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Steel Point Visions
RFP attracts sweeping plans for Park City waterfront
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Business New Haven
3/19/2001
By: Linda Mele
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BRIDGEPORT - Five companies have submitted proposals to develop the Steel Point peninsula following the collapse of the HarborPlace concept last year.
“The response is greater than the initial Request for Proposal (RFP) in its scope and breadth,” explains Bridgeport Economic Development Director Michael Freimuth.
“All the proposals capitalize on the waterfront and the public's right to access it,” Freimuth says.
Issued in December, the RFP was for the development of 50 acres directly on the water in the southern part of the Park City.
“This response was far greater than that received under the old RFP issued in 1997 when we were dealing with only 25 acres,” says city Chief Project Manager Ed Lavernoich.
Each of the following proposals would incorporate the entire parcel:
• Center Development Corp. of New York: A $200 million proposal with 200,000 square feet of office space; a 150-guestroom conference facility with 17 meeting rooms; a pub and a health club; 175,000 square feet of festival/retail space; 475 residential apartments; a 400-slip marina; and a two-acre village green.
• Conroy Development Co. of Greenwich: A $410 million proposal over five to six years with 400 rental units and 250-300 retirement units; a 300-room conference center/hotel; 400,000 square feet of retail/entertainment space; and 500,000 square feet of office space.
• Greenfield Partners, LLC of Norwalk/Westport: A proposal encompassing a retirement community, marina, hotel, conference center, office space, retail space and entertainment space.
• RCI Marine Inc. of Miami: An $860 million proposal over 12 years with 1,060,000 square feet of office space; 1,000 residential units; 148,000 square feet of retail space; an 80,000-square-foot conference center; three hotels housing a total of 345,000 square feet; and a 300-slip marina.
• Solutions Inc. and Spectrum Skanska partnership of New York: A $600 million proposal over five to six years with 1.5 million square feet of office space or 300 luxury retirement units as a substitute for 500,000 square feet of office space; a 300-room hotel/conference center; 1,000 units of rental housing; a waterfront amphitheater; and a 300-slip marina.
City officials say that the Steel Point peninsula parcel is considered “one of the most strategic locations in the largest city in the richest county in the wealthiest state in America.”
Freimuth says that Gov. John G. Rowland “has pledged his continuing support for the project [and] state legislation still exists that would assist financially.”
Lavernoich says a selection committee will decide which, if any, of the five proposals should move forward to the interview stage.
“That's where we ask the hard questions about when the proposed project could be finished and how much city/state support the project would need,” says Lavernoich.
In addition, committee members will be asking how well the mixed-use projects will supply jobs to Bridgeport residents and generate tax revenue for the city and state.
One of the most important criteria the committee will focus on is how consistent the various projects are with the city's plan of development.
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