Marcia Chambers Photo
Old post office building.
(News analysis.) Under a deadline imposed by the developers that is to end this month but might be extended, a convoluted three-way building swap (on occasion a two-way swap) will either play out, be transformed or fold.
Regardless of the outcome, one question keeps recurring: Who wins in this deal?
Is it the first selectman who has wanted a new senior center for years? Is it the Board of Education (BOE) which needs a larger building for the schools superintendent’s central staff? Is it a local developer, the Giordano Brothers and their Queach Corporation? They stand to gain the historic BOE corner building across from the town green, a building that enables them to develop 1.54 acres of their own land directly behind it.
They have already suggested they plan to move their lumber company elsewhere in town to make way for in-town housing and retail for the entire site. If they get the historic building at 1111 Main St. they would also bookend Montowese Street, since they already own 221 Montowese St. at the other end, a building they plan to use for office space for their own Giordano companies. So this deal provides a gateway for future development whose full nature is yet to unfold.
The swap involves three buildings. The BOE would move to the Canoe Brook Senior Center, which is owned by the town and the senior center would move to 175 N. Main St building, the Giordano building called the Office Network. The town gives its BOE building at 1111 Main St. to the Giordano family in exchange for 175 N. Main St. The Giordano family would convert the corner BOE building for commercial or business use.
At one point the swap became a two-way deal. The initial swap, proposed by First Selectman Unk DaRos is now back in play.
Speed has been the theme of this project. Michael Giordano has demanded that an RTM committee become more businesslike. “You are not good at it,” he declared. Then he gave the committee an ultimatum: “We are going to do this in a businesslike manner or we are simply going to walk away from it. Please don’t feel like I am being aggressive or obstinate or bull headed. Enough is enough. We were supposed to close this deal in September. Did you know that?”
In this situation the developer, not the town, is the driving force. In fact the swap had been announced by the first selectman only in June. And deals like this need to be approved by various town boards whose notices, agendas and postponements don’t usually fit into a pre-determined time period.
The Office Network building.
Before this deal is decided one way or another, it is time to raise one key element — -the history of 1111 Main St., a jewel of an historic building that the town now wants to give away in exchange for the Giordano office building. The town wants the swap because the current occupant of 1111 Main St, the Board of Education, needs a larger space. And so do the seniors.
The history of the BOE building itself or its national stature has not been part of the public discussion.
Jane Bouley, the town historian, says it should be. And she wonders why it shouldn’t be saved as a public building, perhaps to be used as an annex for what is now a crowded Town Hall across the green.
Bouley said the town will regret it if it gives the building away. It could be used for the town’s engineering and technology departments or to expand the probate court which now serves two towns, Branford and North Branford.
The elegant brick building that stands at the intersection of Montowese and Main Streets is part of the Branford historic district. According to Bouley, the brick building was constructed as the town’s second major post office in 1927 and served in that role until 1983, more than half a century. The town of Branford acquired it in 1986 for $250,000. The building has served the public, in one form or another, for the past 83 years.
“The structure is a contributing building in the Branford Center National Register Historic District, a federally recognized designation,” she said. It is also part of the green’s historic preservation, she added.
“I don’t feel the town should give up that building. It would be probably something they will regret in the future.” She says she conveyed this message to DaRos some months ago.
DaRos understands but says the town has much to gain by putting the building “in private hands.” For one thing, he says, the building will go on the tax rolls and to the “extent that the Queach Corporation improves the building, the value (and taxes) will increase.” ( At the same time, the Network Office Building goes off the tax rolls.)
Bouley told the Eagle that the old post office was the last public building built without a steam shovel, that is, it was built entirely by manual labor. John B. Sliney, one of the town’s longest serving first selectmen, “was one of the workers who helped build that post office,” she said.
“I feel that the history of this building is not being discussed at all. Why are we giving up a prime historic building next to the green, such a focal point of Branford? This is an important building. Why are we willing to give up this important building to a private developer?”
Giving the property to a developer has value, said the Town Center Revitalization Review Board. In a unanimous decision the Board said that private ownership of the property “would enhance the economic vibrancy of the town center by bringing more business to the town center.”
With Permission
Architect’s drawing.
Bouley said if the RTM approves this swap, there must be a “deed restriction” preventing any future demolition of the building. She said that while the Giordanos have promised not to tear it down or change its brick facade, (See architect’s drawing to the left) this promise does not mean that a subsequent buyer wouldn’t if, for example, the Giordano’s flipped their holdings or moved out of town for some reason.
After the Planning and Zoning Commission gave the Giordano’s the green light to use the building for retail or commercial use, Giordano told the Eagle that acquisition of the BOE building could be the trigger for turning all the property they own behind the building into a major retail and housing development. “The family’s long-term vision is to extend the Town Center throughout our property,” Vincent Giordano said.
Bouley asked if there has been a full assessment of all the public buildings owned by the town of Branford, “their condition and what the needs of the different groups are.” She said a serious inquiry regarding the needs of seniors in the year 2011 needs to be undertaken. “Can there be consolidation? Are there other ways to do this?” Bouley asked.
In fact the RTM asked the Board of Selectmen to appoint a committee of experts to explore the many issues the swap raises. But the BOS quickly turned them down, saying a new committee’s exploration would only cause further delay.
One of the ironies of this seven-month long swap process is that at one point DaRos had to confront the fact that he might need another place to put the seniors. When he saw his three-way swap getting reduced to a two-way swap, and the Board of Education headed toward the larger building at 175 N. Main, he understood the seniors would be left out in the cold. That, he said, would not happen. No senior center, no deal, he declared. So he asked top school officials if the Indian Neck School on Melrose Avenue might be used for a new senior center. He also asked about the Branford Hills School. The town owns both.
Marcia Chambers Photo
Indian Neck School.
As it turns out, the Indian Neck School offers the seniors an amenity hard to replicate.
Only a block away and on the same street is the Foote Memorial Park, a perfect place for seniors to walk, watch Little League games, play tennis and hold picnics and outings. There are pathways to walk and talk and hold special events. The 44.6 6 acre park contains playgrounds, spectator seating, restrooms and a parking lot for Branford residents.
A number of seniors expressed interest in having a senior center so near to a well-established, well-kept park.
Both Carrano and Hernandez told us that if certain programs could be moved elsewhere, the town might be able get Indian Neck. But in the last few weeks, DaRos took Indian Neck “off the table,” Carrano said. He is back to his original idea of putting the BOE at Canoe Brook and the seniors at the Network Office building. This week DaRos briefed Hernandez and the BOE on the move to Canoe Brook. Hernandez said he would act soon.
DaRos says the costs of renovating or rebuilding Indian Neck are huge, far too costly at this time to consider. He did not disclose figures. He is now focused on his original plan, he says.
###