BY DIRK PERREFORT
Hearst Connecticut Media
Projects including commercial and housing developments along the Federal Road corridor have given Brookfield the fastest-growing grand list ”“ a measure of the value of taxable property ”“ in the Danbury region.
According to a recent analysis conducted by The News-Times, Brookfield had the highest percentage increase in its grand list growth during the past three years in both the housing and commercial sectors. Much of that growth, according Hal Kurfehs, chairman of the Brookfield Economic Development Commission, was fueled by development along Federal Road, including a new BJ”™s Wholesale Club and a revamped Costco that now includes a gas station.
“We call the Federal Road area the ”˜Miracle Mile,”™ but we are trying to redefine it as the ”˜Miracle 2-Mile”™ by pushing development further up the line,” Kurfehs said. “There is still a lot of potential for additional projects as the area gets stronger. The growth of the area will only attract additional growth and investment.”
- George Zachariah, of Danbury, fills his car at the Costco gas station on Federal Road in Brookfield in 2012. Photo by Carol Kaliff
Brookfield”™s residential grand list rose more than 5 percent and the town saw a 3 percent increase in the commercial segment, which Kurfehs said likely resulted from several projects completed in recent years including the Riverview development as well as Newbury Village, a townhome development for people aged 55 or over. Both developments are on Federal Road. Townhomes at the village were listed at more than $489,000 when they were completed in 2012.
New Milford placed last in the five-town analysis, with neither the residential or commercial sector growing more than 1 percent from October 2012 to October 2014.
“While the town of New Milford experienced some rapid growth from 2000 through 2009, we were hit hard by the recession and we”™re still seeing some of the effects from that,” said Luigi Fulinello, New Milford”™s economic development director. “We certainly want to see more significant growth and we are working towards that.”
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton noted that while the grand list in Danbury hasn”™t been phenomenal in recent years, with an average of 1 or 2 percent annual increase, he said the investments made in the city have been bigger than in the surrounding towns.
While Danbury”™s commercial tax base grew by about 2 percent in the past three years, it resulted from a net increase in the commercial grand list of more than $40 million. The 3 percent increase in Brookfied”™s commercial sector amounts to a near $10 million increase in the grand list.
“It”™s all relative,” Boughton said, adding that activity has been heating up in the city in recent months. “There is no question things have been busy this year. We led the state in issuing housing permits in May.”
The gain in permits, he said, was fueled in part by the $80 million luxury housing complex started earlier this year on Main Street by Greystar, a national developer of rental housing units. The Kennedy Flats project in downtown Danbury calls for 375 apartments set to go online early next year.
Besides the housing, Belimo Air Controls recently completed a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on the west side of the city that will also appear on upcoming grand lists.
“We expect to have a good year,” Boughton said.
Kurfehs noted that Brookfield also has some significant projects on tap, including redevelopment efforts along the Four Corners, an area that officials hope to transform into a town center. Also on tap is a new development near the Four Corners that calls for more than 70 units as well as 22,000 square feet of retail space.
“If we can keep the Four Corners projects moving forward then we should have another good year,” Kurfehs said.
Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News-Times (Danbury). See newstimes.com for more from this reporter.
