Marine Firm Moving To River Street

A New London-based marine construction company is planning to make New Haven its new home.

Cambridge Marine Construction Inc., a small construction contractor that specializes in marine construction of piers and lighthouses for mostly government agencies, is moving its headquarters to the only privately owned property in the city’s River Street Municipal Development Area.

The City Plan Commission unanimously approved at its meeting at City Hall Thursday a site plan and special permit for the company to construct a new building and dry dock at 24 River St. and on a portion of 36 River St. that will allow it to build boats, perform repairs, service marine related things like lighthouses and provide some storage.

The plans call for tearing down an existing building at 24 River St. and replacing it with a new, three-story building with a glass storefront that is about 18,908 square feet, according to a City Plan staff report. The southern side of the building, which will face the Qunnipiac River, allowing the company to bring in cranes, backhoes and other kinds of equipment.

Both properties are the only ones that are privately owned in the city’s River Street Municipal Development Plan District. They are owned by James Bussmann of River Street Holdings Inc. and River Street Storage Corporation. The project is the latest movement in the city’s ongoing efforts to revitalize a part of Fair Haven that once bustled with industrial activity. Just this week, the Board of Alders approved the revision of a land disposition agreement and gave the go-ahead for the city to enter into a lease agreement that will allow for the restoration of the Bigelow building.

Jeff Johnson, principal at Cambridge, said the company has grown exponentially in its five years of existence and has outgrown its rental space in New London.

“That’s the big thing — trying to find a piece of property where we could offload the equipment, so we can repair it and take it back out,” he said. The company will be using barges to bring in parts of things like lighthouses for repair along with heavy machinery such as cranes and excavators. The goal for the company is to get things repaired and rebuilt and back on the barge to naval bases up and down the East Coast.

“Most marine contractors, if their equipment is sitting around they’re not busy,” he explained. ​“If it’s gone, they’re busy.” He said the company currently has cranes working on the demolition of a 460-foot pier for the U.S. Navy in Maine. It also is working on projects in Cape Cod and at a Navy base in Georgia.

For those worried that the new building might be a modern, metal and glass monstrosity, architect Marc Calmier said that both the owner and the Fair Haven Management Team asked that the design of the building be in keeping with many of the nearby buildings in the area that were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, such as Brewery Square.

While the existing building abuts the Ferry Street Bridge, the new building will be pulled about eight feet away from it, allowing for a plaza space that will connect to a park on Ferry Street and be open to the public. Calmier said the River Street side of the building will mimic neighboring buildings and give way to more glass on the Ferry Street side, with much of the metal, high bay doors kept to river side of the property. 

“For the most part, you won’t see it,” he said. He also assured the commission that only very temporary activity will be on the very first floor of the building; offices will be on the second floor and the third floor will contain mechanical things such as a generator. A not-of-profit organization that exists on part of 34 River St., also will continue to operate out of the existing building on that property. The entire waterfront portion of 36 River St., will be transferred to the 24 River St. parcel.

Johnson said the company is making an investment of between $3 million and $4 million in the new headquarters which could be ready for occupation by the fall of 2017. The new headquarters is expected to have 10 to 15 employees. Some of those employees will be new and because much of the company’s contracts are federal the positions will be paid at Davis-Bacon wages.

In addition to a of support from the Fair Haven Management Team and a letter signed by the Fair Haven alders, the project has the blessing of the city’s economic development department, which is hoping that the investment in a new building will encourage others to build new in the area.

“We support this investment,” city Economic Development Officer Carlos Eyzaguirre said. ​“It is a relatively attractive new facility, and it meets the River Street Municipal Development Plan District goal because it will create jobs and improve the area’s appearance. We hope the new construction will serve as a catalyst to the area for more new construction, which has not currently occurred to this point. We have repaired some existing buildings but not yet done any new construction.”