Developer moves to Bridgeport’s East End to signal revitalization
Contractor Anthony Stewart grew up in the neighborhood, and now his construction company calls it home
BRIDGEPORT — Contractor Anthony Stewart spent much of his childhood in the East End before life and work took him out of town and out of state, even for a time to South America, Africa, Europe and Japan.
This week, Stewart was back where it all started, cutting a ribbon on a new Stratford Avenue building that will house his Ashlar Construction firm until it can permanently relocate to the Honey Locust Square the developer is erecting two blocks away.
“I wanted to be located on Stratford Avenue and (in) the community I’m making such an investment in,” Stewart said in an interview Friday. “I feel it’s a game-changer. People see me everyday. I walk up and down the street, buy from local restaurants. I feel happy about it.”
Stewart has not exactly been a stranger to the East End in recent years. Though Ashlar was previously headquartered downtown, Stewart’s company was selected by the city in late summer 2018 to take on the long-promised “Civic Block” redevelopment of a run-down section of Stratford Avenue between Central and Newfield avenues, since dubbed Honey Locust Square.
The firm also built the soon-to-open Newfield Avenue public library.
But Stewart is aware of the impatience some in the East End feel regarding the slower-than-anticipated progress at the Civic Block, which he has attributed to a lengthy environmental clean-up, work stoppages from the COVID-19 pandemic and also, more recently, the rising costs of building materials.
In April he said he hoped to open portions of the project before June, 2022. On Friday that had changed to “sometime late summer, early fall of next year.”
So having his office nearby, Stewart hopes, will put any lingering doubts to rest about his commitment to the area.
“We did what we said we were gonna do,” Stewart said.
The just-opened structure at 1376 Stratford Ave. where Wednesday’s ribbon cutting occurred contains four apartments and also offices for Alliance for Community Empowerment, an anti-poverty nonprofit.
“I’m so proud to share this moment with you all,” Sharon Skyers-Jenkins, Alliance’s board chairperson, told the crowd Wednesday. “It’s a moment that embodies what we do at Alliance to help make an impact and effectuate change in families.”
She continued, “I’m excited and grateful that we can partner with our homegrown developer, Mr. Anthony Stewart. He’s the embodiment of what Bridgeport is about and that’s to put your money where your mouth is and to help effectuate change, housing and development, especially in areas where they’ve been underserved.”
Born in Georgia, Stewart’s family moved to Bridgeport in 1962 when he was a baby and lived in the East End until he was 14 when they relocated to Shelton. After a career, mostly in construction, that found him working elsewhere in Connecticut, overseas, and then in New York City, he founded Ashlar in 2014, moved the business to Cheshire, then, in 2016, to downtown Bridgeport.
At a 2018 ceremony announcing Ashlar’s selection for the Civic Block, Stewart had said the project “is going to be a catalyst for other development in the East End, and if we have our way we are going to make sure it acts as a catalyst and other developments happen.”
Stewart said Friday he was proud to have Alliance as a tenant.
“They offer a lot of community services, energy assistance, rent assistance,” he said. “They do a lot to help.”
Besides Ashlar’s future headquarters, Honey Locust Square just down the street will support a longawaited East End grocery store and additional retail/ restaurant/office space.
“It’s not going as fast as I’d like it to go,” Stewart said Friday. “The pandemic has skyrocketed my costs. And part of my issue is to try and keep negotiating to get better deals on things to be able to still do what I want to do.”
For example, he said the still-to-be-erected steel framework was originally going to cost $600,000 but now stands at $800,000.
Overall what was a $9.6 million construction job is “approaching $10.6 million,” Stewart said. “People who don’t do it look and say, ‘It’s going slow.’ They don’t know how it works. It’s hard. This is really hard.”
Councilwoman Eneida Martinez represents the East End and attended Wednesday’s event. She praised Stewart and, acknowledging some of the setbacks Honey Locust has faced, said, “We have to be patient and give him time.”
“We’re very appreciative — ecstatic — about him being able to develop in the East End and more so to have his office right there,” Martinez said. “We do see progression. Yes, it’s been slow (but) I think the ribbon cutting is a step into what we have coming.”