Westbrook Mall Developers Pitch Benefits to Skeptics
Francisco Uranga
WESTBROOK — Donald Poland pitched Westbrook residents on the
benefits of a project to convert the ailing local outlet mall into a complex of
695 apartments and townhouses, retail space and a 100-room hotel.
About 200 people — in a town of nearly 7,000 residents—
filled the Westbrook High School Auditorium. It was an audience dominated by
bald and gray heads.
Poland talked about the rapid town’s aging population.
“You’re not the oldest in the state,” Poland said and got
the first laugh of the night. “You don’t want to look at Litchfield.”
Poland is a consultant for the project developers Lexington
Partners and Inovalis, the owner of Westbrook Outlets. His pitch was that
Westbrook has a problem — its population is aging — and that the project would
bring new blood to the town, as well as tax and economic benefits for the
community.
According to Poland, Westbrook saw a 30 percent decline in
the population under 18 between 2010 and 2020, a
rate three times the statewide average — a decline, he said, caused by
young families fleeing the town in recent years in part due to a lack of
multifamily and rental housing.
87% of the housing stock in Westbrook is single family and
80% owner-occupied housing, said Poland.
Poland told the audience the new project would increase tax
revenues by $3 million a year compared to a cost of $1.3 million for education
and other local expenditures.
The audience murmured approval as Poland shared the figures.
On the benefits side, Poland estimated the creation of 230
jobs during construction and some 300 permanent jobs once completed. The
development would also generate added revenues for local businesses, he said.
Poland ended his presentation to audience applause.
Eric Fazilleau, deputy managing director of Inovalis, said
the project would give new life to the mall, which he said was no longer viable
in its current form, and had an occupancy rate of just 38%. He attributed the
decline to the impact of COVID and a switch to consumer shopping online.
The project, if approved in its current form, would be built
in two phases and would include 596 apartments — 30 studios, 209 one-bedrooms,
306 two-bedrooms and 50 three-bedrooms — 100 townhouses, 76,000 square feet of
restaurants and entertainment retail and a 100-room hotel. It will also feature
14,400 square feet of amenities including a clubhouse, outdoor pool, fitness
room and rooftop decks. A January
presentation also mentioned a potential 1,000-seat amphitheater,
although it was not mentioned at Thursday’s presentation.
Retrofitting malls into mixed-use properties is a trend in
the real estate sector nationwide, where it has gained strength as a solution
for ailing malls.
But a number of Westbrook residents voiced distrust for the
large-scale project, which they said could stress emergency services and public
infrastructure, intensify traffic and even increase tax burdens and costs
despite optimistic projections claimed by the developers.
If each unit of the Westbrook Outlets redevelopment project
were occupied by two people, that would bring nearly 1,400 new residents,
roughly 20 percent of the town’s current population.
“I am very concerned about the size of this facility,” said
one woman.
“Most of us are here because we love the sleepy town
facility. We’re going to lose that,” said another one.
“The density they’ve proposed is higher than the density of
most cities in the United States,” said a neighbor who was an architect and
said he had worked with urban planner Jane Jacobs.
“Would you agree that if any of the financial projections
weren’t quite right and the town would need to spend additional funds, the
developer would pay that amount?” said another neighbor, who received a
standing ovation.
The developers offered that given currents market
conditions, rents would be less than $2,000 for one-bedroom apartments, more
than $2,500 for two-bedrooms and up to $4,000 for three-bedrooms. They also
suggested that some of the units might be deemed affordable, with lower rents.
Asked about the possibility of reducing the size of the
project, they said they needed the size to make the project cost-effective
given the need to construct an expensive septic system. Westbrook has no
sewers.
The Q&A was at times contentious.
Former local Democratic First Selectman candidate Hiram
Fuchs dismissed the idea that the decline of Westbrook Outlets was due to the
pandemic, blaming owner mismanagement instead.
Fazilleau replied forcefully.
“Can I ask you a question? What business are you doing?”
“What business am I doing?” Fuchs replied.
“Yes, please.”
” I’m not here to talk about myself. I’m going to talk about
your project. Okay?”
The audience cheered.
Visibly annoyed, Fazilleau said he had succeeded in the real
estate business in more than six countries and criticism of mismanagement was
unfair.
After the event, Fazilleau told CT Examiner that he had
expected those sorts of concerns, attributing them to a “natural human reaction
to change.”
Only one of the 20 neighbors who asked questions at the
event spoke clearly in favor of the project.
When one neighbor asked what the developers would do if the
town blocked the project, Reilly dismissed the possibility.
“The people that would support this are probably not in this
room,” Reilly replied.
Edward Cassella, as legal counsel for the project, said that
in February the developers had filed an application with the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection for construction of the septic system.
A public hearing will be held on July 22 with Zoning.
Cassella said that much of the work is already authorized
under the current rules, but the developers need additional permits, for
example, to build six-story buildings. They will also need approval from Inland
Wetlands and the state Department of Transportation.
Cassella estimated they would complete the approval process
by the second quarter of 2025.
Meriden to improve East Main and Broad Street intersection near Stop & Shop
MERIDEN — The city could begin work next year to straighten
out the disjointed
intersection at East Main and Broad streets that will allow for safer crossings
and improved traffic flow.
The project entails straightening out the jagged
intersection, new curbs and sidewalks along East Main Street adjacent to the
Stop & Shop.
The work moved forward a step after the City Council recently
approved allowing acting City Manager Emily Holland to accept funding from the
South Central Region Council of Governments to begin construction.
It is estimated to cost $3.8 million with SCRCOG paying
100 percent of the construction costs and the city paying for the design work,
city officials said. Because Route 5 is a state road, the work will be on both
sides of East Main Street
"It's a local capital improvement program," said
City Engineer Brian Ennis. "We're reconfiguring the crossing and taking
that jog out of the intersection."
The intersection was identified by SCRCOG as one of
several along the Route 5 corridor in need of improvement to aid traffic
and pedestrian safety. The 2006 Route 5 corridor study looked at intersections
from Wallingford to Meriden's northern border. Other improved intersections in
the city included Gypsy Lane and Green Road, and Ann Street and Gale Avenue.
Upcoming work is expected at the intersection of Camp and Broad Streets and the
691 ramp. The project had a public hearing and was approved in 2019.
The project study area consisted of an approximately
five-mile segment of the US Route 5 corridor within Meriden
and Wallingford. The southern limit of the study area begins at the Wilbur
Cross Parkway interchange in Wallingford and extends about five miles to the
north, ending at Stoneycrest Drive in Meriden.
It included 22 signalized intersections. These
intersections, in addition to one unsignalized intersection, were chosen as
study intersections to be investigated in greater detail, according to the
report
The road and curb work is not expected to impact the
memorial monuments on Memorial Boulevard, Holland told city councilors.
The Route 5 East Main Street intersection is among the top
three noted for accidents, according to the study. Earlier this year, a
westbound driver
missed the left lane onto Broad Street and damaged the World War I memorial in
the median.
"The work won't require a delay on East Main
Street," Holland told council members. "There will be public
information and communication. They are not anticipating any closures and
minimal impact."
Long-term solutions mentioned in the study include potential
rotaries at East Main and Broad streets as well as Camp and Broad streets,
according to the report.
An economic development study of the Route 5 corridor from
the Wallingford border found that lot sizes on the eastern side of Broad Street
are shallow, leading to few options for commercial development.
However, residential properties were acquired to build a
Dollar General store on the western side and Batista companies is building
its corporate headquarters and a new Dunkin' and other commercial space by
combining several lots on the eastern side.
East Norwalk to be transformed by Mill Pond development, train station expansion and other projects
NORWALK — East Norwalk is set for transformation
in the next few years with several
public and private
projects.
These include the lowering and widening of East Avenue, the
expansion of the East
Norwalk Train Station, the development of a new mixed-use apartment building
at Mill Pond, and the establishment of an MTA maintenance facility
at Norden Park. While these initiatives promise enhanced infrastructure and
new residential opportunities, they also bring community concerns and ongoing
discussions about traffic and other issues.
Here is a look at what is coming.
East Avenue road lowering
The gateway to the neighborhood, East
Avenue is a bumpy, narrow and crowded road that connects East Norwalk
under the railway to I-95. In conjunction with the $1
billion Walk Bridge replacement project, the Connecticut Department of
Transportation is lowering the avenue between Fort Point Street and Winfield
Street.
The project also includes widening about 1,600 feet of the
avenue with new and wider sidewalks on both sides of the street. Drainage will
be improved as well.
By lowering the avenue, the vertical clearance will be
increased. When complete, there will be four 10-foot travel lanes under the
rail bridge, which will increase the road’s capacity, according
to the Walk Bridge website.
Jim Travers, Norwalk’s director of the Transportation,
Parking and Mobility Department, said the entire
area will be upgraded.
“All of Cemetery Circle, East Avenue to Cemetery up to
Gregory and back, will have all new streetscapes, sidewalks on both sides,
lanes that are indicative of the speeds that we want to see, and introduction
of bike lanes that go around there,” Travers
said earlier this year.
East Norwalk train station
Also with the Walk Bridge, CDOT is expanding the platforms
at the East
Norwalk Train Station to accommodate six cars. In addition to the new
platforms, commuter parking will be expanded.
“The East Norwalk Train Station will be updated as part of
the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Track Improvement Mobility
Enhancement 2 Projects — a sub-component of the WALK Bridge Replacement
project,” the Walk
Bridge website states.
The station will be fitted with new canopies, ADA
accessibility, parking improvements, and a dedicated drop-off lane.
While this work is being done, the station will temporarily
close for a few weeks at a time. Work began on the project in March with a
three week closure while crews installed a new underdrain
system under the station’s northern parking lot.
The process to replace the northbound platform will begin in
August, CDOT said.
Mill Pond: 1 Cemetery St.
Just down the road from the station, the former Wells Fargo
is in the midst of being redeveloped into a
77-unit mixed-use apartment building.
At 1 Cemetery St., the property borders the Mill Pond, and
the owners are Mill Pond Holdings LLC, thus it is known as the Mill
Pond development.
Approved in March 2023, East Norwalk residents heavily
protested the development, citing concerns over traffic, the environment, and
the scale of the project.
“Traffic will be a nightmare,"said resident
Kimberly Bastoni during the public
hearing in March 2023. “Delivery trucks blocking traffic, people trying to
parallel park, amenities that most people will not use. … I’m asking you to
please listen to the taxpaying residents and scale back this project.”
Breaking ground this year, the project is comprised of two
buildings: one large building spanning most of the property and one smaller
building to the side.
Norden Park: 10 Norden Place
This June, the city approved plans for the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority to occupy part of the empty Norden Park
office complex to operate a maintenance facility.
The MTA plans to lease 113,000 square feet of the
635,430-square-foot building and use part of the vast parking lot to store
vehicles and for employee parking. The plan is to have about 150 employees
report to the site and then transport the work team out to their sites in
buses, trucks and vans.
Throughout the approval process, dozens of residents
protested MTA’s plan over concerns
of truck traffic, safety and air quality.
“I fear that between the buses, the commuters, the new
construction at Mill Pond — 77 new apartments — all these factors are
adding to the traffic on East Avenue,” said Karen Cole, an East
Norwalk resident during a public hearing in May.
The East Norwalk Neighborhood Association hired experts to
examine the project and testify on its traffic and air quality impacts.
“There is definitely an impact,”said Devki Desai, air
quality expert and civil engineer during
a meeting in May. “It would increase the airborne PM2.5 concentration by
approximately 3 percent along the residential properties and senior care
facility near the Norden Place site.”
Norden Park once was home to Northrop
Grumman-Norden Systems, Tauck Worldwide Tours, Pepperidge Farm and
Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School.
Following its approval, the apartment complex behind the
site, Halstead
Norwalk, filed an appeal of the Planning and Zoning Commission’s
approval. The case is ongoing.