MERIDEN — Three firms submitted proposals to redevelop five city-owned downtown properties this week. The plans call for spending more than $100 million to create hundreds of apartments and business and office space.
Proposals included building on the Hub site and a Colony Street parcel and redeveloping the Record-Journal property at 11 Crown St., the Factory H site and the former medical offices at 116 Cook Ave. No plans were submitted for the former Meriden-Wallingford Hospital.
“My first impression is very encouraging,” City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said after receiving the proposals, Friday.
Of the three companies, only one plan was submitted for 116 Cook Ave. and Factory H, one for 11 Crown St. and two for the Hub parcel.
The firms that submitted were Philadelphia-based Pennrose Properties, New Jersey-based Michaels Organization, and New York-based POKO Partners.
POKO Partners submitted plans to develop the parcels at 116 Cook Ave. and the Factory H site. The properties were previously joined as part of the International Silver Co. The developer is proposing to combine them again into “Meriden Mews,” a 184-unit mixed-income community that “will exemplify the desirable qualities of small-city living.”
POKO plans to renovate the building at 116 Cook and build six low-rise buildings at the former Factory H site. Of the 184 units, 145 would be market rate, and 39 would be affordable housing. The plan includes 309 parking spaces. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
MIDDLETOWN — A milestone in the $40 million project to link Middletown with the Mattabassett District sewage treatment plant in Cromwell was reached Saturday when a 3,000-foot section of pipe was pulled underground along Route 9. In the damp cold with light snow falling, Mayor Daniel Drew and city officials watched as crews used a special "fuser" to join 45-foot sections of 24-inch pipe to form the half-mile-long section, pulled in the pre-dug channel running from city hall north to the Arrigoni Bridge.
Officials said the pulling of the pipe was the culmination of an effort that began in August, when crews from Texas and Louisiana, using the latest oil-drilling technology, began boring the horizontal channel for the half-mile long section of sewer pipe.The pulling of the pipe was expected to take 18 hours. "It's a delicate operation, and one you start you can't stop," said Guy Russo, the city's water and sewer director. Russo said crews, which started at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, would be onsite until past midnight.
"It's very exciting," Drew said. "This project is going to change the dynamic in Middletown, and ultimately allow us to develop our beautiful riverfront."
Voters approved $37 million for the pump station and pipeline project in 2012, and the common council added an additional $3 million in April after estimates for the pump station component came in higher than expected. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE