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Al Shehadi, left, of National Trust/Bank of America, and Martin Ginsburg, right, of Ginsberg Development Companies, talk inside the Citytrust building during a celebration Monday, marking the start of work on the building in downtown Bridgeport. (Connecticut Post photo / John Galayda ) |
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Excerpt from Connecticut Post June 20, 2006
Tour shows progress on downtown apartment
complex
BILL CUMMINGS
BRIDGEPORT — Mayor John M. Fabrizi came to the former Citytrust headquarters downtown Monday to check progress on the tower's renovation into a complex of apartments and stores….About 150 people gathered for tours of the Main Street building as construction crews toiled on other floors. A model two-bedroom apartment was unveiled, and most gave it high marks...…Work inside the building won positive reviews.
"I'm impressed. They have good workmanship in here," said Joe Garamella, a longtime city real estate agent.
"I think they will move fast," he said.
Eric Anderson, of Urban Green Builders, said leasing of the apartments should begin this fall, and the first tenants will move in next year.
Rents for the 118 one- and two-bedroom apartments will range from $800 to $1,200 a month, with the higher prices assigned to top-floor units with sweeping views of the area and Long Island Sound.
Anderson is also renovating the former Arcade Mall and Hotel on Main Street and a former office building at 144 Main St. The three buildings will house 177 new apartments and tens of thousands of square feet of retail space. Long-range plans call for creating 1,000 new downtown apartments.
"We have clearly broken ground and are well into renovation of this marvelous building," Anderson said as he spoke at the new entrance to the Citytrust building off Bank Street. "Downtown Bridgeport represents everything I have sought to do, build well-priced housing near transportation and use historic infrastructure," Anderson said.
On the walls of the emerging lobby, a huge green banner advertised the apartments. The tag line read: "Bport. Who knew?"
Martin Ginsburg, Anderson's rarely seen partner, also praised the project.
"We have all these wonderful things in Bridgeport. When this project and others come on line, this city will sparkle," Ginsburg said.
Fabrizi said the project has been three years in the making.
He said the effort was jump-started several years ago when he decided to foreclose on the building. The city has since been paid just over $1 million for the structure.
"When we work together we can and will move Bridgeport forward," Fabrizi said. "It's real, it's happening, and it's moving forward."
