Deadline
moved to get Army plant bids
RICHARD
WEIZEL rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD
— Only one bid has been submitted during
the monthlong period that the U.S. Army and
General Services Administration have been accepting
on-line applications from developers hoping
to acquire the former Army engine plant on Main
Street.
So the GSA has decided to up the ante to attract
more bids on the 79-acre site, which is being
marketed for redevelopment as Point Stratford.
The
federal agency, which is selling the prime waterfront
property for the Army, has set a deadline of
March 4 for final bids to be submitted. However,
if even one additional bid is submitted on March
4 by 3 p.m., GSA officials said the deadline
would be extended another 24 hours — and
another day after that until there has been
a full day with no more bids.
Mayor
James R. Miron indicated Thursday that while
only one formal bid has been made on the shuttered
industrial property, about 10 other entities
have registered to bid and submitted a $1 million
entrance fee that allows them to submit final
bids by March 4 — or get their money back
if not selected.
"We
hope by announcing this soft-close date we will
receive more bids over the next couple of weeks,"
said GSA spokeswoman Paula Santangelo in the
public affairs office for the agency's New England
region in Boston.
Santangelo
said it's not unusual for more bids to be filed
near the end of the process.
She
said the sole bidder can be identified as GrnAcre,
but the company's full name and location "must
remain anonymous," and the nature of its
business cannot be disclosed at this time.
Miron said Thursday he's not concerned about
the lack of formal bids so far. He also said
recently that one or two of the companies that
have registered to bid are connected to the
movie production business — fueling speculation
that a New York movie studio or film production
company could end up with the property.
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 tanks.
The
property is located on the banks of the Housatonic
River and across Main Street from Sikorsky Memorial
Airport.
"I
am very excited we are moving into the final
phase of the bidding and expect there to be
more bids coming in near the deadline,"
Miron said. "I have felt all along this
deadline should have already been set to generate
more bids, but I'm pleased the GSA has now taken
this step and expect we will have some good
options to select from," he said.
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 elsewhere in town by generating new jobs
in related fields and service businesses.
Miron
said there could be "tremendous built-in
advantages Stratford has to offer for movies,
such as being just 50 miles from New York City
and having Sikorsky Memorial Airport right across
the street."
"With
Connecticut now targeting the film industry
as an increasing alternative to New York City,
which has a $5 billion movie and filmmaking
industry, why not have Stratford lead the way
here in our state?" the mayor said.
Officials
say the cost of cleaning up industrial contamination
of the site will range from $30 million to $80
million, depending greatly on the type of redevelopment
planned. It would cost the least to remediate
the property if the current industrial zone
remains intact, they said.
The
Army, which owns the land, and the GSA last
month kicked off the online bidding process
for the property.
Town,
state and Army officials, as well as representatives
from Cushman & Wakefield, an international
commercial real estate firm managing the marketing
effort, said turnout at a November bidders'
conference in Hartford was better than expected.
GSA's
24-hour bid hotline is 1-800-214-1417. Bidding
information and documents are available at www.pointstratford.com
and www.auctionrp.com.
LINKS
Point
Stratford
Brochure
and Photos
Bidding
Process
-----------------------------------------------
Article
courtesy of the Connecticut
Post
Town
of Stratford
