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February 21, 2025

Waterbury could be among the first communities to join newly created Municipal Redevelopment Authority

Contributed Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski and other officials visited the former Waterbury Button Co. site, 835 Main St. in Waterbury,.
By Michael Puffer

Waterbury could be among the first Connecticut communities lined up for a piece of a new $60 million state-funded program aimed at incentivizing dense multifamily development in urban centers and near transportation hubs.

The city's Board of Aldermen, at its Monday meeting, will be asked by Mayor Paul Pernerewski to endorse the city’s enrollment with the Municipal Redevelopment Authority. This new quasi-governmental agency has, so far, been allotted $60 million, which it can use to incentivize new development projects across the state. 

MRDA Executive Director David Kooris, in a recent interview, said he aims to produce a few early successes, which should convince state lawmakers to commit additional funding. He expects funding to begin feeding out to projects this year.

In recent weeks, officials in Naugatuck, Derby and New London have agreed to enroll with MRDA. Officials in Bridgeport, Danbury and Old Saybrook are actively considering enrolling.  

MRDA will work with participating communities to identify target development areas. The agency can help communities adjust zoning regulations where necessary, and then use its funding to incentivize development, possibly through low-interest loans or grants. 

If Waterbury’s lawmaking body agrees to enroll Monday, officials will work out an agreement committing the city and MRDA to collaborate on development.

Pernerewski, in a memo to city aldermen, said the target zone could include properties in the “central business district” and within a half-mile of the downtown passenger rail station along Meadow Street. This, he noted, would include the Freight Street corridor, a roughly 70-acre industrial zone adjacent to the downtown core that has long been targeted for redevelopment.

Over the past decade, the city has spent millions of dollars in state and federal grant funding to acquire a 21-acre Freight Street site that hosted the former Anaconda American Brass complex, and then to knock down that complex. 

Most of the buildings were abandoned, blighted and crumbling. Environmental consultants hired by the city continue to analyze the extent of underground pollution from over a century of heavy manufacturing use.

Pernerewski, on Friday, said he imagines the Freight Street area could be redeveloped with a mix of apartments, retail and commercial uses. He expects to begin a search for a developer for the site at some point this year. 

"Downtown Waterbury and the Freight Street area represent a significant development opportunity that would grow the city's grand list and provide much-needed housing," Kooris said Friday. "Freight Street is one of the biggest development opportunities in the state." 
 

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