Ansonia approves Olson Drive land sale to developer

ANSONIA — The city is inching along on making a recreational sports facility at Olson Drive a reality.

The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on Feb. 8 to allow the mayor to negotiate a final contract to sell a land parcel to Primrose Companies, which would purchase the land for $510,000. The company would then invest more than $15.5 million to construct a multi-use sports complex that would include a soccer field and space for an ice rink.

Construction could begin as soon as later this year, pending contract approval. John Guedes, Primrose’s president and CEO said that he hopes construction starts soon.

“We are hoping to get construction going by April or May,” Guedes said.

Corporate Counsel John Marini said the property would fit right in with ongoing revitalization efforts.

“We think this would really be a lightning bolt, right into the heart of our downtown district, private investment with a recreational component that we believe will attract not only tax dollars, but families and be a perfect fit for growing the downtown area,” Cassetti said.

Primrose Companies would construct a 39,000-square-foot indoor soccer field. The field, according to the aldermen, would be large enough to meet FIFA regulations. The complex would also include an indoor ice skating rink.

The ice rink would be 49,000 sq ft in size, and meet NCAA sizing regulations.

The city will offer Primrose a graduated tax incentive program, but the actual terms of that incentive will be finalized later.

“The alderman will agree to a graduated tax incentive yet to be determined,” Marini said.

The resolution authorizing Cassetti to finalize the sale also included provisions that prioritized Ansonia residents’ use of the facilities once the business opened. Mayor David Cassetti said space would be reserved for residents to not only enjoy sports but other activities.

“Part of the deal is to give a discount to the residents of Ansonia for the use of that space, because there also could be other things that we could add there other than soccer, and sports, where we could have bands play and different things,’ Cassetti said.

The property had been in development for years. It was previously occupied by public housing, the last of which was demolished in 2016, and has been vacant ever since.

In 2019, Primrose Companies announced plans to redevelop the site into a sports complex, which the area lacks, Guedes said. However, COVID has also impacted the project he said. “Before COVID, we estimated that the development was going to cost $15.5 million while because of COVID and the supply chain issues, it’s now going to cost us probably close to $17 million,” Guedes said.

The city had previously spent over $5 million to remediate the site. Cassetti said the project would eventually pay for itself in terms of tax revenue.

“We’re probably going to get about $375,000 in revenue a year in taxes,” he said. “After about maybe 10, 12 years, we will have our money back.”