City seeks to raze developer’s buildings
BRIDGEPORT — Three years ago this summer, state and local officials, including the governor, joined developer Gary Flocco at a ground breaking for the next phase of his revitalization of blighted factory buildings along Cherry Street.
He had previously built 158 apartments there, branded Cherry Street Lofts, which opened in 2018, plus a charter school and was supposed to add another 133 housing units. Gov. Ned Lamont said at that July, 2021 press conference Flocco’s project was an example of how “hot” Connecticut’s largest city had become. Mayor Joseph Ganim called it “transformative.”
And then the work stalled. Now come this July Flocco’s buildings at 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave. may be rubble. They have been condemned. And city officials are preparing to spend $10 million to tear the lingering eyesores down unless Flocco moves forward soon.
“It’s bad,” Tom Gill, Bridgeport’s economic development director, said Thursday to City Council members, describing the condition of the remaining structures. He added, “When you let them go like this, they only get worse.”
But Flocco in an interview Friday insisted he remains committed to the redevelopment and could be just weeks away from solving the financing issues that have held him up.
“We’re not in agreement that the buildings need to come down,” he said, adding later, “We restore, and that’s the final piece of that square block of development and will be the nicest of all. The architecture is just really beautiful.”
He said it would be “a sin” for Bridgeport to demolish the buildings.
“They just have beautiful character to them and we have really nice plans for them,” he said.
The status of the next phase of Cherry Street Lofts came up Thursday while Gill and his deputy director, William Coleman,
with members of the council’s budget committee, which is crafting a 2024-25 fiscal plan for the city and interviewing various department chiefs.
Gill and Coleman confirmed they need to spend $10 million to knock down Flocco’s property because a recent municipal inspection concluded the buildings are a hazard and the developer does not appear able to either restore or remove them anytime soon. As a result, they pose a liability for Bridgeport should the city fail to act and someone gets injured there.
“We’re really just trying to react to a public safety threat,” said Coleman.
Some council members expressed concern about taxpayers covering what should be the the developer’s responsibility.
“It is a big number,” said Council President Aidee Nieves, arguing Bridgeport would essentially be “rescuing” Flocco.
“How do we recoup that money?” asked Councilman Alfredo Castillo. “This guy could say, ‘Thank you, I’m out of here.’ ”
Gill and Coleman said there are ways to try to get the funds back, but acknowledged those might not be successful. They also denied they were pursuing demolition as a tactic to force Flocco to finally move forward with construction of the additional 133 apartments.
“This is more than us trying to get the attention of the developer,” Gill said. “This is a serious problem that’s there.”
Scott Burns, a budget committee chairman, added that on top of spending $10 million the city will lose out on the prospective permitting fees and taxes associated with the construction and completion of the next phase of Flocco’s vision for Cherry Street.
How did Flocco get in this situation? On Friday he blamed pending lawsuits alleging unpaid bills filed in 2019 against his company by an architect for the Cherry Street Lofts. Flocco said that has prevented him from obtaining several million federal and state dollars the project was previously awarded.
He said efforts to mediate the court dispute were unsuccessful. And according to the state judicial branch’s website, the lawsuits are not scheduled for trial until September, 2026.
“In the meantime the property has fallen into disrepair,” Flocco acknowledged. But he believes much of it remains salvageable and is hopeful of soon finding a financial workaround with a lender.
“Then we’d be able to move forward,” Flocco said. “We are awaiting a term sheet from that bank.”
He added that the city was aware of this and is “certainly willing to work with us.”
Such details were not discussed at Thursday’s budget committee meeting. However Gill and Coleman did express that there are “a lot of contingencies that have to come into play” for Flocco to finally
begin construction, and work was not expected to start in the near term.
“I hate the fact this is happening with Cherry Street Lofts,” Nieves said. The project was first proposed under former Mayor Bill Finch, then continued after current Mayor Joe Ganim’s election in 2015. Flocco has generally been embraced and lauded by city officials as a developer who recognized the city’s potential and was willing to take a chance here.
Besides the architect’s lawsuits, Flocco since late 2019 has also been battling one brought by a former business partner, court records show. That trial is scheduled for July, 2025, but Flocco believes the parties are “very close” to a settlement.
Flocco reiterated Friday that he has faith he can still move forward with the next phase of Cherry Street Lofts and save the remaining condemned buildings.
“We have no intention to walk away if we can get this thing done,” he said. “It’s certainly not our intention to make the city spend any money on our behalf . ... At the end of the day the city’s not going to have to spend one penny. I’m 95 percent sure of that.”