A dozen ugly buildings along Bridgeport”™s waterfront have long been emblematic of the city”™s hardscrabble existence and mismanagement by politicians over the decades.
For anyone who has traveled along Interstate 95, the view of the harbor was less then memorable. But today, as traffic slows on the highway, travelers can see construction vehicles as workers begin creating the infrastructure for the 50-acre, mixed use development known as Steelpointe Harbor.
“It will be a dramatic improvement for Bridgeport,” Mayor Bill Finch said. “It”™s going to generate millions of trips to the city we don”™t currently have, revitalize the waterfront and change our skyline.”
The project is expected to cost developers hundreds of millions of dollars and bring in up to two dozen new retailers and restaurants to Bridgeport.
“It”™s a very exciting and visionary plan that”™s taken quite some time to get going,” Finch said. “It”™s got a tremendous amount of upside for the city of Bridgeport.”
More than 20 years ago, city officials designated the site as a waterfront development project and have since spent more than $50 million preparing and cleaning the land.
The site is across the harbor from downtown Bridgeport along Stratford Avenue.
Using an $11 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, the city has now begun construction on critical infrastructure, burying utilities, fixing the land”™s sewer system and building roads.
The grant is the largest in the city”™s history and is designed to help modernize the road system by including pedestrian and bike-friendly designs with easy access to public transportation.
Like many coastal cities, Bridgeport”™s waterfront was previously reserved for industrial use, but has since become an in-demand public asset. As a result, the harbor development will include a 75-foot-long promenade with 24-hour public access.
Finch said people will be given a new perspective on the city once they”™re able to get to the waterfront.
“We have a beautiful water view,” Finch said. “When you”™re there and you look back at the city you have a completely different feeling. It changes your perspective.”
After pursuing the project for 12 years, developer Robert Christoph said he was happy to see his company, RCI Marine Inc., selected as the project developer.
Based in Miami Beach, Christoph and his son Robert Christoph Jr. have worked on a number of major waterfront projects, including the revitalization of Miami Beach in the mid-1980s.
“We have a long history of taking underperforming areas and rehabilitating and realigning them,” Christoph said. “I think it will be a wonderful destination as a place to live, place to shop (and) place to be entertained.”
So far Bass Pro Shops is the only retailer to sign on as a tenant and is currently in the process of applying for tax increment financing (TIF) with the state. If approved, the store”™s management will essentially be able to use tax credits to help develop its property.
Once the company”™s TIF application is finalized, Christoph said he anticipates making more announcements regarding retailers moving to the location by the end of the year. Christoph said he expects up to 10 restaurants and 14 retailers to occupy the more than 2.8 million square feet available. Additionally, two major hotels and a couple residential developers are considering developing property on the site, Christoph said.
“The key component is developing the anchor tenants,” Christoph said. “It sets the stage and tone for what a project will ultimately be and become.”
Bass Pro Shop, which is expected to draw in customers from New Jersey and New York, is expected to open within a year.
