Danbury is notching investment successes totaling some $100 million and its new downtown director sees the momentum feeding future successes.
According to the Chicago-based National Main Street Center ”” a 35-year-old development and preservation group ”” and embraced by the city of Danbury”™s new CityCenter initiative”™s Executive Director P.J. Prunty, “There”™s a revival of the need for Main Streets as more and more ”˜urban enthusiasts”™ are reclaiming, preserving and enlivening their often forgotten downtowns, creating places in which to work, live, learn and play.”
- Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, left, and the City Center Executive Director PJ Prunty, far right, help open La Mitad del Mundo restaurant.
City officials said of Prunty, “Simply stroll with him down Danbury”™s Main Street, where he spent much of his life growing up and he”™ll proudly show off what”™s happening here and now.”
“Downtown Danbury is beginning to see a direct economic impact as a result of the near $100 million of investments ranging from the north end of Main Street to the south end,” Prunty said. “Local businesses are beginning to see the opportunities to either relocate their existing business, or invest in new startups on Main Street.”
Recent regional boosts have come from the expansion of Naugatuck Valley Community College and the soon-to-be-opened Kennedy Flats apartment complex on Kennedy Avenue, plus lesser-publicized efforts like La Mitad del Mundo, a popular spot for lunch on West Street that has relocated, along with its Ecuadorian fare, to a larger space at the corner of Main Street and Post Office Walk. Brasilia”™s Boutique, featuring women”™s clothing from the best of Brazilian labels, has moved from the Danbury Fair Mall to Main Street and turned an empty storefront into what the city calls “a top-notch, elegant emporium.” There is also Hat City Clothing on Ives Street, which the city said “has begun a rebirth of Ives Street with its Danbury-inspired line of leisure wear.”
Prunty said, “It”™s evident the market in downtown Danbury presents a prime opportunity for local investors to get in on the ground floor and build on the positive momentum here on Main Street. With up to 1,000 new residents in the near future with disposable income calling our downtown home ”” and more sure to come ”” there is certainly no better time to invest in downtown Danbury.
“I foresee a ”˜positive domino effect”™ throughout downtown Danbury in the very near future,” Prunty said. “This will be seen after one success follows another, whether it be a new restaurant opening its doors or a new mom-and-pop store relocating to downtown or a significant investment in commercial property. The evidence of this already occurring is clearly visible. Let”™s keep our foot on the accelerator.”
CityCenter Danbury is a nonprofit “that works to meet, sustain and surpass the four principals of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring under the National Main Street program.
CityCenter is only one of five downtown improvement districts in Connecticut recognized by the Connecticut Main Street Center and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
CityCenter Danbury”™s offices are at 268 Main St. and the phone is 203-792-1711.
