This story was updated with new quotes on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
BRIDGEPORT – A private developer will oversee the state-financed redevelopment of the decommissioned PSEG coal power plant at 1 Atlantic St., Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday.
The site is slated to become a residential/commercial mixed-use development after the property was transferred to the Baldwinsville, New York,-based developer Bridgeport Station Development LLC.
Chad Parks, a principal of the developer, announced that work on the demolition of the plant will begin immediately. He expects that phase to take three years.
“We at Bridgeport Station Development (are ready) to abate, demolish and redevelop this property,” Parks said at a press conference at the power plant Tuesday. “Work will begin this week and while a lot of the activity will be inside, you will start to see a skyline change in the coming months with ongoing demolition.”
As part of an agreement reached with Lamont’s administration, the developer on Nov. 15 Bridgeport 1-4 LLC conveyed the plant property to Bridgeport Station Development, which plans to demolish the building and construct a residential/commercial mixed-use project there.
“We are grateful to PSEG, the State of Connecticut, and the City of Bridgeport for entrusting us with the opportunity to transform this expansive waterfront property into a thriving community asset,” Parks said.
“I can say definitively that without the Community Investment Funding from the state the property would have sat dormant for possibly many years instead of us all being here today,” he added. “PSEG’s team has tried to find a path for our team to acquire the site, which is a very complex property. Through a sometimes exhaustive process, PSEG continually had the community in mind to assure not only proper cleanup but also repurposing in line with the community’s vision.”
While the sale price of the distressed property may only show up as $1, the total property value is listed on Bridgeport’s rolls as $9.26 million. It is assessed at $6.48 million. It was last transferred from PSEG Power Connecticut LLC to Bridgeport Harbor 1-4 LLC in 2022, after it was already decommissioned.
What comes with the property transfer is a transfer of liability, according to Matthew Pugliese, deputy commissioner and CFO of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
“Under the transfer act, the owner has liability for clean-up of the site and any other risks that come with. PSEG is shifting all of that on to Chad’s team. That’s what the Community Investment Fund grant was doing. It becomes the leverage to bring PSEG to the table and find someone. The act had a lot to do with the transfer.”
The state, through the Community Investment Fund, is providing $22.5 million for the demolition and remediation of the contaminated plant. The fund is a statewide program created to foster economic development in historically underserved communities. It is overseen by a 21-member board and administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
Lamont, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and state legislative and agency leaders stood in front of the iconic 500-foot smoke stack Tuesday at the former PSEG plant across from Steelepointe Harbor that includes Bass Pro Shops.
“This 33-acre shoreline property containing a former coal plant with a 500-foot smokestack has cut off access to the waterfront for Bridgeport residents for more than 70 years, and the contamination it has left behind has caused a significant hurdle in how this land could possibly be redeveloped and brought back into productive use to the benefit of the community,” Lamont said. “Mayor Ganim and his team were relentless about this project, I said you had us at hello. I look around this harbor and see what it will be like in five years” (as he pointed across to Steelepoint).
Ganim, a longtime Bridgeport resident, was delighted to see some progress on the former electric generation plant.
“The notable framing of this site is the final closure of the last coal-burning plant, I think, in Connecticut and in New England and transitioned to a much cleaner source,” the mayor said. “It is not just a visual site; it produces jobs, tax benefits, accentuates the waterfront and really is a part and a jewel of Bridgeport’s redevelopment.”
Rep. Antonio Felipe of Bridgeport, a leader on the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, has been a lifelong resident of the city. He spoke to the effect the coal-burning plant had on nearby residents, including his family.
“We can talk a lot about the air quality and the asthma that our family members had stemming from the coal plant,” Felipe said. “But there was also the amount of TLC that was lacking in the South End when you pass Park Avenue and the train tracks. Now, you have Steelepoint across the way, the amphitheater behind us and this site right here. We want to continue to make Bridgeport the entertainment capital.”
The plant, previously known as the Bridgeport Harbor Station, opened in the 1950s and provided energy to southwestern Connecticut factories and businesses. After subsequent changes in ownership, PSEG Power Connecticut purchased the property in 2002 but it ceased operations in 2021. The plant has sat vacant since and has been a source of blight and stifled investment in the neighborhood.
For decades, Bridgeport Harbor Station was an invaluable power generator for the City of Bridgeport and surrounding areas. In 1968, the station burned both coal and oil for power generation, and in 2002 it was converted to exclusively burn coal, producing 400 megawatts of power during periods of peak power demand. During the lifetime of the coal plant, approximately 1 million tons of coal was burned. In 2019, a high-efficiency natural gas fired 485-megawatt power plant went online, ceasing coal combustion and allowing PSEG to move to a cleaner source of fuel for power generation.
“The cleanup and redevelopment of polluted sites like this one is a top priority for DEEP and is key to driving well-placed economic development in Connecticut,” said Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes. “This significant investment in Bridgeport to demolish this former power plant will allow the public to access nearly 2,000 feet of shoreline along Bridgeport Harbor.”
While the specific end use of the property is not known at this time, its redevelopment will be guided by state requirements that it be repurposed for residential, commercial, water-focused access, or recreational purposes. The project is also subject to local and state approval and permitting processes.
