OTB site floated for redevelopment

Acommercial real estate brokerage firm is soliciting bids on the Bridgeport property leased to the parent company of Winners Shoreline Star, touting it as a major opportunity across Interstate 95 from Steelpointe Harbor — with the city simultaneously drumming up developers for a new, 200-unit apartment complex next door.

Operated since 2011 by the offtrack-betting parlor chain Sportech, Shoreline Star had an earlier run as a dog racing track and before that the locale of Bridgeport Jai Alai. The venue’s creator Robert Zeff explored the potential for a Bridgeport casino in the early 1990s alongside Steve Wynn, at the time Donald Trump considered the city for a gambling resort.

Five years ago, the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos backed a new proposal for the Shoreline Star facility to become a jointly operated satellite gambling hall, with followup proposals over the succeeding years to include the addition of slot machines and a sports book operation. In 2016, the Bridgeport Jai Alai Association, which Bridgeport property records lists today as holding title to the property, asked the city to allow a “waterfront village” designation for future development purposes.

That leaves Sportech’s venue up in the air, with the company having 14 Winners OTB parlors in Connecticut including locations in Hartford, New Haven, Milford, Norwalk and Torrington, not all having reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Kingdom-based company also runs Bobby V’s Restaurant & Sports Bar in Stamford and Windsor Locks.

Ted Taylor, president of Sportech Ventures, indicated the company has not given up on a renewal for the Shoreline Star site. If unsuccessful, Taylor indicated the company would look to move Winners to a new spot in Bridgeport, without specifying potential locations.

Betting parlors have been allowed to operate since mid-July under Connecticut’s third phase of pandemic reopening requirements, with alcohol service allowed if accompanying food. The calendar of major horse races this year was pushed back, with the Kentucky Derby run the first Saturday of September. Taylor indicated Derby day attendance at Winners was half that of the April 2019 installment of the race.

“That’s all been a bit more challenging as a result of (COVID-19) and how it affects the next few months,” Taylor stated in an email response to a query. “Winners (patronage) has been reasonable for the last couple of months as we’ve been able to cope with the different requirements, given our locations are sized to cope with peak volumes on Saturdays — it just means we have room for customers to distance themselves and feel safe.”

The Kossuth Street site is listed for sale through the Stamford office of Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, which describes it as among the largest parcels currently available along Connecticut’s I-95 corridor.

The offering includes the main 17-acre Shoreline Star site, along with another several smaller, noncontiguous properties in the immediate vicinity totaling another 2.5 acres. The properties are within the boundaries of Bridgeport’s designated Opportunity Zone districts, with the federal program allowing developers to claim tax credits covering as much as the full return on investment in any redevelopment.

The city of Bridgeport posted separately in early October a redevelopment opportunity for what it calls “River’s Edge East” squeezed on a narrow parcel between Shoreline Star and the Stratford Avenue bridge, with the goal of better connecting Steelpointe to downtown.

The city wants the site dominated by a pair of apartment buildings with up to 200 units total, and a restaurant “of significant size” in its words that can accommodate plenty of outdoor seating and adjacent storefronts. Proposals are due by mid-December.

Bridgeport’s head economic development official Tom Gill forwarded a query to a city representative who did not offer immediate comment Thursday on any details for the redevelopment of River’s Edge East, and any competing interest for the Shoreline Star property among developers.

On the opposite side of I-95, the 50-acre Steelepoint Harbor development has seen only patchwork additions over the past several years, to include Bass Pro Shops; a waterside marina and restaurant; and a retail plaza that includes Chipotle Mexican Grill and Starbucks.