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Whither the Williams Steel Deal?
Did city-state deal with Buffalo manufacturer simply die on the vine — or will new plant resurface elsewhere?
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Business New Haven
1/11/1999
By: Linda Mele
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So, what happened to the deal that was supposed to bring Buffalo, N.Y.-based stainless steel manufacturer Williams Specialty Steel, jobs and tax revenue to New Haven?
By now it is widely assumed in the business community that the deal to bring the company here died - or was never in fact consummated in the first place - but Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Fabio Sampoli says that there's still “something in the works, but I'm not a liberty to discuss it.”
What does that mean? “They are still looking to locate somewhere in Connecticut,” Sampoli says, “and they have several sites in mind that might work. I seriously doubt it will occur in the city of New Haven, but one never knows.”
Williams vice president Mark Sabers is equally tight-lipped about the company's plans. “I can't make any statements about our plans at this time,” Sabers says, “but we will have an announcement on January 22.”
What the announcement will be is anybody's guess because those who might know aren't talking - on or off the record.
The plan, announced with much fanfare in May 1997 by Gov. John G. Rowland and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., would have had Williams begin construction last September on a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on a 25-acre site off Middletown Avenue near the North Haven border that once housed the Cedar Hill railroad switching yard.
According to city and state officials, the new plant - hailed as the city's first new manufacturing facility in a generation - was going to provide about 350 jobs with average salaries in the $40,000 range, many of which were supposed to be earmarked for New Haven residents; generate more than $3 million in new annual property taxes for the city; and contribute an estimated $270 million-plus each year to the state's economy.
But then a funny thing happened: nothing.
Throughout the summer and fall, reports hinted that Williams and the landowners couldn't reach an agreement on the price of the land. But even the landowners themselves say they don't know what happened.
“As far as we're concerned, the deal has been dead for a long time,” says Andrew Anastasio Jr., co-owner of the proposed site. “We have about 100 acres and they were looking for between 20 and 40 acres for the plant,” Anastasio says.
According to Anastasio, his side made a deal with Williams and then made some concessions about payments during construction. “Over about a year we held a number of discussions and everything seemed very positive, but they never once brought a lawyer to the table,” Anastasio says. It seemed odd that “They never seemed ready to actually put anything in writing.”
After about 18 months, the numbers under discussion changed, according to Anastasio. “We're reasonable people, but we're not in the habit of giving land away,” Anastasio says. “There was no way we could agree to what they wanted.”
As far as the city is concerned, “We did our best to find a site in the city that would be suitable, but the deal broke down between the company and the owners of the property,” says Michael Kuczkowski, DeStefano's spokesman.
“There isn't a lot of buildable land in the city,” Kuczkowski says. “In order to build something new, you have to tear something down. As far as we're aware, New Haven is out of the running.”
Other sites said to be under consideration included the United Illuminating Co.'s mothballed English Station power plant property on Grand Avenue and a former U.S. Steel site off Forbes Avenue, but nothing ever came of either one.
According to UI spokesperson Fran Mayko, UI had pledged $5 million in financing for the project because the steel plant would have become the company's largest industrial customer. “We certainly want to be a partner in whatever they do, but the ball is in Williams' court now,” Mayko says.
According to one industry insider, the American steel industry is currently under significant pressure, especially because of imports, but that doesn't mean that's what's caused the delay in Williams' case.
At this point, state officials aren't saying anything other than they are continuing their efforts to make the project a reality. Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) Vice President Karen Lawrence says the original deal is no longer on the table, and there is no deal of which she is aware in which the state would participate financially.
“It's [Williams'] project and whatever they're doing is a substantial change from the original project,” Lawrence says. “Any [financial] commitment from the state or the CDA wouldn't necessarily apply to new plans.”
Lawrence adds that she has “no information I can give out, and it's up to Williams when and if to release information about their potential plans.”
Anastasio isn't buying it. “In a project this size, the cost of the land is chump change,” Anastasio says, “and if it couldn't work here, where the site had everything - rail, highway and pier access - I don't think it will work anywhere.”
Adds Anastasio, “Bluntly, I think their plans didn't pan out and they were looking for a way to get out of the deal.” Perhaps we'll learn more on January 22. BNH
Williams President Harry Williams at the 1997 press conference announcing the new Elm City steel plant.
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