The price tag for cleaning up contaminants at a former factory site in Southington could cost at least five times more than earlier estimates suggested. The Town Council recently approved a tax abatement plan to help a potential buyer handle the cost.
The 14-acre site at 217 Center St. was once home to the Ideal Forging plant and is a key property in town. GR Realty Associates, a Branford company, has an agreement to buy the property from Meridian Development Partners.
Meridian had launched a development plan, the Greenway Commons project, for this downtown location. When this didn’t materialize, the next plan was to sell the land. But GR Realty wants to buy and also take on the project, moving ahead with town-approved plans for nearly 250 condominiums and apartments on the property as well as retail space.
Issues at the site include lead, oil and PCB contamination, according to Michael Massimino, who represents GR Realty. He said it’s likely that oil is leaking from an underground tank yet to be located.
As reported by the Record-Journal, Massimino said the tax abatement was crucial to making the cleanup affordable. His company has studied the site and estimates between $10 million to $13 million worth of environmental work.
He was initially told that cleanup might total $2 million. Meridian got more than $3 million in a state loan for environmental remediation and GR Realty would inherit the loan.
“I’m just tired of driving by and looking at that eyesore,” said Michael DelSanto, a Town Council member and former Planning and Zoning Commission chairman.
The deal with GR Realty might be the town’s “last chance” to develop the property, he said.
With the abatement plan, the purchase could close by early April, Massimino said.
Bill Dziedzic, a town councilor, said the scope of the contamination led him to support the tax abatement for Greenway Commons, however he noted that not every piece of property that requires environmental cleanup should receive that break.
It’s unfortunate and concerning that initial estimates on cleanup were so far off target.
The council had little choice in making the decision to approve the abatement. Finding another developer for a project this complex could mean a long wait. The cost of cleanup isn’t going to get cheaper and it has to be done for this property to be in any way viable.
But, as Dziedzic said, the town can’t just hand out abatements for environmental cleanups. Property sellers and buyers involving big development projects must practice due diligence and get a realistic understanding of the challenges and costs.
