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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 17 storefronts. And no one wants to be the first one." Guedes impressed city leaders with his track record on earlier revitalization in Bridgeport projects and his enthusiasm, Lauretti said. e city also resolved to help the developer make things happen by pruning back the red tape that had stymied earlier redevelopment efforts, he said. "ere's got to be vision, people have to have a vision," Lauretti said, offering advice to other municipalities looking for a downtown transformation similar to Shelton's. "e local planning and zoning commissions need to take a step back and let entrepreneurs make their investments and build the kinds of things that the marketplace is looking for. It doesn't always happen." Blight to bright Guedes' first phase of the Shelton project was the conversion of a former corset factory into the Birmingham on the River condominiums. He showed a visitor with pride the original ductwork and pine flooring he incorporated into the complex, advertised on Redfin as "New York Lo-Style Posh Units in sought-aer Birmingham complex." When Guedes first visited the building and area about 15 years ago, he was greeted by what he calls "an apocalyptic scene." Downtown Shelton was pockmarked with abandoned factory complexes that drew criminal activity and were in various states of disrepair. "When I started I couldn't convince anybody this was worth investing in," Guedes said. "Nobody was interested." Guedes came to Shelton with decades of experience revitalizing buildings in Bridgeport, the city he grew up in aer emigrating from Portugal at the age of 10, in 1962. An architect by training, he started his own firm in 1978, Primrose Companies, with a focus on adaptive reuse of neglected urban buildings and abandoned factories. "I love the fact that when somebody abandons it, the re-creation of it is a challenge," Guedes said of industrial sites. With its proximity to Fairfield County's commercial corridor and low tax rate (17.47 mills), Shelton had great potential as an affordable alternative to Stamford and Norwalk, Guedes said. And the corporate corridor craed by Robert Scinto less than five miles away added to downtown's appeal for residential development. e next step was purchasing the properties along Canal Street, then cleaning them up. "e problem with these old industrial sites is that it takes a lot of money to make them happen," Guedes said. With about $20 million in state funding from brownfields cleanup and infrastructure programs, the Birmingham lot was ready for its transformation. e first tenants moved in 2006. e derelict asphalt plant next to the Birmingham came next — beyond repair, the building was demolished and sold to Avalon Bay, which built the 250-unit Radcliffe Park complex. en the Spongex Foam Products building at 6 Bridge St. was converted into the Canal Street Los, with 47 units. Most recently, Guedes built the Riverside Retail Center on the site of the former Rolfite factory, featuring a stylish new restaurant and several retail spaces — including a dog grooming business, What the Pup. In the pipeline are a 64-unit complex now under construction at 223 Canal St. and a 92-unit complex at 113-123 Canal St., in the planning stages. Also beckoning are several acres of underutilized land at the far end of Canal Street, just before the canal's former locks, where Guedes envisions a 64-unit condo tower and 90-apartment lo complex. Rents at the completed apartment complexes along Canal range up from $1,800 a month — a far cry from the $900 estimate on rents Guedes first got from an appraiser early in the process. Ion Bank has financed several of Guedes' projects over the past eight years, won over by his vision, said Allan Monteiro, senior vice president and commercial banking officer at Ion. "All projects have been successful due to Mr. Guedes' vast experience as an architect, developer, and businessman," Monteiro said. "It is incredible to see his design plans for redeveloping older mill-style buildings along the Housatonic river." Market knowledge Guedes is now looking beyond Shelton to development projects in Ansonia and Hartford — and back to his hometown of Bridgeport. In Ansonia, Guedes has proposed a complex that includes a regula- tion-sized outdoor soccer stadium, 39,000-square-foot indoor soccer facility and 49,000-square-foot multi- sports space on Olson Drive along the Naugatuck River. He has other Ansonia projects in the works, Guedes said. In Bridgeport, Guedes' company is converting the former Holiday Inn hotel at 1070 Main St. into 100 one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments. In Hartford, Guedes has teamed up with Biagio Barone of Stratford-based Barone Properties on an $18.7 million conversion of the former Travelers training center at 200 Constitution Plaza into 101 apartments. In his capacity as both a developer and designer, Guedes is involved in multiple projects across the state, many with partners. One of those partners is Abraham Gottesman of Blue Garden Management, a New York firm with local offices in Waterbury. Gottesman has partnered with Guedes on several projects in downtown Bridgeport to convert office buildings into apartments. "He's very experienced and he knows this stuff very well, specifically engi- neering and drawing. He understands the market very, very, very, very well," Gottesman said. "When we started working together, I knew I had the right person for the job." In downtown Shelton, Guedes' nearly two decades of efforts have resulted in a new issue — lack of parking caused by the growing population and retail activity. "Well, if all people can do now is complain about parking, I think that's probably a pretty good thing," said Lauretti, the mayor. "Because that means you have a product that people want — there's life, there's vibrancy, there's people walking around, there's people that are frequenting different establishments." Speaking of Guedes, Lauretti said, "He started something that just gained a lot of momentum and has tremen- dous momentum now." n (Top photo) John Guedes inside the Birmingham, a converted corset factory that now houses condominiums. (Right) Workers put the finishing touches on River Breeze, a mixed-income housing complex that Guedes helped build at 223 Canal St. in Shelton. Mark Lauretti PHOTOS | LIESE KLEIN

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