Stratford Army Engine Plant bid: $9.6m
RICHARD WEIZEL rweizel@ctpost.com

STRATFORD — After more than a decade of delays that forced the U.S. Army's intervention last year, the former Army Engine Plant on Main Street was potentially sold Wednesday for $9.6 million. Mayor James R. Miron said late Wednesday night that a final bid was made on the 79-acre parcel that is considered the key to Stratford's future economic development.
Miron said the three-week on-line bidding war among three developers trying to acquire and develop the former engine plant ended Wednesday with a bid that "far exceeds anything we could have envisioned. "This is one of the most exciting days in the town's history," Miron said. "If a final agreement can be worked out over the next 60 days with this developer we will finally see this prime waterfront property developed."

While Miron declined to identify the group's official name or its industry, he added that all the parties involved will meet in Washington D.C. by early next week to start ironing out the details.

Just a week ago the same group that won the bid, which calls itself GrnAcre online, submitted a bid of $9.1 million.

But the two other groups and the winning bidder kept raising the stakes, and the final price rose half-a-million dollars in the last week.

By the latest 3 p.m. deadline Wednesday, GrnAcre's $9.6 million bid — submitted more than 24 hours earlier — had not been topped.

Under the "soft-close" bidding process that was put into play March 4, every time there was a new bid, the deadline was extended another 24 hours.

Three weeks ago, before the soft-close was established, only one bid for $1 million had been submitted during the month-long period the U.S. Army and federal General Services Administration began accepting online applications from developers.

But once the GSA decided to up the ante and set a ``soft-close'' deadline to attract more bids, the three bidders engaged in fierce, daily competition for the rights to redevelop the site marketed as Point Stratford.

The GSA is selling the prime waterfront property for the Army.

``I said that once a soft-close date was set the bidding would intensify, and it was exciting to watch the bids as they kept getting higher every day,'' Miron said. GSA spokeswoman Paula Santangelo said last week bids often intensify once a soft-close deadline is set.

She said all of the companies' full names and locations must remain anonymous until a final agreement is signed.

The contaminated property, which has been closed for more than 10 years, was the site of defense manufacturing for decades, most recently engines for Army aircraft. The property is on the banks of the Housatonic River and across Main Street from Sikorsky Memorial Airport.

Miron said development of the property could spur between $3 million and $5 million in annual taxes to the town, as well as stimulate economic growth.

Officials say the cost of cleaning up industrial contamination of the site will range from $30 million to $80 million, depending on the type of redevelopment planned. It would cost the least to remediate the property if the current industrial zone remains intact, they said.

LINKS

Point Stratford

Brochure and Photos

Bidding Process

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Article courtesy of the Connecticut Post

Town of Stratford