MERIDEN — Hundreds of alumni, students, school staff and city and state officials crowded into the lofty main hallway of the newly renovated Maloney High School for a ceremony Monday night celebrating the school’s dramatic transformation. Officials boasted that the $107.5 million project, years in the making, finished on schedule and under budget.
“You didn’t just pull it off, you pulled it off with perfection,” said School Superintendent Mark Benigni. “(The students) deserve the best and Meriden, you have given them the best. The new Francis T. Maloney High School is a great community asset and something Meriden should be proud of.”
Principal Jennifer Straub reflected on the challenge of continuing to hold classes amid construction.
“It got crazy sometimes,” Straub said. “But a beautiful outcome.”
Mayor Kevin Scarpati called the event “truly a historic day in Meriden,” noting he had been involved in the project since his time serving on the Board of Education in 2010.
“It’s truly been an astonishing thing to see it from the beginning stages to what it is today ... I know we said goodbye to the famed tree out front, but today we say hello to a new beginning,” Scarpati said, referring to the large tree on the school’s front lawn that was taken down last year.
State elected officials — Sen. Dante Bartolomeo, Rep. Emil “Buddy” Altobello Jr., Rep. Catherine Abercrombie and Rep. Hilda Santiago — attended the event and praised the city officials and school staff for their work on the project. Several speakers also thanked former House Speaker Chris Donovan for his support of the project during his political career.
The Maloney Class of 2017 co-presidents, Jake DeFrancesco and Ciara Herget, never could have imagined that four years after entering the double doors as freshman, they would witness the completion of construction. Let alone that they’d wield the oversized scissors at the school’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Washington Trust, of Westerly, R.I., said the loan was to developer Uniglobe Investment LLC, whose principal is Fairfield investor Zhifeng "Jack" Yang.
The complex, located at 73 and 91 Meadowbrook Lane, is separated into two parcels.
The first phase of the project consisted of 50 new townhouse-style apartments, each with three bedrooms, an attached garage and approximately 1,500 square feet of space finished with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and other amenities. Each of the 50 units are currently leased to UConn students.
Last February, Meadowbrook began leasing the first 50 of the planned 150 units to house students at UConn and nearby Eastern Connecticut State University in Windham's Willimantic section. They are fully leased, officials said.
The second phase will consist of 36 flat-style apartments, including 12 one-bedroom units and 24 two-bedroom units. The property will also include a center green, gazebo and walking trail.
The pricetag for a fully completed Meadowbrook Gardens is pegged at $29.5 million, about 40 percent of which will be funded under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's EB-5 initiative, officials said.
Meadowbrook is one of Connecticut's first commercial realty projects financed under the 26-year-old federal program that allows foreign nationals to earn a U.S. visa by making sizable American investments. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE