Revised POKO project gets to move ahead
Wall Street Place plan receives unanimous approval from Norwalk’s Planning Committee
NORWALK — Construction on the controversial POKO project could soon get restarted.
One year after revisions were requested, the Wall Street Place project received unanimous approval Thursday night from the city’s Planning Committee of the Common Council.
The revised project, which has been stalled for years and at the center of debate in the Wall Street neighborhood, will now move to the full Common Council for consideration.
“We’ve made lemonade out of lemons,” said John Kydes, chairman of the Planning Committee who praised the developers for their changes to the project at 61 Wall St., at the corner of Isaac Street.
“I know there are going to be a lot of folks who are really busy on Facebook
right now saying otherwise … but this is more than I imagined,” he said.
After POKO-IWSR Developers LLC started construction in 2015, the project stalled and the property was eventually sold to Municipal Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Citibank, N.A.
“This was and is a mess in terms of a real estate development,” said William Hennessy, attorney for JHM Financial Group, which is developing the property on behalf of Municipal Holdings.
The plan includes more than 175,000-square feet of residential space in the two adjacent buildings, along with close to 20,000-square feet of retail space, as well as on-site parking.
“We took away from the public hearing last year that there were certain concerns about that plan that we should step back and think about,” Hennessy said.
Concerns were previously raised about the breakdown of affordable housing at the property — including an ample number of marketvalue units. There were also issues with the outer appearance of the building in relation to older neighboring structures, as well as to its general relevance in the area that many people hoped would become an art-centered neighborhood.
“We took to heart what everyone had to say about the development,” said Todd McClutchy, principal with JHM Financial.
The latest plan includes two adjacent buildings, housing a total of 151 units, with 50 at market value, 35 for those qualified as making 80 percent of the area median income, 32 for those qualified at 60 percent AMI, and 34 at 40 percent.
The developer has also offered a 900-square-foot office space to the Norwalk Arts Commission for the use of its choosing for the first five years.
“I think that this is a unique opportunity for the city to have a real arts district for the first time,” said Peter Smyth, vice chairman of the arts commission.
“It’ll be a central meeting point for creatives of all types,” he said, serving as a multi-use facility that could include film screenings, poetry readings, gallery shows and more.
“I think this is a fantastic opportunity for the city … and I really would like to thank the developer for stepping up and helping the city achieve something really fantastic,” he said.
Todd Bryant, president of the Norwalk Preservation Trust, also gave his approval following changes to the plans that his group had helped negotiate.
“It took three meetings and it took a little bit of arm wrestling, but the current proposal is substantially better than the original one,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s the best we could possibly do, but it’s hugely better.”
Two members of the public spoke in opposition to the project, including real estate developer Jason Milligan, who is being sued by the city regarding property purchases he has made in the area.
“We deserve answers to some basic questions,” he said, including what other alternatives have been considered.
He and others raised the issue of $4.4 million in city subsidy earmarked for infrastructure work related to the project, as well as tax benefits the developers will receive.
“The losers here are the taxpayers,” resident Donna Smirniotopoulos said. “We are going to be subsidizing this.”
Council member Tom Livingston raised concerns that some of the language that had been agreed upon was not updated in the amended plan they were reviewing.
City attorney Mario Coppola said those revisions, at Livingston’s suggestion, were already done, but he hadn’t provided the committee with the updates before the meeting.
“I don’t see how we can move this forward. … I’m very concerned that we don’t have this language in front of us this evening,” member Lisa Shanahan said.
But Coppola said this has been common practice, since revisions are not finalized until after it passes committee, noting they would be in place when the matter is discussed before the full Common Council.
“So, in fact, the developer has agreed, Tom, to the language you’ve suggested,” Coppola said.
Adam Bovilsky, executive director of the Norwalk Housing Authority, also spoke in favor of this plan.
“The need for affordable housing in Norwalk is tremendous and greatly outstrips any supply that we have,” he said, noting that almost one-third of all Norwalk households earn less than $50,000 annually.
“I urge you strongly to support this project,” he said.