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MERIDEN NEWSBRIEFS
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Business New Haven
3/23/1998
By: BNH
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Firm Has Designs on Meriden
The Barakos-Landino Design Group (BLDG) has moved its headquarters to 355 Research Parkway, the former CNF Industries site, bringing 63 employees to the new facility. BLDG plans to create approximately 60 new full-time permanent jobs to Meriden over the next five years.
BLDG and its affiliated companies provide design and architectural services to oversee a full spectrum of development, from conceptual design through construction management. The firm also has offices in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The firm is one of the largest to move to the Silver City since July 1997. “This move into our city certainly provides both employment opportunities for Meriden and a substantial economic benefit by expanding the tax base on real and personal property,” says Stephen T. Zerio, who chairs the Economic Development, Housing & Zoning Committee of the Meriden City Council.
To qualify for city incentives, BLDG purchased the 37,500-square-foot office facility and will own and occupy the site for a minimum of ten years. purchase and construction costs are estimated at $3 million for the company's use, which includes office, warehouse, storage and distribution.
“We were experiencing rapid growth,” said Eve Barakos Landino, BLDG's president, “when the company first considered the Meriden property. But we were concerned that moving from 12,000 square feet to over 37,000 would be a difficult financial hurdle.
“[City officials] worked with us to hammer out an agreement that has helped us to alleviate a large part of our financial concerns,” she said.
Fast Track, Indeed
Production has begun at a new 380,000-square-foot Meriden facility by the Cablewave Systems Division of Radio Frequency Systems Inc. overlooking I-91 and Foster Lake in Meriden.
Cablewave initiated production of the still-under-construction plant, while continuing relocation of additional divisions from its North Haven plant. RFS Cablewave plans to be fully operational at its new corporate offices on Pondview Drive by May.
As general contractor, FIP Construction Inc. of Cheshire has overseen the design/build approach, a process refined over three decades of experience. Fletcher-Thompson Inc. of Bridgeport provided architectural, structural, mechanical and electric design expertise. North Haven's Diversified Technologies Corp. created site engineering, environmental and landscape architectural designs for the project, which encompasses a site equivalent to nine football fields.
RFS/Cablewave produces radio frequency cable, waveguides, connectors and microwave antennas. Incentives for the project were provided by the city of Meriden, the state's Department of Economic & Community Development and Connecticut Light & Power.
Yankee Fuels Good Works
Meriden's only non-profit developer of affordable housing and a Meriden-Wallingford provider of services to victims of domestic violence have been awarded $20,000 from Yankee Energy System Inc. under the state's Neighborhood Assistance Act.
The ten-year-old Council of Concern Housing Development Corp., which received $12,000 from Yankee, purchases rundown properties, rehabilitates them and helps to place income-qualified families in them. According to council board president William Plotica, the group will use the utility's largess to rehab a two-family home on Franklin Street and for community outreach to raise awareness of the program and identify other families who might benefit from it.
Yankee also awarded $8,000 to Meriden-Wallingford Chrysalis Inc., which provides emergency housing and support services to domestic-violence victims and their families. Chrysalis Executive Director Karen Burdacki says her group will use the grant to purchase a van for the shelter, transitional living programs and children's recreational and educational programs.
Based in Meriden, Yankee Energy System is the parent company of Yankee Gas Services Co., the largest natural-gas distribution company in the state.
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