GROTON OKs TAX STABILIZATION DEAL WITH DEVELOPER

Groton — The Town Council on Tuesday approved a tax stabilization agreement with an affordable-housing developer that plans to buy and upgrade Branford Manor, a 442-unit federally subsidized housing development.

Related Affordable, a subsidiary of Related Companies in New York City, is under contract to buy the development from owner Branford Manor Associates. The new company plans to invest $18.5 million to improve the complex in Groton City and build a community center.

The agreement lists how much the company would pay in property taxes for the next 20 years. Taxes would be paid twice a year and would increase by about 3 percent annually under the agreement.

Under the first year of the agreement, Related Affordable would pay $223,041 in taxes on July 1 and $148,694 on Jan. 1, 2018. In the last year of the agreement, the company would pay $391,104 in July 2036 and $260,736 in January 2037.

AgroSci said in a news release that the living wall’s plants are “set against a steel and concrete wall” in the hotel lobby in the so-called Dumbo neighborhood. The wall was designed by Harrison Green, who has a New York City landscape design firm.

“Harrison Green approached AgroSci with a unique concept, and we jointly turned the idea into reality,” said AgroSci CEO Chris Pianta in a statement. “Their design succeeds brilliantly in bringing nature indoors, in line with 1 Hotel’s eco-theme.”

AgroSci also installed a three-story green wall on the façade of 1 Hotel Central Park at 1414 Sixth Ave. in midtown Manhattan and did the façade green walls at 1 Hotel South Beach and a living wall in the property’s ballroom.

AgroSci uses a patented Aerogation air-purifying system to deliver air directly into root systems, helping plants reduce air impurities and break down chemicals.