BRIDGEPORT – City officials, East End neighborhood advocates and developers Wednesday marked yet another phase in the redevelopment of Steelpointe Harbor as they broke ground on a development on Seaview Avenue that will include a gas station, Dunkin shop, car wash and sandwich shop.
The $10 million waterfront project, which will abut the large Steelpointe Harbor development, is expected to be completed within nine months, according to developer Robert Christoph Jr., president and found of RCI Group in Bridgeport. With this project, Steelpointe Harbor will have the already built Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World and The Lighthouse (includes Boca Oyster Bar), a Starbucks, Chipotle, Bridgeport Harbor Marina and the yet-to-be built affordable housing apartment building The August, and a 135-room hotel.
The Seaview Avenue development will be located right next to I-95 and will cover more than 2 acres of property, according to Christoph. It is expected to generate at least 100 jobs, according to Mayor Joe Ganim.
“This is one that was really generated from the ground up, the council leadership, the community and the commitment to make sure we not only have Bridgeport jobs, neighborhood jobs as part of it,” Ganim said.
False starts and now progress
While the larger Steelpointe Harbor project has gotten most of the attention over the last decade, this smaller project came together over the past two years after many years of false starts.
“It’s a lesson for all of us that it took hard work,” Dr. Ralph Ford, a former city councilman and a board member of the Seaview Community Development Corp. “It took patience. It took time. But most importantly it took motivation and foresight that this community was able to bring this project to fruition.”
Fighting for local labor
At the ground breaking he mentioned how the site had laid dormant for about two decades after a steel factory left the city.
“Today is a very special day,” Ford said. “About 30 something years ago I was a city councilman and I remember when there was a huge steel factory here. They said that in order for us to stay in the city we have to expand our parking lot across the street. They (only) stayed here about seven years.
“I protested at the council meeting then that in the development agreement there was no rescission clause. So, if the factory left that land would be in the hands of whoever owned it at that time. When the factory left, this particular lot on Seaview Avenue lay vacant for 20 something years.”
Ford said he was proud when the neighborhood had banded together earlier to turn what would have been a parking lot for American Tube and Stamping into houses that include the home of the city Planning and Zoning Commission Soledad Nunez.
“I’m so happy,” Nunez said. “It’s been a long time. We have heard so many people say they would come in and do something. And seeing it happen is very emotional. I’m excited.”
So, as part of the work being done by Christoph and his partner Nurul Alam, Ford and city officials present at the ground breaking called for an agreement to include local skilled laborers on the site.
They wanted to avoid what had happened at the development of The August at Steelpointe Harbor nearby. Earlier this month union members rallied at the site calling for KBE Building Corp. to stop undercutting them with non-union workers from out of state.
Nearly 300 members of union carpenters working on building the $190 million, 420-unit apartments known as The August gathered on East Main Street in front of The August construction site to give that message.
The August at Steelpointe Harbor project in has a total cost of around $200 million. The upscale community includes a 465,633-square-foot, multi-story, wood-framed building providing four stories of 420 luxury residences, set above street-level retail and restaurant space.
Taking matters into their own hands
As for finding tenants to fill the Seaview Avenue development, Christoph admits it wasn’t so easy. Two of the four tenants will be Steelpointe-branded (the Express gas station and convenience shop and the car wash).
“We invited a bunch of car wash companies to come, but they turned us down,” Christoph said. “So, we decided to do it ourselves. If we waited, nothing would have happened. But we have learned that if you build it, they will come.”
