Helping Transform Meriden, CT's Central Business District

(l to r) Cathy Battista, Meriden City Council, Area 4; HUD Hartford Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini; Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty; Brian Daniels, Meriden City Council, Area 3; Elliot White, President & Publisher, Record-Journal; Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati; Liz White, Executive Vice President and Assistant Publisher, Record-Journal; Lilia Kieltyka, Brownfields Coordinator, CT Department of Economic and Community Development; Miguel Castro, Meriden City Council, Area 1.

Lilia Kieltyk (l) of the CT Department of Economic and Community Development with Suzanne Piacentini (r) of HUD's Hartford Field Office.

The city of Meriden recently hosted a demolition ceremony at the former Record-Journal Building, which housed the local Record-Journal daily newspaper for over a century. HUD Hartford Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini joined Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati; Lilia Kieltyk, CT Department of Economic & Community Development; Elliot White, Record Journal; and representatives from Manafort Brothers, Inc. and The Michaels Organization for the ceremony.

The Michaels Organization will develop the site, known as 11 Crown Street, into an 81-unit mixed used development. Sixty-four units are slated for households with incomes up to 60 percent of area median income, including 20 units with Project-Based Section 8 Rental Vouchers, and 17 units under HUD's Supportive Housing Program for homeless individuals and special needs families.

The total development cost is projected at $30.6 million. The City purchased the building in 2014 for $495,000 under HUD's Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. The City was also awarded $1.7 million in CT Department of Economic and Community Development Brownfields Cleanup funds to begin the project, which includes the demolition and site cleanup. The development will also utilize Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

Eleven Crown Street is a transit-oriented development, located near the new high-speed rail station and within walking distance of commercial facilities, a community college and a public library. The development will occur in two phases, including an apartment building facing the Meriden Green and row-style homes bordering South Colony and Crown Streets. Eleven Crown Street represents a key phase in Meriden's goal to transform its central business district by developing 600 new rental housing units and 60,000 square feet of retail space.

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