Redding Town Hall
G&B Headquarters Building
Newly Daylighted Norwalk River
|
 |
THE GEORGETOWN STORY
One simple phrase says it all: It can be done.
A proud and active community can find a socially conscious developer who listens to their input and taps forward-thinking state and federal officials who respond with financing and national recognition.
An Open and Transparent Planning Process
In 1998, after 150 years of manufacturing wire cloth, netting, fencing and other goods, the Gilbert & Bennett Company closed its 55-acre Georgetown wire mill facility in the town of Redding, CT, and filed for bankruptcy.
The Town of Redding (population 8,500), located at the nexus of three affluent Fairfield County communities, immediately began seeking a partner who would purchase the million dollars' worth of tax liens and revitalize the the "Brownfield" site.
In October 2003, a week-long "charrette" was hosted at the Redding firehouse; a series of public meetings where everyone-government officials, business and civic leaders, the public-was invited to share their ideas and concerns for developing the Gilbert & Bennett (G&B) property. Over 1,000 people attended. An on-site team of architects and designers working 12-to-18-hour days analyzed and fleshed out all suggestions. Every idea received a full hearing and assessment.
Out of this intense collaboration came a master plan for a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly and environmentally-responsible new village center.
It would include up to 416 units of diverse housing (loft-style apartments, townhouses, single-family homes), over 300,000 square feet of commercial space (offices, restaurants and shops), a performing arts center, a health club, a small hotel, and a new Metro North railroad station with added parking garage-all connected by pedestrian trails -- no one would be more than a ten-minute walk from the train. And the newly "daylighted" Norwalk River ran through it!
Within a year, the plan was unanimously approved by the town's zoning commission.
It was estimated the development would add almost $5 million to Redding's tax rolls, raise property values by more than $300 million and create 1,500 jobs.
Tapping the Nation's Clean-Up Agenda: Financing and Awards Roll In
With Smart Growth and cleaning up industrial Brownfields very much on the country's mind, the Georgetown project began attracting the attention of both state and federal officials, from Connecticut's congressional delegation up to the U.S. EPA.
In April 2004, the U.S. EPA's New England Office presented Town of Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketcham with an Environmental Merit Award for her "tireless work to transform a neglected area of the town's Georgetown neighborhood."
In October, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association held its Environmental Policies Council meeting at the G&B site. In attendance: 100 state legislators and officials from the state Department of Economic & Community Development, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. EPA-plus developers and commercial and residential real estate agents. Carl Dierker, general counsel for U.S. EPA Region 1 based in Boston, called the Georgetown development "a prime example of Smart Growth and what can happen when government and private industry work together."
The following summer the state legislature unanimously passed legislation establishing the Georgetown Special Taxing District to enable cleanup and redevelopment of the contaminated property and to provide services to future residents. As a result, the new village would not be a drain on the town's coffers. But equally important, the district now had the authority to issue bonds to finance the infrastructure. It marked the first time in U.S. history such a designation was used on a Brownfield site.
A few months later, Georgetown landed squarely on the national scene. Out of 98 projects in 32 states, the U.S. EPA presented the Town of Redding with its prestigious National Award for Smart Growth Achievement (Small Communities). What started as a local remediation project had become a national model.
The Georgetown Special Taxing District was subsequently designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as a qualified green building and sustainable design project in early 2006-one of the first in the country to receive that designation-making it eligible to issue $72 million in tax-exempt bonds.
Breaking Ground in Record Time
The district has received a $5 million long term loan from the USDA to
finance a new Wastewater Treatment Facility. At the site, demolition
proceeded hand in hand with delicate renovation. The Norwalk River has
been daylighted.
Georgetown is proof it can be done.
|
|
