for $300,000.
NOTE: Here's #3...
A fresh start for Fort Trumbull
DAY editorial
Published on 7/24/2008
It was encouraging news to hear this week that more than a half dozen
potential developers have expressed an interest in building housing on
the Fort Trumbull peninsula.
And just as welcome news was the invitation from New London Development
Corp. President Michael Joplin to the City Council that some of its
members be part of a panel that ultimately screens serious developers
for the site.
That Mr. Joplin gave his update on the Fort Trumbull project in public
at Monday night's City Council meeting, rather than behind closed
doors, was also heartening. It appears that past animosities and
bickering between the council and NLDC have given way to a new civility
and mutual agreement on bringing development to Fort Trumbull.
Hallelujah.
A decade has passed since the drafting of a Municipal Development Plan
(MDP) for the neighborhood and three years since the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in favor of the NLDC's decision to take some properties there by
eminent domain. Still, except for sidewalk, road and utility upgrades,
little is visible to show for the emotional and financial toll invested.
Taxpayers are anxious to see development on the 90-acre peninsula. And
word that, without solicitation, six to eight parties have approached
the NLDC to express an interest in building housing there shows that
the waterfront parcel has potential.
The inability of former prime developer Corcoran Jennison of Boston to
meet a May 29 deadline to secure funding to start long-delayed
construction of 66 apartments and 14 townhouses prompted the flurry of
interest from other bidders. The NLDC maintains that Corcoran
Jennison's inability to commence work on the housing nullified its
prime developer status for the housing, as well as a hotel and
additional office space.
Mr. Joplin told the City Council this week that he is still unsure
whether Corcoran Jennison will litigate its termination as prime
developer. We believe any such legal threat would be a mistake. The
city gave Corcoran Jennison every reasonable opportunity to perform.
And the NLDC has made it clear Corcoran Jennison is welcome to resubmit
its housing plan for consideration with other suitors.
While the city has little appetite for any more legal battles or delays
at Fort Trumbull, it must be ready to vigorously defend itself if
necessary.
Whatever the future holds, New Londoners should not expect instant
gratification; the city will be lucky if one of the more than
half-dozen bidders so far has the wherewithal to pull off the housing
project in this anemic economy. To a large degree, the city is starting
over with Fort Trumbull, and starting over takes time.
Yet taxpayers should be encouraged that the NLDC and City Council are
working in unison. This is an opportunity to re-examine the development
plan and determine whether shifting priorities and changing markets
require adjustments.
With no single prime developer, there is now the chance to divvy up
development opportunities.
A decade ago, city officials began a plan to remake New London's Fort
Trumbull. It has been a long, oftentimes agonizing process.
It still hasn't happened, but we remain convinced it can and will.
NOTE: #2 below;
how many lives does the NLRC have? #1 here.
Wrecking Ball Strikes NL Agency
DAY
By Kathleen Edgecomb
Published on 6/30/2008
Last week, the New London City Council, with apparently little
discussion, voted to dismantle the agency that helped dismantle the
city.
Hear that rattling?
That's the New London Redevelopment Agency gasping for breath.
What better time then, to look back at the last 50 years of work done
by this well-meaning, well-intentioned, civic-minded, all-volunteer
agency that, while not exactly paving over paradise, did put up parking
lots.
In 1958 the agency was authorized to manage and distribute federal
urban renewal money. Over the years it received more than $50 million
in federal funds and cleared 170 acres in this six-square-mile city.
More than 200 businesses and 3,000 people were displaced as bulldozers
and heavy equipment brought down wooden structures and covered over
city streets. Grocery stores, Chinese restaurants and bars were gone
forever.
Thirty years later, when the head of the agency retired, he was
presented with a gold wrecking ball. Everyone at the testimonial
thought it was funny. Those who lost their houses or businesses weren't
laughing.
East New London, home to a large portion of the city's minority
neighborhoods, was gone. Sts. Peter and Paul Polish National Church and
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church were spared, but eventually Our Lady
of Perpetual Help relocated to Waterford when its neighborhood
disappeared.
Crystal Avenue high-rise apartments went up in the early 1960s. In
2001, the agency that built the three low-income behemoths, recommended
they come down.
Another low-income complex on Shaw Street - that yes, was sinking into
the mire that was once Shaw's Cove - was demolished. Replacement office
buildings seem to be on solid ground.
The late Emma Lincoln was one of the first to build on redevelopment
property. When she opened Lincoln Auto Service in 1964 at the corner of
State Pier Road and Crystal Avenue, she was the only woman in the
country operating an auto body shop. She was also a member of the
Redevelopment Agency.
In its sweep through downtown, the agency administered a grant program
that resulted in the renovation or replacement of more than 50
storefronts and façade improvements. But is also eliminated New
London's Main Street.
In the early 1970s, the agency wanted to tear down Union Station. Only
a grassroots movement by preservationists saved the massive train depot
that was one of the last designs by American architect Henry Hobson
Richardson. It opened in 1888 and today, is privately owned and still
is a train station.
There was also a lot of political infighting over the years but not all
that the agency did was destructive. The Shaw's Cove office complex was
developed into medical and office space. John Schnip, another member of
the agency, erected the Schnip Building on Eugene O'Neill Drive.
Several years ago, Shaw's Landing opened 35 luxury condominiums on the
waterside of Bank Street.
Back in the 1960s and '70s, municipal leaders said the city had no
choice but to tear down its slums. But there are always options. And
the city chose to accept federal funds with stipulations that demanded
razing the old and starting fresh.
The cost has been high. East New London was eliminated. The
neighborhood near State Pier was lost. Waterfront property was saved
for parking. Old buildings are gone forever.
May the New London Redevelopment Agency rest in peace.
Kelo
House: A Fitting Monument, But No Ad
DAY
By David Collins
Published on
6/8/2008
The first time I saw Susette Kelo's little pink house reassembled on
New London's Franklin Street I wasn't expecting it, and the surprise of
it made me smile.
The idea to preserve the house as a monument to eminent domain abuse, a
permanent reminder of the eminent domain wars as they were waged here,
was brilliant.
Some of the credit goes to the Institute for Justice, the nonprofit
civil liberties law firm that represented the homeowners' fight and
took it all the way to the Supreme Court. The institute paid the cost
of moving the house. But much more credit for the new memorial goes to
city landlord Avner Gregory, who has cleverly tucked the little pink
house into the Franklin Street landscape and made it his home.
The first time I saw new Institute for Justice promotions for what it
is calling Kelo Day, the surprise of it made me wince.
The new campaign is a fundraiser for the institute, and they've made
Kelo the cover girl for it, complete with a logo with a picture of her
standing resolutely in front of the pink house in its original location.
Kelo Day, the institute has declared, is June 23, the anniversary of
the day three years ago that the Fort Trumbull residents finally lost
their case before the Supreme Court. It seems strange to commemorate a
day on which you lost a case, but it was certainly the most momentous
day of the long fight.
As part of the Kelo Day campaign there's also a well-produced You Tube
video, narrated by Kelo, as she gives a brief synopsis of the story.
The video unfolds with a sort of picture scrapbook, Kelo in front of
her house, Kelo on the steps of the Supreme Court, Kelo testifying
before Congress. It ends with Kelo asking for money for the institute.
A Kelo Day link on the institute's Web site takes you to a form where
you can submit pledges from $5 to $100. You can donate and become part
of the Susette Kelo Liberty Club.
The institute's site also has cut and paste Web page “buttons”
available so that people can easily add to their own Web sites a Kelo
Day logo and link to the donor forms.
Kelo, in a letter posted on the institute's Web site, says her own case
was just one of 10,000 instances of eminent domain abuse over a
five-year period.
”On this, the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's dreadful
decision, I'm asking for 10,000 people to join me in donating to the
nonprofit legal foundation that stood by me all the way to the Supreme
Court,” she wrote, in a letter signed, “Yours in Freedom.”
In his own burst of hyperbole, institute attorney Scott Bullock calls
Susette Kelo an “American hero.”
I don't mind seeing the nonprofit institute trying to raise money. I
like the idea of remembering a noble, if losing, fight to save a New
London neighborhood. It's heartening to know that it's inspired so many
new laws around the country to control eminent domain.
But I don't think of Kelo so much a hero as a victim, one of many right
here in New London who also lost their houses. I'm sorry to see her
refashioned into the centerpiece of an opportunistic ad campaign.
I'm not planning to celebrate Kelo Day.
'It's
Over' For Corcoran Jennison, NLDC; Would-be Fort Trumbull
developer now out of the picture, Joplin says
DAY
By Kevin Dale
Published on 5/31/2008
New London - The Corcoran Jennison company has lost its exclusive right
to develop nearly the entire northern half of the Fort Trumbull
peninsula, officials from the New London Development Corp. said in an
interview Friday with the editorial board of The Day.
”We signed a development agreement with CJ, and now we're without one,”
said an unequivocal NLDC President Michael Joplin. “There is no
preferred developer at the fort.”
”It's over,” corporation Vice President Karl-Erik Sternlof said of the
company's agreement with the NLDC to be the sole developer of a hotel,
a 7-acre office parcel and more than 100 housing units.
That agreement, which has been extended four times since 2001, expired
at 5 p.m. Thursday when Corcoran Jennison failed to meet a critical
deadline to secure financing for its $18.7 million rental complex of 66
apartments and 14 townhouses. The extension agreement, which was
signed in December, envisioned that the company would begin the
waterfront housing by this summer. The project would have been the
first ground-up construction since eminent domain cleared portions of
the peninsula for redevelopment. Joplin said the nullified
agreement will not affect Corcoran Jennison's ongoing, $18 million
renovation of the former Naval Undersea Warfare Center into a roughly
90,000-square-foot office building.
Corcoran Jennison officials have said a slowed housing market and
stingy lending climate had widened the housing plan's “financing gap”
to more than $3 million. That gap assumed a nearly $12 million loan and
a 20 percent - or $4 million - investment from the Boston
company. Corcoran Jennison President Marty Jones didn't return
messages left for her late Friday afternoon, and the company's New
London attorney, Glenn Carberry, referred questions to Jones. In
an interview earlier this week, Jones acknowledged the company wouldn't
meet Thursday's deadline but said it remained “interested in working
with the NLDC and the city to move forward.”
In fact, Joplin said Corcoran Jennison recently submitted a modified,
two-phase housing plan to the NLDC that could bring the financing gap
below $2 million. The plan would include some extended-stay apartments
and income-restricted housing in order to make it eligible for state
and federal money. But Joplin and Sternlof said the NLDC will not
even consider any proposal until the company signs a quit-claim
release: confirmation that it won't contest the loss of its preferred
developer status in court. Joplin said the NLDC sent the quit-claim
paperwork to Corcoran Jennison Friday afternoon, and he didn't know
whether the company intended to sign it.
Corcoran Jennison has about $1 million invested in the housing project,
but its violation of the agreement makes the plans and permits the
property of the NLDC, Joplin said. Joplin said he has told
Corcoran Jennison officials that their revised housing plan may have
merit, but it was premature to discuss continuing the NLDC's
relationship with the company.
”They've attempted to have conversations,” Joplin said, “but we closed
that down and said, 'We're getting out of order here.' ... What I need
from CJ is a clear statement that they will not litigate.”
Joplin said despite how Corcoran Jennison proceeds, he plans to contact
other developers now that there is no claim to the peninsula's housing
parcels.
”We'll go to them and say, 'What is the appetite here? If I give you a
five-year option on the parcel, when could this go into the ground?' “
Joplin said.
But Sternlof said the NLDC's own consultant believes that it may be two
to three years before any developer could realize a profit by bringing
housing to Fort Trumbull.
”There is a funding problem with this project for whoever does it,”
Sternlof said. “Their internal rate of return is so low that no
reasonable person would do it.”
Any future development proposals for the peninsula may need the
blessing of the City Council and the city's Planning and Zoning
Commission, and Joplin and Sternlof said the city and the state will be
included in the conversation as to what happens next. New London
Mayor Kevin Cavanagh, who sat in on the editorial meeting Friday, said
opinion ranges among his fellow councilors - from openness to hearing
from all developers to parting ways with Corcoran Jennison.
”There's probably a multitude of feeling on the council right now,”
Cavanagh said.
Developer
Misses Fort Trumbull Deadline; Corcoran Jennison is unable to
meet financial criteria for $18.7M proposal
DAY
By Kevin Dale
Published on 5/29/2008
New London - The Corcoran Jennison company will not meet today's
critical deadline to secure financing for its $18.7 million proposal to
build housing on the Fort Trumbull peninsula, company President Marty
Jones said Wednesday. But Jones said the Boston company still
wants to bring residential development and future projects to the Fort
Trumbull area, even though it may have lost its right to do so by
missing the deadline to sign a ground lease with the New London
Development Corp.
In December, the two sides signed a six-month extension agreement that
called for Corcoran Jennison to start the roughly three-acre housing
project by this summer or lose its exclusive rights to build the
housing and develop two commercial buildings and a hotel north of
Walbach Street. Jones said she hopes that the NLDC isn't
preparing to part with the company, an option that NLDC President
Michael Joplin didn't rule out at the organization's annual meeting on
April 29.
”I certainly hope that's not the case,” Jones said in an interview late
Wednesday afternoon. “We're very interested in continuing this in spite
of all the challenges we've faced, and that's what we're hoping to
reach an agreement to do.”
The company has already invested more than $1 million to prepare for
the housing project, and Joplin has said he doubts other developers
would rush to adopt the project in the slowed housing market.
Joplin declined to discuss the NLDC's response to the missed deadline.
But he did say that, as of Wednesday evening, the NLDC had no plans to
meet with Corcoran Jennison officials before today's 5 p.m. deadline.
Jones said Corcoran Jennison will look to revise its long-delayed plan
to build a rental complex of 66 apartments and 14 townhouses, but she
said the company needs to “finish our discussion internally” before it
is ready to submit a detailed proposal to the NLDC.
”The project will need to take a new direction,” said Jones, who
declined to comment on the significance of violating the December
agreement. “We're interested in working with the NLDC and the city to
move forward. … We are a taxpayer in the City of New London, and we'd
like to be doing more of it.”
Corcoran Jennison is continuing its $18 million redevelopment of the
former Naval Undersea Warfare Center into a roughly 90,000-square-foot
office building that will be the home of the U.S. Coast Guard Research
and Development Center when it opens early next year. That project is
not affected by the delayed housing project. That Corcoran
Jennison missed the deadline isn't a surprise, said New London City
Councilor Rob Pero, who wants the City Council to have a say in future
development agreements instead of allowing the NLDC to act
independently of the city.
”The big thing for me, as a city councilor, any future agreements have
to have the City of New London as a signatory to the agreement,” Pero
said.
City Councilor Mike Buscetto III said if Corcoran Jennison does in fact
miss the deadline, he would be open to hearing new proposals from both
Corcoran Jennison and other developers.
”All options should be looked at,” Buscetto said, adding that if
Corcoran Jennison has revised options, “that's great.”
”If somebody else has other options, that's great, too,” Buscetto said.
“I think it's time to explore the possibilities.”
Fort
Trumbull Housing Plan In Jeopardy - NLDC chief doubts
developer will meet deadline for financing
DAY
By Kevin Dale
Published on 4/30/2008
New London - Citing“turmoil” in the national lending market, New London
Development Corp. President Michael Joplin said he has“grave doubts”
that the Corcoran Jennison company will meet a crucial May 29 deadline
to secure financing for its long-delayed Fort Trumbull housing
development.
”It's almost impossible, so we have to start dealing with reality,”
said Joplin, who broached the“most difficult topic” at Tuesday night's
annual meeting of NLDC's full membership in the Crocker House Ballroom.
If Corcoran Jennison doesn't meet the deadline, the Boston-based
developer would violate a December extension document in which it
agreed to secure a loan and enter a construction contract for an $18.7
million, 80-unit development of rental apartments and townhouses.
The project, whose uncertain groundbreaking could now be delayed months
if not years, would represent the first new, ground-up construction
since eminent domain cleared portions of the peninsula for
redevelopment.
Joplin's announcement of yet another blown deadline by Corcoran
Jennison could renew calls for the NLDC to sever ties with the company,
which is currently redeveloping the former Naval Undersea Warfare
Center into an office complex - an $18 million project unaffected by
the delay of the housing proposal. Joplin said the NLDC“is very
close” to parting with the company on the roughly 3-acre housing
project. In fact, by failing to secure the financing alone, the
developer forfeits its right to develop the parcel, and Joplin didn't
rule out letting the development agreement simply expire next month.
”The question is on the table,” said Joplin, who, at the time of the
December extension agreement, told The Day:“It is time for them to
perform. At the end of six months, there is no tomorrow.”
But Joplin said his overriding goal is to see housing come to the
peninsula in 18 months - a task that, in the current economy, no other
developer would be willing to take on, he said.
”If you simply dispose of Corcoran Jennison out of frustration or the
history, you could really be shooting yourself in the foot,” Joplin
said.
Despite the history of delays, Joplin said he believes Corcoran
Jennison remains truly interested in building the rental
housing.“That's why she's here,” Joplin said of Corcoran Jennison
President Marty Jones.“Otherwise, she would have stayed in Boston and
gone to dinner.”
Jones told the NLDC members,“We're not ready to fold our tent and cut
our losses and walk away.”
Between the office complex and preconstruction work on the housing
project, the company has roughly $5 million of its own money invested
in Fort Trumbull, according to Joplin and Jones.
”We have been in New London for close to eight years now,” Jones said
in an interview after the meeting.“Our intention here was always in a
comprehensive development,” not only a commercial building, she said.
”We are not walking away,” Jones said.“We want to complete all parts of
the deal.”
But barring a sudden economic upswing, any deal on the housing project
will rely on what both Joplin and Jones referred to as“creative”
options - possibly government-backed loans - to close the
widening“financing gap.”
Based on a recent assessment, Joplin said the company is looking to
receive a $11.5 million loan and is willing to put up as much as 20
percent of the $18.7 million project cost, or nearly $4 million. Those
sources combined leave a roughly $3 million to $3.5 million gap.
”We are trying to fill that gap through creative thinking and creative
financing. I'm not sure that we'll succeed. I'm just putting it out
there,” Joplin said to NLDC members.
He said securing the additional money will be a“tremendous task” that
will take months of application paperwork for lenders and any state
programs that could help close the gap.
When asked if the company would be willing to boost its share above 20
percent, Jones said,“We have to negotiate what make sense for
everybody.” She said the project's financing will have to
incorporate“other sources that are not on the table right now.”
Jones said she understand that“people are very frustrated that it's
taken a long time to get something done. I hope that New London is
willing to continue to work with us to make the deal work.”
New London Mayor Kevin Cavanagh said he was assured by his conversation
with Jones Tuesday night that Corcoran Jennison wants to bring the
housing to Fort Trumbull.
When asked if it may be time for the city to part with the company,
Cavanagh said:“I'm sort of like, 'Take it one step at a time.' The onus
is on Corcoran Jennison to come up with a solution - no doubt about
it.”
Justices Unanimous: Conservancy
Has A Legitimate Concern
DAY
By Ted Mann
Published on 3/22/2008
New London — The State Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's
decision dismissing a lawsuit against the city's Fort Trumbull
redevelopment plan, the second such result in two different cases in
less than a year.
In a decision released this week, the high court voted unanimously to
reverse the dismissal of the lawsuit by the Fort Trumbull Conservancy
LLC against the city and the New London Development Corp., which
contended that the demolitions of properties seized for redevelopment
would pollute the Thames River and land on the Fort Trumbull peninsula.
Judge D. Michael Hurley threw out the suit in 2006, saying the
conservancy did not have standing to sue. The conservancy had submitted
an amended version of its complaint, which was the version Hurley
dismissed.
But the justices unanimously ruled this week that that move was an
“error,” since the details Hurley found lacking in the suit were
missing because the court had ordered them removed.
What the decision means for the Fort Trumbull project was unclear, but
the conservancy's attorney, Scott W. Sawyer, was buoyed by the news,
and said the conservancy suit would be revised again before its
introduction in court in New London.
The suit is intended to get the city and the NLDC to “actually think
about what structures are still standing” on the peninsula, where a
decade-long effort to redevelop the neighborhood into a complex
featuring a hotel, conference center and high-end residential buildings
has repeatedly stalled amid legal challenges.
Most of the buildings in the former neighborhood, however, have been
bulldozed, a fact Sawyer conceded. But he argued that a favorable
result this time could compel the city to consider reusing some
remaining structures, though he conceded that was a long shot.
“There are still some remaining,” Sawyer said, referring to the
buildings left in the neighborhood. “The idea is that there are
requests to put things back the way they were. I don't know how
plausible that remedy is, but it's the type of thing that would
certainly set a precedent across the state in terms of whether or not
properties can just be demolished without some consideration of the
effect on the environment.”
“If the conservancy prevails, it would be one more hurdle in front of
whoever wants to demolish more properties at Fort Trumbull,” Sawyer
added. “That's the ultimate goal.”
The group has another suit still pending. That legal action, also
dismissed by Hurley but resurrected by the Supreme Court, is another
environmental challenge, and is now pending before a trial court in
Hartford.
Attorneys for the city and the NLDC did not respond to messages left
seeking comment.
The suit has followed a tortured path to get to this point.
The legal action was filed in 2001, one of 10 the group has brought to
court, as Fort Trumbull Conservancy LLC v. Antonio H. Alves et al — the
defendant being the city's building official.
The Supreme Court ruled against one of the conservancy's underlying
complaints in 2003, decreeing that the city could issue demolition
permits without weighing the impact of demolition on the environment.
But the court also upheld the conservancy's right to sue to stop
demolition.
Unable to gain an injunction to stop buildings from being torn down at
Fort Trumbull, the conservancy filed an amended version of the suit in
March 2006, but Hurley dismissed the new version for lack of standing.
“In granting the development corporation's requested deletions, the
trial court effectively stripped the plaintiff's complaint — which we
had previously held to be sufficient in (the earlier decision) — of the
exact type of allegation that it then declared was fatally missing from
the second amended complaint,” wrote Justice Peter T. Zarella, in a
unanimous opinion. “This error was further compounded, not only by the
trial court's refusal to articulate its reasoning, but ultimately by
its granting of the defendants' renewed motions to dismiss for lack of
standing.”
Development Could Take Big Step In '08 - Potential projects
across the region attracting attention at the state level
DAY
By Karin Crompton
Published on 1/1/2008
Pay attention: 2008 is the year when a slice of the Las Vegas Strip
comes to southeastern Connecticut, Fort Trumbull sees something new for
the first time in close to a decade, and tiny Pawcatuck gets its first
two big-box stores.
But the list of what might happen is longer.
In 2008, a number of major projects could gain approvals that would set
them in motion. They include resorts at the former Norwich Hospital
site, which encompasses land in Preston and Norwich; Gateway Commons, a
retail/residential proposal just off Interstate 95 in East Lyme; and
Milltown Commons, a 187-acre development that could transform North
Stonington.
Ronald Angelo, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Economic
and Community Development, said the state is showing a lot of interest
in southeastern Connecticut's development. He said the region has “a
good base of businesses in several different targeted industry sectors
that we have here in the state.”
Angelo said that while the state has always focused on the corridor
stretching roughly from New Haven to Manhattan, there is an effort now
to expand the focus beyond New Haven to New London and up to Boston.
“That corridor there, I think we're seeing as equally important to the
state,” Angelo said. “We want to make sure we're doing everything we
can to support various industries that are down there: aerospace and
defense, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, film industry, the maritime
industry.
“You've got just an amazing amount of capacity down there. And we want
to start to leverage that and pay attention to the developments that
are down there.”
The following are several projects that will be under construction in
2008:
Fort Trumbull, New London
Corcoran Jennison has started renovations on “Building 2,” a
four-story, 90,000-square-foot building on Chelsea Street. The building
will be leased to the U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development
Center, the International Ice Patrol and other tenants.
Tenants are expected to move in sometime after Dec. 1, 2008. They will
be the first new tenants since the city approved a municipal
development plan for the peninsula in 2000. It is also the first
significant private investment within the Fort Trumbull redevelopment
area since then.
Later this year, a groundbreaking could take place on four acres where
luxury rental apartments and rental townhouses are planned — $19
million in new construction. The city gave Corcoran Jennison a May 29,
2008, deadline to secure financing and sign a ground lease with the New
London Development Corp. Groundbreaking would be due 30 days later.
If Corcoran Jennison doesn't meet the deadline, it is supposed to give
up all property rights to develop that property as well as a new hotel
and two office buildings.
Finally, the Coast Guard is looking for a firm that can help guide
development of a National Coast Guard Museum at Fort Trumbull.
Casino Expansion
The $700 million MGM Grand is expected to open in May at Foxwoods
Resort Casino, while Mohegan Sun Casino's $925 million Project Horizon
is scheduled to open in the fall.
MGM Grand will include a 50,000-square-foot MGM Grand gaming floor —
about a third of the size of the Las Vegas' MGM Grand, the strip's
largest casino.
The project also includes an atrium, a two-story pedestrian space with
plasma screens broadcasting events and activities occurring throughout
the property, a luxury retail corridor, and 6,600-square-foot “ultra
hip lounge.”
Project Horizon at Mohegan Sun is a 1.4 million-square-foot expansion
that features a 39-story hotel tower, a 1,500-seat House of Blues music
hall, a new casino, and several new shops and restaurants, including
the tropical-themed chain Margaritaville. The hotel and music hall will
open in 2010.
About 95 percent of the square footage in the expansions is not for
gaming, according to the Center for Policy Analysis in Massachusetts,
which said the casinos are trying to lure convention and conference
business and solidify their draw as national destinations.
Lowe's and Target, Pawcatuck
In November, crews began demolishing homes on Route 2 in the Pawcatuck
section of Stonington to make way for construction of a Target and a
Lowe's, the first two big-box stores in this village of about 5,500
people.
Across the street, on a 29-acre site that houses the Regal Cinema,
another developer is building a new Stop & Shop supermarket,
Newport Savings Bank and a Chili's restaurant.
READCO LLC of Old Lyme expects to open the supermarket and other two
stores in summer 2008.
Target and Lowe's are part of a larger project called Liberty Crossing
that would include shops, restaurants and housing. The developer is
Breslin Realty of Garden City, N.Y.
READCO and Breslin will split the costs of improvements to Route 2.
•••••Most large projects take years from concept through application to
construction. A number of developments in the region are close to
securing the approvals needed to move on to construction, or close to
submitting applications that will put a long-discussed plan into action.
Here are some that could take significant steps in 2008:
•Byron Brook Country Club,
Occum
The proposed $200 million project calls for an 18-hole golf course,
luxury clubhouse and resort, and 658 luxury condominiums on 349 acres
abutting Interstate 395 in Occum. The developers have purchased all the
land needed for the project, including the former Tarryk and Doolittle
farms.
The project received local approval in spring 2007, but the DEP
recently denied the project an environmental permit. Days after
learning of the DEP rejection, Byron Brook filed final site development
plans with the city planning office and a performance bond of $341,950
to cover the first phase of the project.
The project is expected to move through more steps of the permitting
process in 2008.
•Former Norwich Hospital,
Preston and Norwich
Preston and Norwich have each received proposals for destination
resorts of varying styles for the former hospital property, which is
located on Route 12 across the Thames River from the Mohegan Sun casino.
In February, Preston officials are expected to choose a preferred
developer from two finalists for its 419-acre portion of the site, a
choice that would need to be endorsed by residents at a referendum.
The Norwich City Council will review the two proposals it has received
for its 61 acres in January, but it is unclear whether the council will
choose either one. Originally, the city hoped to choose a developer by
the end of January and negotiate a development agreement by Feb. 29.
Preston needs to select a developer and transfer title by January 2009
or the state will take over the process; for Norwich, the deadline is
January 2010.
•Milltown Commons, North
Stonington
The proposed 187-acre development, which would be located within a mile
of the rotary in town, includes two villages, each centered around a
village green. The proposed uses include apartments, single-family
homes and multifamily units, a medical center, retail shops, grocery
stores, and hotels.
In November, the town's Planning and Zoning Commission approved the
creation of a floating zone called The New England Village Special
Design District. The developers next need a zone change that would
apply the design district designation to the 187 acres they hope to
build upon; the developers also need to develop a master plan and site
plan for the project.
•Great Wolf Water Park,
Ledyard
On Dec. 19, the town granted the Mashantucket Pequot tribe a zone
change for five tribally owned parcels along Route 214. The change
allows the tribe to proceed with plans to develop an indoor water park
with Wisconsin-based Great Wolf Resorts Inc.
The regulations for the resort district, specified for 398 acres of the
tribe's land north of the reservation, were amended last year to allow
for uses that include water and amusement parks. The resort district is
the only district in town that would allow for the development of a
Great Wolf Lodge resort.
The town created the resort district in 1992, with tribal input, to
encourage tax-generating commercial development. None has taken place.
•Gateway Commons, East Lyme
Two developers are seeking to build a major retail and residential
development on 200 acres adjacent to I-95. The project would include a
revamped Exit 74, which is near a section of the highway many consider
dangerous.
The town's Zoning Commission denied the developers, Konover Properties
Corp. of West Hartford and KGI Properties LLC of Massachusetts and
Rhode Island, a regulation change last June.
Since then, the developers have met with neighbors and town staff to
modify the plan. They are expected to submit a new application shortly.
The original conceptual plan called for anchor stores, a retail village
and hundreds of residential units.
GOP
In NL Understands City's Need For Elected Mayor
Editorial
By Morgan McGinley
Published on 10/21/2007
There will be plenty of tough issues facing New London after the
November election. How to get the city's large group of poor kids — and
indeed all students — educated for college and for good-paying jobs.
How to stop the gangs, drug dealing and senseless murders that afflict
the city. How to build a stronger tax base to support much-needed city
services.
In all these problems, and more, the common theme is a dire need for
leadership. Without more effective leadership, New London will continue
to muddle along.
Yes, we hear that the city is improving — certainly downtown New
London, with its wonderful waterfront and old buildings is getting
better in some ways because of vibrant private investment — but the
core problems in the city grow more troublesome all the time.
That is because New London's government does not provide for a person
to lead the city. The dissolution of political power in New London over
the years has caused many able councilors to be ineffective and
frustrated because they had good ideas they couldn't advance.
The Democrats, who have controlled the city for decades, should have
corrected that problem by providing for a strong mayor. They did not.
And although some individual Democratic councilors and some party
members see the need for a mayor, the party as a whole will not embrace
the concept. Town Chairman Anthony J. Basilica opposes a strong mayor
government vehemently.
Democrats stuck on tired, failing
system
The cynical may say that Basilica and others don't want to lose their
power to a strong mayor. Hence, they cling to the tired and failing
system of government that can't deliver the city to its potential.
But take Basilica at his word. He doesn't think New London needs a
mayor directly elected by the people.
If that's the case, Basilica has missed the point badly. As the
longtime leader of the Democratic Party, the party that has been in
control as New London deteriorated, along with many other cities,
Basilica should have played a lead role in trying to produce a capable
leader able to make much-needed changes.
The most recent Charter Revision Commission recommended a strong mayor
and the City Council, in a split vote, supported that decision. So did
voters, but a small turnout, insufficient to meet statutory
requirements, resulted because the city held a special election —
solely on the referendum question — rather than link the referendum to
a regular city election.
Outsiders see the potential clearly. The downtown waterfront, the large
state pier that could be providing more and diverse cargo, the charm of
the old buildings located around a regional transportation center that
embraces New York City, Long Island and Boston as well as eastern
Connecticut and southern Rhode Island.
Democratic Mayor Dan Malloy of Stamford, a top-flight leader, raves
about the opportunities here when he comes for board of trustees
meetings at Mitchell College. So did the late Adm. Harold E. Shear, a
former federal Maritime Administration head who led the charge to get
New London operating as a vigorous port.
Ironically, within New London, it is the Republican Party, largely
absent of effective practitioners in recent years, that gets the issue
right.
New London Republicans have supported both a new charter commission and
a strong mayor. Councilor Rob Pero says the party believes: “One strong
voice would be better than seven voices going off in different
directions. It would be beneficial to New London to have a stronger
voice in Hartford, in getting grants and, in the long range, providing
a plan for the city.”
Exactly. So how is it that the Democratic Party, which has grown
stronger and larger and more dominant over the past 15 years, doesn't
get it?
"The
specter of condemnation hangs
over all property," said Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in a compelling
dissent.
"Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a
Ritz-Carlton,
any home with a shopping mall or any farm with a factory."
'IT'S
DONE': NLDC SEALS FORT TRUMBULL PROJECT
Agreement With Corcoran Jennison Calls For Work To Begin In
December
DAY
By Elaine Stoll,
Published on 9/28/2007
New London — Corcoran Jennison President Marty Jones and New London
Development Corp. President Michael Joplin signed a document Thursday
that both say will bring new construction to the Fort Trumbull
peninsula by year's end.
The ground lease, executed with Jones in Boston and Joplin in New
London, transfers control of four acres of land from the city to the
developer, which plans 80 units of rental apartments and townhouses on
property formerly occupied by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
Construction will begin in December on the $18 million project and
should take approximately a year and a half, said Jones, who called the
ground-lease signing “a very big milestone.”
The lease gives the developer control of the land for a 98-year term
for a nominal annual fee. More significantly, the document legally
obligates Corcoran Jennison to proceed with the housing project, which
will be the first new construction on the peninsula since the city
formally approved a Municipal Development Plan for redevelopment of the
peninsula in 2000.
“It's done,” Joplin announced to applause at a City Council re-election
campaign fund-raiser for Mayor Margaret M. Curtin, who hugged him after
receiving a copy of the lease's signature page.
The residential construction — and the rest of the Fort Trumbull
redevelopment — will add to the city's tax base and make the city “a
better place to live,” Curtin said.
“I've been waiting for a good long time,” the mayor said. “This is the
beginning.”
Curtin had warned the NLDC earlier this month to “get it done” after
the agency and Corcoran Jennison missed the original Aug. 28 deadline
for a signed ground lease, which is called for in a development
agreement between the NLDC and Corcoran Jennison. Thursday's
announcement seemed to dissipate tensions between the agency and
council that had been palpable since the missed signing a month ago. A
City Council motion for a vote of no confidence in the NLDC failed
Sept. 17 by just one vote.
“NLDC appreciates the support the City Council has shown us in the last
few months,” Joplin said. “The NLDC and the city have had our
differences. In the past month ... we've been working as a team. We got
it done.
“If a motion of no confidence had passed, we would not be sitting here
with a signed contract.”
“Up until this afternoon, I wondered if this was going to happen,” said
City Councilor and Economic Development Committee Chairwoman Beth A.
Sabilia. “I'm relieved the hard work paid off, not just on the city
side and the NLDC side, but Corcoran Jennison put in a lot of hard
work.”
She called the lease announcement “a really big deal.”
“This is the first new development, the first time they're putting a
shovel in the ground at Fort Trumbull since the MDP was established,”
Sabilia said.
The ground-lease signing, which was official just after 6 p.m.
Thursday, followed an afternoon approval by the city's Office of
Development and Planning of Corcoran Jennison's finalized site plan,
which was required for the lease. Though the ground lease marked
the culmination of a flurry of negotiations and documents, Jones said
much more work is ahead before the groundbreaking. Corcoran Jennison
must now secure building permits and financing for the project.
The company also plans to start construction in October on an office
building at Fort Trumbull known as Building 2, which must be prepared
for the U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development Center, scheduled
to move in by late 2008 or early 2009, Jones said.
Sound
Zoning Decision
DAY editorial
Published on 8/4/2007
The New London Planning and Zoning Commission made the right decision
in rejecting an application that would have opened the downtown's
Central Business District to rehabilitation services.
Businessman and City Councilor William M. Cornish had filed an
application that would have allowed, by special permit, drug and
alcohol counseling, treatment and rehabilitation clinics and halfway
houses for former prison inmates.
Mr. Cornish said he planned to relocate Sound Community Services, a
non-profit social services organization, into one of his buildings in
the central district.
Following city plan
New London has done more than its fair share of providing space for
organization's catering to the less fortunate and to people with
special needs. And zoning within the city already allows for such
services by special permit. But opening the business district to
expanded human services programs — including halfway houses — would
have been a bad fit.
The city's Plan of Conservation and Development states that
zoning regulations should discourage “the influx of special needs
programs wishing to locate in the city.”
This is not some callous position intended to ignore those in need, but
a simple recognition that, in an effort to revitalize the downtown, New
London needs to make wise use of its limited retail and office space.
Creating foot traffic and generating loyal patronage for downtown
merchants is vital to supporting a vibrant business district. Only if
space is prudently utilized can that happen.
Consider all uses
Commission Chairman Mark Christiansen rightly noted that the
commission, in reviewing the application, could not consider what
specific agency might utilize it — such as Sound Community Services —
but had to consider the effects of any permitted use on the Central
Business District.
Those effects did not fit the vision the city has developed for
its emerging business district.
THE
SHIP HAS COME IN...A NEW LONDON
NEW DAY? Montego
Bay SMALLER--convenience for ship
maneuvering better in New London harbor!
Ahoy - R.I.P.
80
units of
market-rate, luxury rental housing,
proposed to includie 14 townhouses and 66 apartments, in Fort Trumbull,
New London. The ship comes in, again!
-------------------------------
New London 'discovered' as a nice place to visit
DAY
Published on 7/11/2008
Pssst. They're talking about us.
This week, The Boston Globe and The New York Times highlighted New
London as a place to visit.
Wednesday, the Globe's Travel section said New London has a “gritty,
industrial vibe” while also boasting an “impressive number of art
galleries and good restaurants.”
”The story of modern-day New London can be seen in Bank Street,” it
said, “not far from the mouth of the Thames River, where abandoned
industrial buildings, a fancy wine bar, an adult video store, and
contemporary art stand side-by-side.”
The Times recently featured 25 Northeast Getaways; New London was the
only Connecticut listing. The snippet, which stressed the city's ties
to playwright Eugene O'Neill, says: “A seafarers' town from the 1600s
to the era of nuclear submarines, New London weathered 20th-century
decline and is now a stop for cruise ships.”
- KARIN CROMPTON
Smooth sailing for the Explorer of the
Seas
DAY
By Amy Renczkowski
Published on 7/4/2008
New London - It was smooth sailing for the Explorer of the Seas this
morning.
The 138,000-ton Royal Caribbean cruise ship arrived in New London
harbor just a few minutes before its scheduled time, 7 a.m. The ship
needed to perform a three-point turn and then back into the harbor to
dock at State Pier until its departure at 7 tonight.
Although it was raining in some nearby cities and towns, passengers
weren't welcomed by rain when they got off the ship.
Instead, the tugboat Patricia was in the Thames River to issue a
water-cannon salute at the pier, and the Nutmeg Fife & Drum Corps
of Groton played patriotic tunes as passengers disembarked.
By 8:30 a.m., there was already a line formed of people exiting the
ship to take buses and go into New London and to other excursions in
Mystic and Groton.
There is a full load of 3,114 passengers and 1,800 crew aboard the
cruise ship. Penny Parsekian, executive officer of the New London Main
Street said she expects the visit to bring about 2,000 people into New
London today.
Despite the holiday, Parsekian said about 70 percent of the businesses
in New London are open.
Cruise Ships Bill New
London As Gateway To Nautical History
DAY
By Amy Renczkowski ,
Published on 10/14/2007
New London — Cruise-ship travelers on the Explorer of the Seas said
they were promised maritime history at their first port of call, which
was New London on Saturday.
Passengers said they got what they were promised and more.
Friends and fellow passengers Nelma Hammond of Jacksonville, Ark., and
Marie Toothacre of Hemmet, Calif., were walking on State Street
Saturday, window shopping while on a mission to find clam chowder.
They said Royal Caribbean advertised the New London port as a historic
seafaring city. Neither had heard of the city before coming to visit.
“It's beautiful here,” Hammond said.
Royal Caribbean International and three other cruise lines are
scheduled to visit the Whaling City next year, currently involving nine
separate visits. They're advertising New London as formerly the
second-largest whaling port in the world, a seafaring town that is a
mecca for maritime history buffs and a gateway to historic Mystic
Seaport and the Mystic Aquarium.
Excursions offered at the port include the U.S. Coast Guard Academy,
Mystic Seaport, Mystic Aquarium, the Submarine Force Museum and USS
Nautilus, Fort Trumbull and historic New London, the Essex Steam Train
and Olde Mistick Village.
Ed and Connie Knoll of St. Louis, Mo., said they were fascinated by the
maritime aspect of New London but decided to include the Essex Steam
Train in their visit. “It was fun,” Ed Knoll said.
After their Essex visit, the couple walked down State Street Saturday
afternoon, looking into store windows while holding a map of downtown
New London. They said they'd spend the rest of the day strolling the
area.
They said they couldn't help notice how friendly the people in New
London were. “I just love the atmosphere here. It's nice to have the
stores open,” Connie Knoll said.
“The people are welcoming of the cruise ship. Some cruise ship ports
just aren't welcoming, but this one is.”
Explorer of the Seas departed New London about 6 p.m. Saturday. Holland
America Line's ms Maasdam is scheduled to arrive here at 9 a.m. Monday.
Erik Elvejord, spokesman for Holland America Line, said there is a lot
to do in the New London area, which “helps to create a good
experience.”
New London is one of their highest-rated ports on the itineraries,
Elvejord said. Holland America Line was the first cruise company to
visit New London in May of 2004. The cruise line has visited every year
since.
“We get a fantastic reception from the people there,” Elvejord said.
“It makes for a very enjoyable port of call.”
Holland America's Maasdam next year is scheduled to visit May 8. New
London will be the third stop for passengers on the 13-day Canada, New
England and Atlantic Coast cruise.
Saturday marked the last planned trip this year to New London for Royal
Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas, the largest ship ever to dock here
and a first-time visitor this year. Royal Caribbean signed on for two
more visits next year and is currently scheduled to be back July 4 and
Aug. 1, according to its Web site.
Lyan Sierra-Caro, account executive of corporate communications at
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, said previously that guests have
been “very happy” with calls in New London.
Hapag-Lloyd and Princess Cruises will be the two newcomers in the 2008
lineup, which are scheduled to visit on six different dates next year.
Suzanne Ferrull, media information specialist from Princess Cruises,
said the cruise line advertises New London as a “gateway for historic
Mystic Seaport and the Mystic Aquarium.”
The 11-day cruise will take passengers from New England to Canada on
Sept. 25 and 27, Oct. 17 and 19 and Nov. 6.
Hapag-Lloyd's Bremen is scheduled to visit around May 28. New London is
the third stop on its 16-day East Coast cruise from Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., to Halifax, N.S.
“The lighthouse New London Ledge can be seen onboard. The 58-meter high
tower has a certain resemblance to a townhouse and harmonizes
wonderfully with the French-inspired architecture of the villas on the
shore,” the Hapag-Lloyd's trip itinerary states
'Hip Little Transportation City' -
Veendam Cruisers Open Weekend
Of Back-To-Back Cruise-Ship Visits
DAY
By Lee Howard
Published on 9/29/2007
New London — About 10:30 a.m. Friday, the Veendam cruise ship pulled
into Adm. Harold E. Shear State Pier, greeted by the tugboat Patricia
Ann spraying water high into the air, just as the Block Island ferry
left its dock, a Providence & Worcester freight train screeched to
a halt and Amtrak's Acela train rushed through downtown.
“It was a transportation center,” enthused Barbara Neff, proprietor of
Parade News and a constant presence Friday at the cruise-ship welcome
center in Union Station. When someone corrected her, saying the
correct term was “hub” and another wondered if New London was still a
“hip little city,” development director Bruce Hyde came to the rescue.
“It's a hip little transportation city,” he said.
Whatever you call New London, it's become a regular on the cruise-ship
circuit this year, and at least three other visits are planned in the
city in the next few weeks, including the arrival at 7 a.m. today of
the 3,100-passenger Explorer of the Seas. The ship is expected to
depart at 2 p.m.
Veendam captain Albert J. Schoonderbeek, greeted warmly in a private
welcoming ceremony aboard the ship just after it docked, said studies
have shown that passengers aboard Holland America Line ships spend an
average of $250 to $300 per person at each port of call. Since the ship
arriving in New London carried 1,227 — every cabin was occupied — that
could amount to an economic shot in the arm of as much as $368,000 for
this visit.
The captain's per-passenger spending figures were about twice as much
as estimated in a 2004 study by the state Department of Economic and
Community Development, which indicated each passenger could contribute
up to $139 to the state economy. Even taking this lower figure,
however, the spending would amount to more than $600,000 for the two
cruise-ship visits this weekend.
Don't tell local business people, though. Most of the restaurant and
shop owners contacted Friday said business had been OK, but not great.
“In comparison to the other ships that arrived on Saturday, it's been
kind of slow,” said Genine Zavala, co-owner of Zavala restaurant. She
said only one elderly couple from the ship had stopped by for lunch.
Others said lunch had been steady but not overwhelming. Lucky Colaluca,
owner of Lucca Wine Bar & Grill, said he had served four tables of
cruise-ship travelers.
Shops selling keepsakes — such as postcards — seemed to be doing
somewhat better.
“Business is good; the people are very happy,” said Dona Casey, manager
of the New London Antiques Center.
One person from New Zealand went home empty-handed, however, after
figuring in the cost of shipping.
“A lot of people wish they could get more in their luggage,” Casey said.
But Merle and Bill MacEachern of Ontario, Canada, left with their arms
full, she returning to the ship with a pocketbook and purse and he with
socks, a T-shirt and a package of old coins.
“This is the friendliest town I've ever seen,” Merle said, citing
someone in a van who had given them directions without even being asked.
Bill said, however, that it's almost impossible to find a store that
sells souvenir T-shirts, and other travelers complained about the lack
of downtown pharmacies.
Most folks seemed pleased, though, by the stunning weather and warm
greeting.
The only downside to the warm weather, said Bob and Jo Ann Schallhorn
of Denver, has been the lack of fall color on their journey, which
started in Montreal.
“Even in Canada, the trees hadn't turned,” Jo Ann said.
Still, the couple enjoyed the brief history tour given on the bus from
the ship to downtown and especially liked the small-town feel.
“This is by far the best one of all the stops we've had,” said Bob,
shopping along Bank Street.
Words like these are music to the ears of local and state officials who
gathered in the glassed-in dining room of the Veendam, enjoying a
bird's-eye view of the city.
There, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele and State Comptroller Nancy Wyman were
among the guests who heaped praise on Holland America, which took a
chance on New London by sending the Maasdam to the city in 2003.
Passengers enjoyed the city so much that New London has become a
regular stop, and George A. Cassidy, executive director of the
Connecticut Cruise Ship Task Force, said a new ship might be added to
the list next year.
Noting New London's long history as a whaling capital, Chuck Beck, a
former Coast Guard captain and now head of the maritime section of the
Department of Transportation, said he hopes the state will eventually
create a permanent cruise-ship facility in the city.
“These are the modern-day whales we bring into the port for economic
benefit,” he said.
Cruise
Ship Passengers
Brave Weather For NL Visit; Despite rain, hundreds disembark
Explorer to see some local sights
DAY
By Amy Renczkowski
Published on 9/16/2007
New London — It was a slow start for many passengers who exited the
Explorer of the Seas cruise ship Saturday morning at State Pier.
Some remembered to pack their rain gear — umbrellas, see-through
ponchos, rain boots — and others decided to brave the rain with a
simple zipped-up jacket or windbreaker. For Explorer of the Seas
passengers Isabel and James Anderson of Scotland, the rain made them
feel at home.
“It's similar weather at home,” James Anderson laughed as he walked
with his wife up State Street
The Andersons said they were looking forward to the rest of the
nine-day cruise around New England and Canada. It was their first time
visiting the area, and after just a few hours, New London made a good
impression on them.
“The people here are great. Everyone is so nice and friendly,” Isabel
Anderson said.
The 1,020-foot-long cruise ship, operated by Royal Caribbean
International, is the largest ever to enter the Whaling City's harbor.
There are two more visits planned for Sept. 29 and Oct. 13. The
ship's first visit, on Sept. 1, drew hundreds of spectators to both
shores of the Thames River to catch a glimpse of the giant vessel.
Though the rain kept many residents home this morning, some still came
out to see the Explorer from Fort Trumbull and Fort Griswold.
As it did two weeks ago, the ship again performed a three-point turn
when it arrived, backing into the harbor to dock at State Pier. The
maneuver was necessary to have the liner pointing seaward for its 5:30
p.m. departure.
In preparation for the visit, the Coast Guard moved the barque Eagle
from Fort Trumbull to City Pier on Friday. Coast Guard officials hoped
the move would allow more people to visit the training vessel. By
4 p.m. Saturday there had been 1,550 visitors aboard the Eagle,
hundreds more than normally visit the ship, according to Boatswain's
Mate 2nd Class Jay Pioch. Most of them were from the Explorer of the
Seas, he said.
“It's been nice and steady. The decks have been full,” Pioch said. “It
was a successful opening day for the Eagle.”
A new feature for cruise ship passengers this time around was a
double-decker bus that visited the city's historical sites. The New
London Historical Society offered the one-hour tour that departed from
Union Station and traveled on a north-to-south route from Lyman Allyn
Art Museum to Neptune Park. As in the ship's first visit, charter
buses were available to bring passengers to other nearby attractions
like Mystic Seaport, Olde Mistick Village and the Submarine Force
Museum.
According to Penny Parsekian, chief executive officer of New London
Main Street, 1,923 passengers disembarked from the cruise ship
Saturday. That number did not include any of the ship's crew. The first
time the Explorer of the Seas was in town, 2,100 passengers and crew
members got off the ship in New London.
“It was very slow getting started” because of the morning's inclement
weather, Parsekian said, “but then it picked up.”
In addition to the double-decker bus, Parsekian said, more taxis were
available to the ship's passengers than there were during the first
visit.
Meet
The
New Deadline; It would be in everyone's best interest if construction
commenced at Fort Trumbull.
By The Day
Published on 9/9/2007
Spin it any way you want, but patience on making progress at Fort
Trumbull is wearing thin and news Sept. 1 that developer Corcoran
Jennison will not break ground this month on 80 units of rental housing
as promised is a setback for the New London Development Corp.
The new deadline for Corcoran Jennison to sign a ground lease for the
residential housing project that requires a groundbreaking within 30
days is Sept. 27, and if that deadline passes, too, there could be
political hell to pay.
The City Council is fuming mad with the NLDC, which it said neglected
to inform councilors of the delay before a news story about it appeared
in The Day.
Of course, councilors should have had some inkling when the Aug. 28
deadline approached and no one had received a “save the date” card for
the groundbreaking.
The start of construction on the 66 apartments and 14 townhouses has
been a long time coming, and some of it is no fault at all of the
developer or the NLDC. Progress stalled for years because of the
lawsuit over the use of eminent domain at Fort Trumbull and due to
environmental litigation, later thrown out.
But the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NLDC on the eminent domain
issue in June 2006, and while it took another year to settle with the
holdout homeowners there, the bulk of the property has been waiting for
development for more than a year.
And the NLDC and Corcoran Jennison assured everyone that they would
sign the ground lease by the end of August and commence work in
September.
At the NLDC's annual meeting on April 30, Corcoran Jennison project
director Marc J. Garofalo said, “This is the year everyone has been
waiting for,” as he outlined plans for the new housing.
Corcoran Jennison President Marty Jones was equally optimistic then,
saying 2007 was the year Corcoran Jennison “will get our office and
housing in the ground” at Fort Trumbull.
Then last Thursday, following news of the failed deadline, Mr. Garofalo
declined to comment on the project and referred questions to attorney
Glenn T. Carberry.
Attorney Carberry was upbeat and said the complicated land deal
involving multiple parties was moving forward, and the delay was just
that, a delay, and no cause for alarm.
NLDC President Michael Joplin, who had to offer a mea culpa to the
mayor and a city councilor peeved about the postponement and how it was
announced, said he is certain the Sept. 27 deadline will be met. Mr.
Joplin said an executed contract was possible by Aug. 28, but only if a
long list of contingencies stipulating the outstanding issues was
included. It made more sense to hold off a month, he said.
The NLDC needs to complete a contract with Connecticut Light &
Power to install switchgear and pull utility lines through conduit at
the site and Corcoran Jennison needs to finalize the construction
contract, project financing, bonding, and other particulars. These
issues can be resolved shortly, said Mr. Joplin. If a few remain, the
ground lease can list them as outstanding, he added.
He is just as anxious as everyone else to start construction of the
housing at Fort Trumbull.
“We have to do this, but we have to do it right,” he said.
It better be soon.
If the project drags on, or worse, falls through, it will be ugly on
the political front. Already, at least one councilor, Jane Glover, has
used the word divorce when talking about the relationship of the City
Council and NLDC.
The November elections are not far off and it would be too bad if Fort
Trumbull were the focus of attention, rather than other pressing
issues, like schools, housing and public safety, in the city. The city
has invested enough emotion on Fort Trumbull. Now it's time to start
building.
Cruise Ship's Warm
Welcome; Onlookers Awed
As Huge Vessel Docks In New London
By JIM FARRELL | Courant Staff Writer
September 2, 2007
NEW LONDON - Knowing that one of the largest cruise ships in the world
would be moored for the day at the nearby state pier, Lou Mase ordered
about 100 pounds of lobster meat to serve Saturday at his Bulkeley
House restaurant.
"But I think I'm running out," Mase said early in the afternoon as he
stood at the entrance of his outdoor pavilion downtown, which was
packed with diners - both passengers from the ship and curious locals.
"This is probably triple my ordinary business."
The Explorer of the Seas, a 138,000-ton vessel that is part of the
Royal Caribbean fleet, brought more than 3,000 passengers and 1,200
crew members to Connecticut's deepest port for a 12-hour visit.
The stop was the first on a nine-day cruise that left Bayonne, N.J.,
Friday and is headed next to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The ship is believed to be the biggest ever to enter New London Harbor
and thousands of people were gathered on both sides of the Thames River
to watch it arrive at about 7 a.m. Largely through the efforts of
the Connecticut Cruise Ship Task Force,
New London is becoming a regular port of call among cruise lines.
The Explorer of the Seas is scheduled to return Sept. 15, Sept. 29 and
Oct. 13. In all, cruise ships will make seven stops in New London this
year and eight more are scheduled for 2008.
Karl Jensen of Ledyard was among those who awoke early to see the
massive vessel maneuver into the Thames, execute a slow spin, and then
back into the pier.
"It was breathtaking," Jensen said, adding that a large ferry nearby
looked like a mere dinghy.
Added his daughter, Haley, 15: "When I saw it, I was like, `Whoa.'"
Passengers who wanted to leave the ship could either take a free
shuttle bus downtown or pay for excursions. A 2½-hour visit to
Fort
Trumbull cost $50 for adults while trips to Mystic were slightly longer
and a bit more expensive. At 11 a.m., about a dozen VIPs,
including Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele,
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and George Cassidy, executive
director of the cruise ship task force, were brought aboard to exchange
plaques and other gifts with Captain Sverre Ryan and members of his
crew.
"The world is discovering New London," Blumenthal said, standing on a
small stage in the ship's plush Maharaja Lounge, which had a buffet
table in the middle complete with a spinning ice sculpture, elaborately
carved watermelons and goodies such as smoked salmon, crudités
and a
three-tiered dessert tray topped with chocolate-covered strawberries.
New London Mayor Margaret Curtin said she had been downtown for much of
the morning and welcomed people from Colorado, Michigan, California,
Florida and beyond. Connecticut tourism officials estimated about 1,800
passengers would head ashore.
"I told them to come back and spend lots of money," she said, eliciting
laughs from the crowd.
Terry Lunder, who serves as the ship's hotel director, said he was
amazed by the crowds gathered to see the Explorer of the Seas arrive.
"Usually, we are one of many," he said, alluding to stops in ports that
serve many cruise lines. "This was a really warm welcome."
Ryan noted that his pilot had little room for error because of the
relatively small size of the harbor. "But Montego Bay in Jamaica is
even tighter," he said.
For those who chose to stay on board, there were activities such as a
late-morning adult Crayola art workshop in Dizzy's Jazz Lounge and a
lunchtime James Bond trivia contest in the Schooner Bar. The
ship's many pools and hot tubs were fairly busy, although the Casino
Royale was closed until 7:30 p.m.
Leticia Nacorra of San Francisco took the shuttle downtown and said she
was impressed by the city's charm.
"It's very cozy," she said, citing St. Mary Star of the Sea church as
one of the places she enjoyed.
Rustom Sherdiwala, who works on the ship as a photographer, said it was
nice to explore a new port.
"It's beautiful and historic," he said as he walked along State Street.
On nearby Bank Street, Alejandro Martinez stood outside Michael's
Dairy, which had a line of customers spilling onto the sidewalk as they
waited to buy ice cream.
"I like this a lot," said Martinez, who is from Monterrey, Mexico. "It
seems to be a very small city, but we found a nice restaurant and had
very good wine. It was nice. Very nice."
Cruise Ship Pulls Into New
London
DAY
Published on 9/1/2007
New London - She came. They watched. It all worked out.
Explorer of the Seas, the largest vessel ever to berth in the port of
New London, steamed elegantly up the Thames River in the rising sun
today as hundreds of spectators watched from vantage points in the
cities of Groton and New London.
The 1,020-foot cruise ship stopped for a minute between Electric Boat
and Fort Trumbull, as if surveying how much room there was to pivot,
and then rotated a slow 180 degrees to reverse engines the rest of the
way to State Pier.
Some of the watchers at the fort held their breath as the blow seemed
barely to clear the berthed Coast Guard Barque Eagle, but that was an
optical illusion. All went as planned.
Plans Are
On Schedule To Start New
London Housing Development -
80 luxury units slated for Fort Trumbull peninsula
DAY
By Elaine Stoll
Published on 5/1/2007
New
London — Corcoran Jennison is on schedule to break ground in September
for its housing development, the company's Fort Trumbull project
director, Marc Garofalo, told the New London Development Corp. at its
annual meeting Monday.
The project will bring 80 units of market-rate, luxury rental housing
to the peninsula, including 14 townhouses and 66 apartments.
“We're here. We're committed. We're very enthusiastic that 2007 will be
the year,” Garofalo said. “We've been in it for almost a decade. This
is a year we've all been waiting for.”
The project's design, by Boston-based Spagnolo Gisness & Associates
Inc., was on display at the meeting and was detailed by project
architect Nathanial Finley.
“The whole purpose was to create something we felt would fit within the
fabric of New London,” Finley said of the L-shaped apartment building
and two townhouse buildings to be located, in view of the water, on
Parcel 3 on the Fort Trumbull peninsula.
The design for the apartment building borrows a strong roofline from
the buildings of Fort Trumbull State Park and features a corner tower
that references lighthouse architecture, Finley said. But the
79,313-square-foot, three-story building is also contemporary.
Numerous windows take advantage of water views and natural light, and a
mixture of materials on the façade is meant to minimize the
scale of the building, Finley said.
A breezeway aligned with Chelsea Street opens up the first-level of the
building, and private entrances with porches lining the East Street
side of the building add to a pedestrian-friendly feel of the area.
The townhouse buildings, one with six units and one with eight,
reference the historic elements of Starr Street homes without
replicating them, Finley said.
The ability of Spagnolo Gisness & Associates Inc. to tailor housing
developments to the communities in which they are planned and built is
what drew Corcoran Jennison to the firm, Garofalo said. The architects
began visiting New London for the project six years ago.
“We looked to the state park, some of the buildings there for
inspiration,” Finley said. “We looked to Starr Street for inspiration,
especially trying to get inspiration from some of the historic
detailing and traditional forms.”
Construction on the apartments and townhouses, which will proceed
simultaneously in one phase, will take about 18 months, Garofalo said.
When it is finished, he expects the housing to draw residents from a
20-mile radius, “people who want to live near the water, who want to
live in a new community, who want to live where there's access to
walking trails,” he said.
“There aren't a lot of rental opportunities on the water in New
London,” Garofalo said. “This will be a welcome addition to the housing
market.”
OUR
FEELING...ALL THINGS MUST PASS...BUT MAYBE WE CAN LEARN FROM MISTAKES?
Putting
It All Behind Him. For
New London man, 'all things must pass' — even life in 'The Fort'
DAY
By David Collins
Published on 4/25/2007
New London — Life in an eminent-domain war has never been easy.
Byron Athenian, who fought long enough to watch all his neighbors
disappear and most of their houses come down around him, knows that as
well as anyone. Even Smith Street itself is gone in front of Athenian's
home, which used to be number 78, replaced by a concrete berm and what
may be the city's biggest empty lot, a big wide expanse of dirt and
gravel.
On windy days during the demolitions and road-building, Athenian
couldn't go outdoors because of all the dirt and dust in the air. On
rainy days, the basement fills with water because the level of the land
around him has changed so much.
People come and dump trash, old sofas and televisions in the cleared
space next to his house, where for almost 25 years he leased a building
for his auto body shop before it was torn down, too, five years ago.
His decrepit little gray house, which he stopped repairing when the
troubles began eight years ago, is the last thing standing in Fort
Trumbull's Parcel 3c, surrounded by a few trees and an overgrown privet
hedge.
Today, though, Athenian may be leaving it all behind. He's buying a
double-wide trailer house on Old Colchester Road in Montville, and if
the very last stretch of negotiations with the New London Development
Corp. goes well, he will move out, the last of the residents/litigants
in the landmark Kelo v. New London case, he said, to leave the
neighborhood they all affectionately called “The Fort.”
But even so close to the end, things haven't been easy for Athenian.
View
a Fort Trumbull slideshow
Tuesday, he was still trying to work out a timetable with the NLDC for
a settlement meeting in which he would receive his final payment and
use that money to close on the new house in Montville. The closing was
scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday, and Athenian was asking to remain in the
house until 4 p.m. today, so he would have time to move out.
He didn't want to move twice and said he turned down an NLDC offer to
put his things in storage and pay for a hotel because he didn't know
what to do with his 7-year-old, one-eyed pit bull, Charlie.
“What's a day or two after eight and a half years?” he asked.
But the NLDC said no, Athenian said in frustration Tuesday afternoon.
That led to the U-Haul incident.
One of Athenian's lawyers told him he'd have to get a moving truck,
load his things into it Tuesday night and this morning, then leave it
parked next to the house while he goes to the closing, collects his
check and buys the new house.
The only truck he could find was an enormous one, in Groton, so big he
had trouble handling it going over the Gold Star Memorial Bridge. Then
on the way into Fort Trumbull, going under the Walbach Street Amtrak
overpass, he heard a scrape. When he got home and opened up the truck,
he discovered he'd ripped off the aluminum roof.
“I just hope it doesn't rain,” he said, adding that he did, at least,
buy the insurance for the rental. “Every hour today is an adventure.”
Athenian's house is in his mother's name, although he is the only one
who has lived there in the 12 years they have owned it. They became the
last to come to a resolution with the NLDC because, Athenian said, the
NLDC unfairly settled for much higher amounts with other neighborhood
residents last summer, after Athenian and his mother complied with what
they say they were told was a final deadline to accept an offer.
They later filed a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights
and Opportunities, claiming Athenian's mother, Thelma Brelesky, who is
elderly, was discriminated against because of the wide discrepancies in
settlements.
Athenian said Tuesday he was reluctant to disclose the final amount he
expected from the NLDC today to complete the purchase of the $167,000
property in Montville. But he said it is small. He said another
$174,652 in settlement and escrow for his house, after paying lawyers
and a $22,000 mortgage, came to about $140,000.
“New London seized my house and all I got was this lousy sticker,” read
big stickers pasted across the front and back doors of Athenian's house.
“If I were rich I would have told them to keep it all a long time ago,”
he said.
NLDC officials did not return phone messages Tuesday inquiring about
Athenian and his planned move today. Athenian allowed himself a
little nostalgia about The Fort Tuesday, remembering the summer
barbecues neighbors used to share after fishing trips. Many people
lived there their whole lives. The elderly man Athenian bought 78 Smith
St. from had lived there for 60 years and raised a family in it.
“He would hate to see this,” Athenian said, predicting the plywood
would go on the windows today, as soon as the closing is over.
One other deadline looms for the final abandonment of the neighborhood.
Susette Kelo has a June 15 deadline to move or lose her pink house, and
a relative or friend is still staying in it now, Athenian said.
“This was a good neighborhood,” he said. “I don't know what they meant
when they said it wasn't a good neighborhood. There were good people
here. But as they say, all things must pass.”
Athenian is also looking forward to his new home, which is on one acre,
with plenty of room for Charlie to roam. And life there, he said,
might be easier.
NL
Council Steps Back From Misstep
DAY
By Morgan McGinley
Published on 9/9/2007
The New London City Council is about to hold the proposed developer
of the Capitol Theater responsible for defaulting on its contract. The
issue is likely to come up within the next couple of weeks.
It should be no surprise that the Maxim Development Group hasn't
delivered on its promises.
In the spring of 2006, the city, desperate to get rid of the
dilapidated theater that had been sitting on Bank Street unoccupied for
decades, sold the property for $1 to the Plainfield, N.J. development
company. The firm promised to spend about $2.5 million to make the
theater attractive to live music concerts that it said could draw more
than 1,500 people.
The city manager, Richard Brown at the time, and the council may or may
not have believed this siren song from Maxim. Whatever the case, the
decision to sell the Capitol indicated the city did not care what
happened later, so long as New London unloaded the once-proud and
beautiful theater. The desire of the city to be done with the Capitol
is understandable. But the decision to sell the property to Maxim is
not.
You can't accuse the city of not doing due diligence. Just gross
misjudgment.
At the time of the deal, the city knew that Patrick Gawrysiak, one of
the Maxim principals, had been convicted of armed robbery in 1977 and
sentenced to six years in prison. The city also knew that he had been
sentenced in 1997 to four years in prison for fraud involving a
multi-million-dollar, flim-flam scheme.
Gawrysiak used the name Patrick Gray in the scheme. Ironically,
Gawrysiak chose an alias similar to the name of L. Patrick Gray, a
former FBI acting director under President Richard Nixon and a longtime
partner in a New London law firm.
City should have known better
The city also should have known that Maxim's Web site claimed credit
for big development projects that the company had not done. Reasonable
people would have run screaming away from this developer, but the
city's ardor for being rid of the Capitol grew far more important than
what might happen after the building went to Maxim.
In fact, the sale of the property amounted to gross negligence by the
council with regard to the taxpayers of New London who elected them to
act prudently and not to make deals with people of questionable
backgrounds.
Worse, when Day reporter David Collins expertly detailed the
misstatements by Maxim and the background of Gawrysiak in an
investigative piece, acting City Manager Martin Berliner was offended
by the article. In his first meeting with The Day's editorial board,
Berliner wanted to know why The Day had run the piece. Editors
responded that the public had a right to know the record of the people
with whom the city was doing business.
There are varying stories about what happened in council meetings
closed to the public and the press, but several councilors said that
former City Manager Brown signed the agreement with Maxim before the
council voted on it. Some councilors felt trapped, but they should have
sought to overturn the decision.
The contract with the Maxim company called for the development to
replace windows on the theater right away, but the company did not. It
argued, perhaps justifiably, that it was more important to complete
repairs and renovations to the facade first. But now, the facade
workers have not been around for many months and Maxim has done nothing
to replace the windows.
Months and months and months have passed with no construction. Maxim
blames the problem on the city. In a sense, the developer is right. New
London never should have made the agreement in the first place.
NL
Rebukes Capitol Theater
Developer. Delays in time frame for windows at issue
DAY
By Elaine Stoll
Published on 4/18/2007
New London — City Law Director Thomas J. Londregan notified Capitol
Theater owner Maxim Development Group by letter Friday that the company
is in violation of a development agreement with the city.
The Plainfield, N.J.-based company failed to order and purchase windows
for the theater by Feb. 9 as required by an April 19, 2006, development
agreement with the city, according to the notice of default. Maxim will
have three months to order windows and prove the purchase to the city,
or else the city could reclaim title to the theater.
Economic Development Coordinator Ned Hammond doesn't believe it will
come to that, he said Tuesday. Maxim has invested $80,000 to date in
other improvements to the theater and negotiated a price for the custom
windows with a supplier months ago.
Still, Hammond called the developer's failure to finalize the order “a
puzzle.”
“From our standpoint we just want to see them get started — the sooner,
the better,” Hammond said.
The Capitol Theater, which opened in 1921 as a vaudeville venue, has
been vacant since the city shut it down in 1974 for building-code
violations and nonpayment of taxes. The city purchased the building in
1978 but allowed it to deteriorate. Numerous proposals for the building
over the years never led to a sale, so the city welcomed interest by
Maxim last year.
The company proposed a $2.5 million renovation of the Capitol Theater
into a live-music venue and bought the property from the city for $1 on
June 30, 2006. The development agreement requires that the project be
“substantially complete” within 30 months of the closing and outlines
other project deadlines.
Maxim began the permitting process, the agreement's first requirement,
but subsequently failed to purchase and order windows within 60 days of
receiving city approvals and permits. The city building official
approved Maxim's proposed window replacements on Dec. 11, 2006, so “the
windows needed to be purchased on or before Feb. 9, 2007,” Londregan
said in the letter.
At a meeting with city officials in January, Maxim principals showed
city officials an agreement with Builders Wholesale Club to purchase
the windows — which would exactly replicate the theater's existing
windows but meet current codes — for just under $70,000, Hammond said.
When the windows did not arrive as expected, Hammond called the
supplier and was told that Maxim never finalized the order, he said.
The developer has, however, invested in other improvements the
agreement did not require this soon, Hammond said. That includes
approximately $70,000 in masonry work completed by Loring and Son
Masonry and Restoration of New London to restore the theater's brick
and limestone façade and about $7,000 in wiring and lighting
work done by Beaver Electric LLC of Montville.
“Although something we were expecting didn't get done, other things
that weren't in the agreement did get done,” Hammond said. “I'm
cautiously optimistic. Why would you sink that kind of money into a
place if you weren't planning on following through?”
Maxim Development Group managing member Salvatore Carfaro Jr., who had
not received the letter of default when he spoke Tuesday, said the
company would continue the renovation.
“We are going to continue to move forward on the project. We're going
to do it at our pace. We're not going to let the administration or the
media drive the development,” Carfaro said.
He denied that Maxim has violated the development agreement. “We are
not in default as far as the spirit of the agreement,” Carfaro said,
adding that the company has “far exceeded” the investment it was
required to make by this time.
Curtains Still Drawn On Theater; N.J.
developers have done little to Capitol since buying it from city for $1
DAY
By David Collins
Published on 12/11/2006
New London — When the city agreed last spring to give the Capitol
Theater to a group of New Jersey developers, despite their lack of
experience and the criminal history of one of the managing partners, it
raised more than a few eyebrows.
Now, more than five months after the city closed on the deal, selling
the landmark Bank Street building for $1, people have begun to wonder
about the obvious lack of progress on the promised restoration project.
“People stop and ask me all the time what's going on,” said Ned
Hammond, the city's economic development coordinator. “They need to
understand that projects of this kind take time.”
In fact, though, the new owner of the theater, Maxim Development Group,
has already missed a number of deadlines promised in negotiations and
agreements with the city.
The group's Dec. 19, 2005, proposal for the Capitol, filed in land
records with the deed and linked to a series of tax abatements granted
to the developer, says Maxim will “begin demolition of the interior and
remediation of the asbestos within 30 days of transfer of the property.
Window measurements and order placement will be done immediately so
that the building can be sealed as soon as possible.”
Further, in Maxim's signed purchase agreement with the city, also in
land records, the developer is required to purchase new windows for the
building façade within 60 days of the closing, or within 60 days
of the approval and permitting of the windows, whichever is greater.
The agreement also requires that the developer “begin the permitting
process and prep work necessary within 60 days of closing” and says
extensions may be granted only at the discretion of the city.
Patrick Gawrysiak, Maxim's managing member, told Hammond in a phone
conversation in July, according to notes in the city's file on the
project, that work to remove asbestos and lead paint had been
contracted. But Hammond said last week there are apparently still no
contracts yet for the environmental remediation work.
Maxim has not yet purchased the windows, and only last month submitted
manufacturer specifications for city building department approval,
after being prompted about the delay by an e-mail from Hammond.
“Tell everyone to leave me alone,” Gawrysiak wrote back to Hammond, in
a November e-mail that included specifications and drawings from a
window manufacturer for a series of proposed replacement windows for
the Capitol façade.
Gawrysiak had e-mailed an estimate for the windows — $89,694 from
Builders Wholesale Club — to Hammond back in July, under the comment,
“the pain has begun.”
It also took the city months to get Maxim to assume responsibility for
the electric service for the Capitol. After a series of e-mails on the
topic, Gawrysiak wrote on Sept 8: “Done.” But the billing did not
finally change until Oct. 19, after more e-mail exchanges.
Under its deal with the city, Maxim will not owe taxes on the property
for the first two years of ownership. The assessment is then frozen for
another eight years, at $227,640.
Salvatore Carfaro Jr., Maxim's other managing member, returned a phone
call to the company's offices seeking comment this week, but he
declined to discuss the project, saying The Day treated them unfairly
in earlier stories.
Hammond said he believes that the project is moving forward, albeit
slowly, and that the developers have not yet specifically violated the
agreement with the city. He pointed in particular to a passage
referring to the deadline on the windows that appears to give the
develo