Alders OK Selling Bigelow Lot For $1

The Elicker administration won approval to sell a vacant, contaminated waterfront industrial property in Fair Haven for $1 to a local builder and provide $400,000 in cleanup funds, to help develop the site of the now-demolished former Bigelow factory complex into a new 10,000 square-foot commercial/industrial building.

The Board of Alsers signed off on that deal on Dec. 4 during a meeting on the second floor of City Hall.

The alders approved amended versions of five different orders proposed by the Elicker administration, all of which relate to the sale and hoped-for future redevelopment of 198 River St.

That 0.78-acre site was once home to part of the Bigelow boiler factory complex, which used to be a national leader in the manufacture of steam boilers. Many of the River Street Bigelow buildings were constructed in the 1870s and 1880s, and the factory complex employed hundreds of people well into the 20th century. 

The city demolished the long-vacant and derelict remaining industrial structures at 198 River earlier this year, after knocking down adjacent ex-Bigelow factory buildings in 2021 because of concerns with collapsed roofs and persistent squatters.

As part of the suite of approvals provided by the Board of Alders on Dec. 4, the Elicker administration can now sell 198 River St. for $1 to Bigelow Square LLC, a holding company controlled by Lloyd Street-based builders Carmine and Vincenzo Capasso.

The approved orders also allow the Capassos’ company to lease 0.43 acres of city-owned land at 194 River St. and 0.36 acres of city-owned land at 200 River St. for $1 per year for 98 years each.

Two other River Street-related orders approved as part of this deal enable the city to provide the Capassos’ company with $400,000 in local environmental remediation funds to cover the costs of acquiring clean fill for the site, and also authorize the city to apply for $969,750 in still more environmental remediation funds from the state.

All of these now-approved orders are designed to allow the Capassos’ company to build up a new 10,000 square-foot commercial/industrial building at 198 River.

In 2022, the Capassos’ company also restored and bought from the city the last remaining standing ex-Bigelow building at the corner of Lloyd and River Streets, which now houses Armada Brewing’s brewery and tap room.

During the Dec. 4 meeting, East Rock Alder Anna Festa, who chairs the City Services and Environmental Policy Committee, successfully proposed amendments ​“making it more energy efficient,” requiring electric vehicle charging stations for at least 12 parking spaces, and requiring the developer to maintain five city-planted trees on the property while planting additional trees of its own.

“This development will help revitalize this area of New Haven” and ​“will generate significant new jobs and property taxes,” she said.

Click here, here, here, here, here, and here to read in full the 198 River St.-related orders approved by the alders on Dec. 4.

On Dec. 8, the city’s economic development office sent out an email newsletter celebrating the approval of the River Street property sale and redevelopment deal.

“This week, the Board of Alders approved a plan to remediate and redevelop part of the former Bigelow Boiler property on River Street in Fair Haven,” that email reads in part. ​“The plan, years in the making, will involve cleaning up and conveying three small City-owned parcels to support private investment that will build a 10,000-square-foot commercial/industrial building with shared parking and outdoor storage. Congratulations and thanks to Economic Development Officer Helen Rosenberg for shepherding this complex rehabilitation project through the approval process!”

In a followup phone interview, when asked about the $1 sale price of 198 River, Rosenberg stressed just how challenging these ex-Bigelow factory sites remain to redevelop. ​“This is no prize,” she said. ​“The properties are contaminated” with PCBs. ​“They’re in the flood zone.” It’s an oddly shaped site with not much acreage.

She said the Capassos’ company has proven itself willing and able to put ex-Bigelow sites to good use, as evidenced by the restoration of the building now occupied by Armada.

The result of this latest deal is ​“the environmental situation will be better, and it will be active, and it won’t look like crap,” she said. ​“There’s a lot of costs involved in developing the property. No one else is going to be interested in these. … This will bring in more business, more activity, provide more parking for Armada,” and hopefully bring in new tenants to a new building to-be.