Fort Trumbull Municipal Development Project
Commercial Development Opportunities including:
Hotel/Conference Center
Office and Research Facilities
New London Development Corporation
requests statements of interest from prospective developers
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 THE NLDC
New London Development Corporation is a community-based, not for profit organization, with a principal place of business at 165 State Street in New London, Connecticut. The NLDC is soliciting interest from individuals and/or firms that wish to participate in the development of the Fort Trumbull District of New London.
1.2 OVERVIEW
The City of New London, as the civic and cultural center of the southeastern Connecticut region, has seen a remarkable investment in business, infrastructure and public space during the last decade. These developments include the 790,000 square foot Electric Boat (Division of General Dynamics) Engineering Facility in New London; Fort Trumbull State Park and Museum; the Downtown Waterfront Park; a new terminal for the Fishers Island Ferry; new downtown residential development including high-end condominiums and rental; the reconstruction and expansion of the State Pier cargo terminal, and numerous smaller projects that, in the aggregate, represent a significant and substantial investment in the City. Recently completed in the Fort Trumbull District is One Chelsea Street, a 88,000 square foot office/research facility that houses the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center. These projects have resulted in an investment of approximately $500 million in New London in the past decade.
Currently under development at Fort Trumbull is a waterview townhouse condominium neighborhood. A development agreement was signed by NLDC in November 2010 with River Bank Construction of Westport, CT.
New London Development Corporation has been pleased to work with the City to attract many of the recent projects to New London. The NLDC is the City’s agent for the public investment in site preparation and new streets and infrastructure in the Fort Trumbull District, which has been nearly completed.
NLDC is now seeking qualified developer(s) for projects that will complement and support the ongoing redevelopment and revitalization of the Fort Trumbull district of New London, as well as the nearby downtown. These projects include a quality waterfront hotel, recreational amenities, an office/research cluster sites, and a mixed used development adjacent to Fort Trumbull State Park.
NLDC and the City will together evaluate developer interest that will focus heavily on the depth of the respondent’s track record on relevant projects and its ability to:
• Work cooperatively with the NLDC, its staff and Design Review Process;
• Perform on time, on budget and on goal;
• Adhere to the plan of development, in terms of program, design criteria, and other factors;
• Invest equity in each project developed;
• Provide substantial guarantees and penalties for non-performance; and
• Market and lease similar projects in both type and scale.
1.3 PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
The NLDC is a community-based, not-for-profit corporation. Michael Joplin, is President. John Brooks is Executive Director.
The City of New London is governed by a City Council / City Manager form of government. The Mayor is Wade Hyslop and the City Manager is Martin Berliner.
The Fort Trumbull Municipal Development Plan (“MDP”) was prepared for the NLDC by a consulting team. The MDP was approved by the New London City Council and the State of Connecticut in February 2000. The NLDC and the City have site control of the Fort Trumbull parcels designated for the development. In addition to a Design Review Process, projects in New London are subject to Site Plan approval by the New London Planning & Zoning Commission.
2 NLDC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
The NLDC is open to the idea of developers developing multiple projects.
2.2.1 Hotel/Conference Center (Parcel 1B)
The largest and most prominent feature of the Fort Trumbull development area is a high-quality hotel with up to 250 rooms, recreational facilities and significant meeting space / banquet facilities (approximately 5,000 square feet) and restaurant. The hotel, a short distance from downtown and from Pfizer’s Global Development Facility, will sit on the shoreline of the Thames River, with views of Groton, Connecticut, and New London’s downtown. The hotel will be built to enhance views, and may be designed as a smaller facility in a phased manner with room for expansion. The site is adjacent to a 2.7-acre site designated for the National Coast Guard Museum and is serviced by the public riverwalk that extends to and through the State Park. A certain number of extended-stay units may be incorporated into the project. The site has direct waterfront access, and it is expected that a marina or other equivalent water-dependent use will be developed as part of the hotel project in the cove adjacent to the hotel. 6.7 acres are available for this development. A portion of the property is already developed for parking, and is devoted to a parking easement in favor of One Chelsea Street (with shared parking potential).
2.2.3 Office/Research Cluster on Howard Street as well as within the Fort area.
A cluster of office and/or research space will be built at the gateway to the Fort Trumbull area. Phased development of up to 400,000 square feet in total in the Fort Trumbull Project area is contemplated, including the pre-existing development of 50,000 square feet at 194 Howard Street (leased by Pfizer Inc) and the approximately 88,000 square feet recently developed at One Chelsea Street in the Fort area, where the principal tenant is the U.S. Coast Guard Research & Development Center. The 790,000 square foot Pfizer Global Development Facility is adjacent to the Fort Trumbull Project area, and within a short walk of the proposed office/research development sites.
Office/Research Howard Street (Parcel 5C-1/2) contains 5.3 acres of land for development
Office/Research Fort Area (Parcel 3B/C) contains 7.2 acres of land for development
2.2.4 Mixed-use Development (Parcel 4A)
A 2.6-acre parcel across from Fort Trumbull State Park will provide for development of a variety of uses that support the State Park and adjacent marina development. The development should be designed to take advantage of significant waterviews from the parcel, contain sufficient parking on site and should logically complement the adjacent State Park and Fort Trumbull Marina.
2.3 DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
It is the goal of NLDC to start and complete the development of the development projects as quickly as the market makes possible. In the Fort Trumbull District, development and construction of the hotel is targeted to be coordinated with the development and construction of the adjacent National Coast Guard Museum Project. Respondents must demonstrate their financial and organizational capacity to undertake these projects on this timeline.
Each Respondent is fully responsible for its own due diligence on all projects.
3 SUBMISSION OF RESPONSES
3.1 INQUIRIES
All inquiries should be directed to:
John Brooks
New London Development Corporation
165 State Street, Suite 421
New London, CT 06320
Ph (860) 447-8011 X21
Fax (860) 447-3833
jbrooks@nldc.org
Interested parties will be provided with a format and guidance for the submission of unsolicited proposals for New London Development Corporation Fort Trumbull Development Projects.
