NewHavenBIZ

16 n e w h a v e n B I Z | O c t o b e r 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m By Liese Klein F irst there was the beautifully groomed border collie. en a couple of lapdogs on leashes nosing the greenery. But the bulldog in a baby stroller made it official: Downtown Shelton is now a hip residential neighborhood. One man can take much of the credit for launching the transformation of a once-desolate industrial area: Bridgeport-based developer John Guedes. "I'm very proud," Guedes said, surveying the swath of downtown Shelton that is gradually transforming. "It wasn't just for money. I took old dilapidated industrial buildings and brought life to them, and people are happy to live there. I created an environment." When complete, the Shelton riverfront development that Guedes pioneered along Canal Street will house 650 residential units, 58,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,374 parking spaces. e construction sprawls over eight separate properties, most former industrial sites that needed extensive cleanup. Another part of the riverfront challenge: filling in defunct industrial canals and raising parts of the project 10 feet to mitigate flooding concerns. City leaders credit Guedes and his Primrose Companies with sparking a downtown revitalization, resulting in more than $144 million in investment in 15 projects across a once-blighted section of Shelton along the Housatonic River. In part due to Guedes' developments, Shelton's population rose 3.3% in the most recent census, bucking decades-long declines in many Naugatuck Valley communities. "Twenty years ago, I couldn't get anybody interested in downtown Shelton," said Mark Lauretti, mayor of the city since 1991. "We were blighted. We had homelessness. We had contamination. We had empty Developer John Guedes sees promise in urban transformation Up On Downtowns John Guedes of Primrose Properties stands between two new complexes that have transformed a formerly industrial area of Shelton. A rendering of Riverview Park Royal, a 92-unit complex Guedes plans for city-owned land at 113-23 Canal St. in Shelton. PHOTO | LIESE KLIEN RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED

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