Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 16, 2023 9 DEAL WATCH Victor W. Nolletti, executive managing director of investments for Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, said the Danbury and Milford/ Greater New Haven housing markets are vibrant and not oversupplied. Residents are facing a "pretty significant systemic housing shortage in the country," particularly in the Northeast, making multifamily construction attractive, he said. Malls, especially in dense commercial districts like Milford and Danbury, are prime sites for residential development. "There's strong demand in both markets for housing. It's a matter of how it's executed," Nolletti said. Malls are also not configured to compete with, or be transformed into industrial or logistics centers since they weren't designed for heavy truck traffic and don't have adequate ceiling heights, Nolletti said. "I just don't know how feasible it is to take a former Macy's and turn it into a high-bay warehouse where you'd get much less rent per foot for a warehouse than you do for a residential apartment," he said. Donald J. Poland, senior vice president of urban planning for East Hartford-based Goman+York Property Advisors, said the Milford and Danbury plans are poised for success partly because the developers are also the owners, an obstacle that other struggling malls and their municipali- ties have difficulty overcoming. If 250 units are built in place of empty retail, that creates 250 captive consumers who are likely to shop and dine on-site, he said. Projects like apartment conver- sions reduce mall vacancies and make other retailers stronger, Poland added. "Parts of these malls will almost always remain because there is a market for a portion of that retail, which will become stronger with the residential," he said. The proposed redevelopment of the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford aims to create a live, work, play vibe. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED Don Poland Victor W. Nolletti Prominent Waterbury developer could pay $1M for city to take over massive ruined factory site for redevelopment By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com P rominent local attorney, broker and developer Norman Drubner 37 years ago paid $3 million for a 310,000-square-foot manufacturing complex on 6 acres by the Naugatuck River in Waterbury, planning to eventually redevelop the site into apartments. However, changes in environmental cleanup laws and shifts in the real estate market got in the way, and now Drubner is prepared to pay the city of Waterbury $1 million to take the former Bristol Babcock Inc. property, at 40 Bristol St., off his hands. Bristol Babcock was a bustling manufacturer of pressure and heat gauges and other control equipment, with sections of the Platts Mills neigh- borhood factory complex dating back to the late 1800s. Drubner bought it in 1986, before Bristol Babcock moved to a new headquarters, with hopes to eventually turn it into housing. Drubner sought and received a zone change that would have allowed for multifamily development. Cleanup costs, however, proved too steep to justify redevelopment. So, Drubner fenced in and moth- balled the property, while remaining current with city taxes. Like several other large Water- bury factory complexes, the Bristol Babcock factory was picked apart by vandals, time and weather, slowly deteriorating over time. A massive fire in 2015 caused the factory to burn for days, in some sections leaving only a six-story brick shell and piles of burned rubble. "After all of these years, I'm happy the city is going to take it over," Drubner said. "It's the only way it can be remediated and put into constructive use. It's a very good site. It's a good area. I think the reuse will be successful." Drubner said he has paid to demolish portions of the structure to make it safe. Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary's administration has considered acquiring the property for years. That would allow the city to secure state and federal grants to clear away blight and pollution and bring the riverside site back into productive use. O'Leary is asking the Board of Aldermen to approve the property acquisition at no cost to the city. Drubner would make $1 million The Bristol Babcock building in Waterbury at 40 Bristol St. PHOTO | GOOGLE MAPS available to help prepare the site for cleanup. The cost to remediate the long-run- ning industrial site will be steep. A 2019 study commissioned by the city estimated cleanup costs ranging between $6.3 million and $13.7 million. O'Leary said he believes the true cost lies somewhere in the middle of that range and is achievable with the help of state and federal funding. "We have a really good track record of cleaning brownfields," O'Leary said. "We feel we are well positioned to be successful as we apply for these grants." Waterbury Finance Director Michael LeBlanc, in a letter to aldermen, said the $1 million contri- bution from the current property owner will help the city leverage other grants. The city, LeBlanc noted, has already submitted applications for a $350,000 grant from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments and a $4 million state brownfields grant. The Waterbury Development Corp., the city's economic development arm, is also drafting a $2 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant request. O'Leary said he hasn't yet settled on a definitive vision for the site, but he is leaning strongly toward housing, which would benefit from waterfront access along the Naugatuck River.

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