Preston to vote on selling piece of former Norwich Hospital land to Mohegans
Connor Linskey
Preston — Residents will gather at Preston Plains Middle
School on Thursday at 7 p.m. to vote on approving the sale of two parcels of
land on Route 12 to the Mohegan Tribe.
The parcels total approximately 30 acres and have been owned
by the town since September 2023. The town acquired the land by foreclosure.
According to an Oct. 19 letter from the tribe to the town,
the Mohegans will pay the town $200,000 for the land. The tribe plans to use
the parcels, which are a small part of the Preston Riverwalk Project.
In 2009, the town acquired the abandoned 393-acre Norwich
Hospital property along Route 12 and the Thames River from the state. A small
portion is located in Norwich. The town then received millions in state funding
to clean up the contaminated site. In 2017, the town and tribe agreed that once
that was done, Preston would convey the property to the tribe. Almost all of
the 56 former hospital buildings have been demolished as part of the cleanup.
The transfer to the tribe is expected to occur soon.
The project is envisioned by the tribe as a non-gaming
destination and calls for outdoor and indoor attractions, hotel and retail
space, restaurants, housing, a marina, RV park and more.
The land where the Preston Riverwalk Project would be
located is of historical significance to the Mohegans, as it is next to
Brewster's Neck Cemetery and land on which early American settler Jonathan
Brewster established a trading post hundreds of years ago. This land was
granted to Brewster by his friend and trading partner, a Mohegan sachem named
Uncas.
"We are honored to pay reverence to our ancestors in
bringing this land back to our family," the tribe said in a statement
about the project on their website.
A copy of the Mohegan Tribe’s letter dated Oct. 19 is
available for inspection at the town clerk’s office and on the town website: Prestonct.gov.
The document outlines the details of the land transfer, including the intended
use for the parcels, cost and acreage.
Copies of the tribe's letter will also be available at the
special town meeting.
Along the Steelpointe Harbor waterfront, adjacent to the luxury-unit, amenity-filled apartment complex The August, the Residence Inn by Marriott rises, a much-needed hospitality development in essentially a hotel desert in Connecticut’s most populous community, that will feature 142 guestrooms, ground-floor amenity spaces, and an exterior sports court, and with cooperating weather anticipates an opening the back end of 2027.
The project is led by KBE Building Corporation in
partnership with hospitality leader True North Hotel Group.
Steelpointe Harbor is the vision of Miami developers Robert
Christoph Sr. and Robert Christoph Jr. who’ve invested heavily in
Bridgeport. Now, when was the last time you heard those two cities named in the
same sentence?
For the Bridgeport business community, hospitals, colleges,
concert goers at the city-owned amphitheater, it cannot come soon enough.
A few years ago The Holiday Inn was converted into
market-rate housing then sold to a local non-profit for what is undergoing
transformation into affordable housing units.
“KBE is proud to continue our work at Steelpointe Harbor and
help bring this exciting waterfront hospitality destination to life,” says
Michael Kolakowski, president and CEO of KBE Building Corporation. “The
Residence Inn will play an important role in supporting Bridgeport’s growth,
welcoming visitors to the city, and advancing the broader vision for a vibrant
and accessible waterfront community.”
New Naugatuck apartments become ‘blueprint’ for transit-oriented developments
By next summer, downtown Naugatuck will be transformed, with
dozens of new apartments and a new train station.
Naugatuck’s downtown redevelopment has drawn the attention
of Gov. Ned Lamont, who said it’s an example of the potential Transit Oriented
Developments (TODs) hold.
“I hear a lot of speeches about transit-oriented
development,” Lamont said. “You sort of have to sometimes imagine what it
means. You don't have to imagine when you're here in Naugatuck. You see what it
means.”
The new Water Street train station is expected to be
completed in the summer.
However, the first of three apartment buildings at the
Platform at Naugatuck which abuts the train line has been completed and
residents recently began moving in.
Lamont spoke about the developments’ benefits at a ribbon
cutting for the new apartments Monday.
“You'll be able to walk right over to the train station, go
to Waterbury, Stamford, or beyond, or people coming in here for work as well,”
Lamont said.
The Platform at Naugatuck is now accepting applicants. The
building was approved for families to move in less than two weeks ago,
according to Karmen Cheung with Pennrose, one of the project developers.
Five families are currently living in the 60-unit building,
but it is expected that nearly half of the building will soon be rented out.
“While we have some finishing touches to do, there has been
an overwhelming round of interest,” Cheung said. “Today is about more than just
the completion of a building. It's about what can happen when a community comes
together around a shared vision and is willing to do the hard work to bring
that vision to life.”
Of the 60 units, a dozen are for residents earning 30% of
the Area Median Income (AMI). Another 24 apartments are for families earning
50% AMI, including eight reserved for Section 8 voucher recipients.
Another dozen are for residents earning 80% AMI and the
final dozen are market rate apartments.
Officials say the project is all a part of a transit
oriented plan to revitalize downtown Naugatuck to make the town more inclusive
and connected.
“Not long ago, this was a vacant site with just the
potential to transform downtown Naugatuck, today that vision has made a big
step in becoming reality,” Cheung said.
The second building will begin construction in early 2027
and applications for project funding for the third and final building will
begin in January, according to Cheung.
In all, Platform at Naugatuck will have 180 apartments
spread across three buildings and be done in 2030, Cheung said.
The state Department of Housing (DOH) contributed more than
$8 million to the project.
“At the end of the day, what is important is for the
families that are going to be living and are going to call this place home, are
the dinner tables where kids are going to be doing their homework, our
neighbors walking around, and what a beautiful place to be,” DOH Commissioner
Seila Mosquera-Bruno said.
Generations ago, when Naugatuck was an industrial hub,
10,000 people worked downtown daily, Mayor Pete Hess said.
“For years we've been talking about bringing people
downtown, and now we're handing out the keys,” Hess said. “What you see is a
blueprint for transit-oriented development.”