Lauretti: Mas property could house ‘national name brand’ companies

SHELTON — The cityowned Mas property could become a manufacturing corporate park — and extending Constitution Boulevard North is the key to making it a reality.

Mayor Mark Lauretti at a joint meeting of the Planning and Zoning and Inland Wetlands commissions earlier this month presented concepts for developing the nearly 70acre parcel near Bridgeport Avenue, with plans that included extending Constitution Boulevard to reach Shelton Avenue/Route 108.

The Mas property extends about halfway to Route 108 from Bridgeport Avenue, and the city has secured the rights-of-way for the rest, he said.

“The hour is now,” Lauretti said. “The economic cycle comes once every 10, 15 years, and if you miss it, you will be left behind. When people are ready to put their oar in the water, we have to be ready as well.”

Lauretti said he called the joint meeting to “open a dialogue” with both commissions, since the city would need a zone change before any work could be done on the site.

Members of both commissions sought assurance that the development would not adversely affect the surrounding residential neighborhoods. To that, Lauretti asked that both commissions rewatch a drone flyover of the area, which shows how the city melds residential with similar developments.

“The vision is great ... I love it,” P&Z Commissioner Mark Widomski said.

The Mas property was the city’s first Planned Development District in the 1980s, but the designation has expired. Lauretti said a new zone change request would call for the property to move to light industrial or another similar zone. Much of the land is zoned residential.

“There has been significant interest from light industrial (operations) over the past nine months,” Lauretti said. “These are some national name brands.”

Lauretti said one major manufacturer — whose name he would not give because negotiations are ongoing — is seeking a 270,000-square-foot building on the property.

While negotiating with the company, Lauretti said he has since been approached by two other companies each eyeing 100,000-square-foot buildings.

“We have a significant number of companies from Connecticut and New York looking to relocate here,” Lauretti said. “They are seeking to consolidate and bring their headquarters here. They want to be in Shelton, for many reasons.”

The companies, according to Lauretti, are major manufacturers, which would also distribute their products from the location.

“This is all contingent on getting access and the road constructed … that will not be a small task,” Lauretti said. “But I think at this point — I think the economic viability for this type of use is now there. The uses in the whole area would be consistent … it would become a manufacturing corporate park.”