Seeing gold in Fairfield County brownfields

To the naked eye, the ruins of the Gilbert & Bennett wire mill are much as Steve Soler first observed them in 2001. Broken window panes, likely the work of wellaimed rocks from teens, stretch the length of the brick mills. The factory pond, listed as a Superfund site in 1999, still glows in the setting sun.

But Soler's senses pick up what many others do not. The lead and zinc sludge has been carted away, 3,000 cubic yards of it, replaced with lime kiln dust and a protective earthen cap. He can already visualize the scenic waterfall that will cascade into the 12-acre pond, rehabilitated to reflect the surrounding green hillsides. Soler can hear the train chugging into the adjacent station, dropping off residents from jobs down the line who crowd shops and cafes on a summer eve.

It is the vision that won Soler's Georgetown Land Development Co. a 2005 "Smart Development" award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one of just five entities nationally to receive it. And it is the look Gov. M. Jodi Rell hopes to duplicate in overhauling the state's brownfield redevelopment office to jumpstart similar projects.

Soler got the final piece of the puzzle in place last week State Traffic Commission 'approval of his roadway plan. He has begun the process of removing asbestos from some of the 37 buildings on the 44-acre Georgetown property he plans to transform into a residential oasis in central Fairfield County. Demolition work on some of those buildings will begin this fall and construction will begin in earnest next spring.

More than 3,000 commercial sites in Fairfield County are classified as contaminated or potentially so, according to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. The properties range from those suffering with mild leaks of underground storage tanks, to 30 sites carrying the Superfund label, not including the Gilbert & Bennett site.

After grinding the gears of brownfield development, officials and observers think Connecticut is finally shifting to a smoother motion that will attract developers.

New Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development

"Connecticut has had a patchwork quilt of programs, and like a patchwork quilt they often don't match," said Barry Trilling, a Stamford attorney with Wiggin and Dana who specializes in environmental law. "It takes someone like me to put them together - it's like hiring a general contractor to bring in the appropriate subcontractors."

Rell assigned that general contractor on Aug. 2, signing a law that creates an Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development within the Department of Economic and Community Development.

The new office supersedes the Connecticut Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (CBRA), an office of the Connecticut Development Authority that issues loans and grants for projects.

Under CBRA's programs, a developer might propose redeveloping a site with the resulting facility to generate $200,000 in property taxes annually. Over the first 10 years, the town would agree to split half the $2 million in tax assessments with CBRA. With that guarantee in hand, CBRA would grant the developer $1 million up front to rehabilitate and develop the land. CBRA will provide up to $10 million, with the amount depending on the scope of a project and the apportionment of tax revenue.

Under that system and others, several brownfield projects are under way in Fairfield County.

Projects in Stamford and Norwalk

Greenwich-based Antares Investment Partners is now filing zoning applications' with Stamford officials to create housing, a hotel, a supermarket and other stores on 82 acres of land it acquired last year. The properties "were once the site of a Pitney Bowes Inc. facility and a Yale & Towne lock factory.

An affiliate of Spinnaker Co. bought out a Norwalk auto mechanic, the last piece of private property it needs to construct a planned 1-million-square-foot development with housing, stores, a hotel and health club. And Applera Corp. sold, in June, a one-time chip-etching plant on the NorwalkWilton line to National Re/Sources L.L.C. The Greenwich developer plans a 31-acre mixeduse site called i.Park Norwalk, including 200,000 square feet of commercial space, 300 residential units and a health dub. As part of the sale agreement, Applera agreed to pay for a piping system to remove compounds from groundwater, the Norwalk Citizen reported.

Bridgeport's brownfield developments

Until Georgetown Land Development bagged its EPA award last November, Bridgeport likely had the two most successful brownfield developments in the county. United Illuminating Co.'s former Steel Point electric station is being rebuilt as a maritime gateway to the city, the second major project to grace Bridgeport's blighted waterfront following the establishment of a Direcktor Shipyards facility.

In July, Direcktor signed a contract to build a 280-foot, 2,800-ton yacht, believed to be the largest under construction in 75 years. The yard also has started building what will be the world's largest sailing catamaran and a high-speed ferry for Bermuda.

"There are so many things I love about this project," said Ron Angelo, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. "It is bringing back quality manufacturing jobs to Bridgeport. We had to remediate the site and build this shipyard right."

More than any municipality in the county, Bridgeport officials create stiff headwinds for developers intent on developing brownfields there, according to several local observers who asked not to be identified due to their involvement in Bridgeport projects.

But with several massive projects under way across the county - and a renewed commitment from Hartford they think developers may be finding their way through the quicksand that has mired past projects.

When a bank contacted him about developing the Gilbert & Bennett factory in Georgetown, Steve Soler's first reaction was to laugh in disbelief at the proposition.

He may get the last laugh as well, as his $250 million project finally lurches into motion.

"There are a couple of big sites in central Fairfield County that (have) mixed-use potential," Soler said. "I think what attracted me (to the Gilbert & Bennett property) was the ability to build a village: You have got historic buildings that are very cool, the ability to site a train station and a 12-acre pond."