Naugatuck explores selling multi-acre parcels

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The Naugatuck Event Center also known as Parcel A can been seen on 6 Rubber Ave. Archive

By Andreas Yilma Citizen’s News

NAUGATUCK — The Board of Mayor and Burgesses unanimously approved to send out a request for proposal to sell Parcel A, the Naugatuck Event Center, as well as Parcels Y and Z directly behind the building.

“It’s all done but we’re going to dot the Is and cross the Ts and send it out next week,” Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said on May 12.

The borough board has been discussing to sell the parcels of land for some time now according to Hess.

The Naugatuck Event Center, at 6 Rubber Ave., is used for various events and meetings by borough officials, merchants and organizations. The four-story high, 319,188 square-foot building was built in 1950 and sits on about 3.9 acres. The borough took possession of the former General DataComm building in May 2013.

The facility and land are both valued at $8.6 million and assessed at about $6 million, according to Assessor Shelby Jackson.

Further down Elm Street and behind the Naugatuck Event Center lie parcels Y and Z.

Parcel Y is 2.6 acres. It is valued at $317,500 and assessed at $222,250. One business, Whiteley Trucking, can be seen on Parcel Y.

Parcel Z is a vacant lot of only 0.69 acre and is seen on Elm Street after the Route 63 bridge. It is valued is $85,120 and assessed at $59,580 according to Jackson.

The initiative to sell the land is part of a larger plan to upgrade downtown and bring more parcels of land on the grand list.

The state Department of Transportation has allocated funding for the relocation of the Naugatuck train station from Water Street near The Station Restaurant to Parcel B, the vacant lot at the corner of Maple Street and Old Firehouse Road. The 7.75 acres of land is owned by the borough. It has not been determined the exact amount of funds from the state.

The borough is seeking to partner with a qualified development team. The developer would purchase Parcel B and be responsible for the permitting, design and construction of a mixed use Transit Oriented Development project. The developer would be responsible for financing the project and selling or leasing constructed facilities.

The project will include residential and commercial uses, but must have a large residential component designed primarily for people with low space requirement. The building can go in the range of six stories high, the RFP states.